Former Manchester United midfielder Roy Keane did not hold back in his criticism for Arsenal’s Nicolas Pepe after his side draw 1-1 with the Red Devils at Old Trafford on Monday evening.
Keane was in the Sky Sports studio for Monday Night Football and when asked for his thoughts on Arsenal’s record signing so far, he didn’t hold back.
[I’ve been] disappointed, really, with him since he came to the club. He doesn’t have great body language. Sometimes we make excuses for players a lot, it takes time to settle into a club, but you see this young kid tonight, (Sala), Pepe compared to him, for the money they paid, needs to do a lot more, [in terms of his] work rate, his lack of quality, end product and his body language, he didn’t seem up for the fight tonight.
Read Arsenal Verdict
Whilst Pepe hasn’t exactly set the world alight so far at Arsenal, he has shown glimpses of his ability. However, Jamie Carragher made a point later in the MNF show where he said very few foreign players who have great success do so on the back of a poor settling in phase and that should be a concern to all Arsenal supporters.
It’s still far too early to make any clear and considered approach on Pepe but it’s fair to say that he hasn’t had the start to his Arsenal career that he’d have been hoping for.
Keane, in his role as a pundit, is right to be critical if that’s his opinion but it is, in my opinion, a bit too early to make any definitive judgement.
