A PEP TALK
Emery works on Nic to help him ‘adapt’ to life in the Prem
Cross
UNAI EMERY has warned Nicolas Pepe he must go through an “adaptation” period in English football.
Only then will Arsenal fans see the best of the club’s record £72million signing.
Ivory Coast star Pepe has only shown glimpses of his quality as he struggles to get to grips with the pace of the Premier League.
Emery ( right) has already ordered Pepe to bulk up and get stronger.
And the Gunners boss has now revealed the club are putting him through extensive video analysis sessions – and working on making him better tactically.
Pepe, 24, scored 22 goals in 38 games for Lille last season.
But he has yet to score in any of his six appearances for Arsenal and will be desperate to get off the mark against Aston Villa at home today.
Help
Emery said: “Nicolas needs more adaptation.
“He is playing well but progressively we know there is going to be more performance in him to help us.
“I want to quickly do the last step in the adaptation for us, for example, against Aston Villa.
“We are working with him watching individual videos – also to push him to achieve the details tactically.
“We need him because he is playing well.
“But also we need in our organisation to be strong with every player to improve a lot.”
Emery is already familiar with the difficulties of keeping Arsenal fans sweet.
It is hard to think of another set of supporters who change their mood so quickly.
After the angry fall-out from blowing a 2-0 lead at Watford last Sunday, there were high fives to celebrate Thursday’s 3-0 win at Eintracht Frankfurt.
There is a big reaction to every result but Emery insists he tries to keep a perspective.
Yet anything other than a win against Villa will turn an unforgiving spotlight back on him.
Calm
Emery s a i d: “When we are winning I stay calm, when we are losing I stay calm.
‘We have that responsibility for our supporters.
“We know the most important thing in our work is to play for them. And we know each match is very important because we have a lot of supporters in London, England and also worldwide.”
It was noticeable Arsenal did not play out from the back as much in Frankfurt as they did at Watford, where a sloppy Sokratis pass encouraged the Hornets to fight back and draw.
Emery insists he will stick with the same philosophy, but wants his players to mix it up more and deploy the long ball when appropriate.
He added: “Our identity is still the build- up through the goalkeeper and the centre-back, but also to share that sometimes with long balls.”