Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher did not hold back in his criticism of Arsenal winger Nicolas Pepe following his poor display in the 3-0 defeat to Liverpool at the weekend.
Speaking about the club-record signing, Carragher said that the Ivorian international simply hasn’t lived up to expectations since arriving from Lille in 2019, and he can’t see him ever succeeding at the Emirates:
“Nicolas Pepe, the thing with him is not so much age, he’s just not good enough and he’s never going to be good enough.”
A lot of supporters on Twitter thought Carragher’s criticism of Pepe was too strong, although many admit that it is hard to argue with the fact that he hasn’t delivered with his performances on the pitch:
Sad Truth ??
— Uncle papi (@momohloon) April 6, 2021
Best description ever. He makes even the simplest things look so hard. ??
— Dolapo Oluwa (@dollypee60) April 6, 2021
Zaha would have been better
— Clinton Ezeugo (@ClintonEzeugo) April 6, 2021
Rubbish talk from Jamie. They only know how to right people off
— ugwu damian ejike (@damiano4peace) April 6, 2021
You know what, he’s right..
— David Jones (@DavidJo09116906) April 6, 2021
Harsh but fair, unfortunately
— James Farmer (@James_farmer83) April 6, 2021
Its reached the point where its true now. Might aswell sell him
— Bilal Abbas (@Bilal_1101) April 6, 2021
Nobody asked Jamie
— ARTETA STAN ACCOUNT?❤️ (@StanArteta) April 6, 2021
Gervinho 2.0.
— Jonathan Streifer (@jnz2001) April 6, 2021
Have to admit that he is right. Pepe is too one-sided and defenders read him constantly. His finishing has been poor and his work rate isnt good
— Aapo Uotila (@AapoUotila) April 6, 2021
Carragher’s comments are a tad harsh. The 25-year-old has improved since the New Year and his eight goals in 36 appearances isn’t a terrible record.
Saying that, though, there’s no doubt that the Gunners overpaid when they signed Pepe for £72m. He has not delivered on a consistent basis and his anonymous display on Saturday was a case in point.