NICOLAS PEPE has vowed to get fitter and sharper as he looks to end his frustrating start to life at Arsenal.
Still without a goal in open play, the Ivorian hasn’t come close to living up to his £72million transfer fee after four months at Arsenal.
Pepe came off the bench to little effect against BrightonCredit: Getty – Contributor
And Pepe’s dismal form was summed up when he came off the bench for Thursday’s game with Brighton but was unable to turn the tide on a nightmare defeat.
Afterwards the winger told RMC Sport, via GFFN: “I would say that my start has been a bit negative.
“Based on my own expectations of myself, I expected a bit more. I expect more and it is up to me to work hard and make the difference in each match.
“It is normal for people to criticise me as much as they are doing because I am not making the difference in each match.
“I understand them. It is certainly up to me to reverse this situation through hard work.
“There are lots of aspects that I need to improve.
“Scoring more quickly, taking the opportunities to score that I’ve been missing. It’s like that, that’s football.
“I also need to improve on the physical aspect because coming from France to England, there is this box-to-box aspect that you have to take into account.”
Interim boss Freddie Ljungberg chose to bench Pepe in his first game in charge at Norwich given his tally of a single goal, from the penalty spot, in the Premier League.
But the 24-year-old feels his new coach is better at getting his message across than predecessor Unai Emery – hinting at rumours that the sacked Spaniard was unable to communicate effectively with his squad.
He continued: “As [Ljungberg ] was a player, he understands us better.
“He speaks a lot with us, so for us it is quite simple for us to understand him like for him it is quite easy to understand us.
“It was painful because [Emery] is a coach who gave me the chance to come to Arsenal. We mustn’t forget that. For me, it was something painful.”
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Freddie Ljungberg admits Arsenal didn’t show up in the first half against Brighton
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
