Arsenal legend Ian Wright has told Nicolas Pepe and Willian they need to be more consistent.
The Gunners have seen flashes from both players this season with Pepe impressing in spells and Willian far less often, but the Brazilian has contributed in some key moments, most recently scoring a free-kick to help seal victory against West Brom on Sunday.
But despite performing to differing degrees, both players have one thing in common, according to Wright – they both need to be more consistent to start for the Gunners more regularly.
“The thing is we’ve been very fortunate with the fact that the youngsters we’ve put in have been consistent,” Wright told Premier League Productions.
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“[Bukayo] Saka for me should have started at left-back on Thursday instead of Granit Xhaka.
“You see what he’s capable of doing, you see how listless we were. We needed some thrust from somewhere. I think that was a mistake from the manager’s point of view.
“You talk about consistency, I think [Mikel] Arteta’s talking about players like Willian and [Nicolas] Pepe. Those players we needed more from.
“Pepe was starting to get a bit of form but then for some reason he was in and out of the team. It’s hard to get consistency when you’re not getting consistent game time.
“From that point of view that’s firmly with the manager. I don’t think there’s been many games I’ve seen when [Emile] Smith Rowe, Saka or [Kieran] Tierney haven’t played really well.
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“It’s been to a standard you wouldn’t expect because young players can be inconsistent because they’re young players.”
Willian has scored once and assisted seven in 37 appearances for Arsenal this season, while Nicolas Pepe has scored 12 and assisted five in 45 appearances so far this term.
The former is under contract at Arsenal until 2023, while Pepe is tied down until 2024.