On the face of it, Jarrod Bowen and Nicolas Pepe have quite a bit in common. Stylistically speaking, at least.
Both are right-footed left-wingers. Both love nothing more than cutting inside before whipping shots into the far corner from the edge of the penalty area. But while Arsenal’s £72 million record signing remains one of the most maddeningly frustrating footballers to set foot in the Premier League in recent seasons, it is Bowen’s enduring consistency that sets him apart.
“Bowen, what a player he became!” Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said of West Ham United’s number 20 last season. “Unbelievable.
“We saw him as well at Hull and he was really good at that time. I’m not sure a lot of people expected this jump, but unbelievable player.”
Now, consistency and reliability might not be two of the sexiest words in football. But you get the feeling that Mikel Arteta would prefer a squad full of regular 7/10 performers than a footballer who flits from a two to an eight every other week. His side-lining of Pepe at Arsenal – and his reported interest in Bowen (CBS Sports) – certainly adds credence to that theory.
Nicolas Pepe out, Jarrod Bowen in at Arsenal?
As does the fact that Bowen was one of only three players in the Premier League who reached double figures for both goals and assists in 2021/22, alongside Mason Mount and Heung Min-Son. You’d don’t achieve such a feat without being a model of pure consistency.
What’s more, Bowen only failed to score in five or more games twice last term. Dips in form are rare from a footballer whose career has been on an upward trajectory for five years now. He’s even broken the ten-goal barrier in four of the last five seasons.
Compare that to Pepe; 23 goals in 2018/19, then eight the year after. 16 in 2020/21, and then three.
“It’s about him hitting his best, every single week,” Arteta said when quizzed about a player who has flattered to deceive throughout much of his Arsenal player, and could now be sold for around £20 million with two years left on his contract.
“It’s about finding the consistency. Not through the games but during the games as well; To do the right thing in many, many occasions when he has to make the right decisions.
“It’s nothing to do with his attitude. But, sometimes, it’s the simple things – the deliveries, the amount of situations that he’s able to create or attract and then make the right decision, to keep evolving that phase of play, the finishing, the position inside the box – that he has to be more consistent at.
“We are working on that. Hopefully, he will be doing that much more efficiently.”
Those comments were made in October 2020. Nearly two years on, those same concerns remain about Pepe. Those same old criticisms.
Criticisms that certainly can’t be levelled at his potential Emirates Stadium replacement.
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