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Unai Emery: Nicolas Pepe needs to adapt to Premier League

Emery on Ivorian: 'He needs to adapt ... I want him to take the last step quickly in adapting for us'

Nicolas Pepe has been working hard with Unai Emery to get up to speed with life in the Premier League
Image: Nicolas Pepe has been working hard with Unai Emery to get up to speed with life in the Premier League

Arsenal boss Unai Emery says Nicolas Pepe still needs to adapt to Premier League life after joining from French side Lille in the summer.

The Ivory Coast international has started three of Arsenal's six games this campaign and is yet to show why the Gunners paid a reported £72m to bring him to the Emirates Stadium.

Emery admits he and his coaching staff are working closely with Pepe to speed up his adjustment in the hope he can impress against Aston Villa on Sunday.

"He needs to adapt," said Emery. "He is playing well but progressively we know there is going to be more from him to help us and I want him to take the last step quickly in adapting for us.

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Unai Emery says he expects the same from all of his players and insists there is no extra pressure on new signing Nicolas Pepe to perform in Sunday's North London derby.

"We are working with him - after training we are watching individual videos with him.

"He is playing well but also we need in our organisation to be strong with every player to improve a lot."

Emery and his players faced plenty of criticism after letting a two-goal half-time lead slip at Watford last weekend - where they were eventually lucky to leave with a share of the spoils.

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But, after making seven alterations, Arsenal impressed in a 3-0 Europa League victory over Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday night.

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Arsenal manager Unai Emery says that his side need to improve defensively, but that requires an effort from the whole team, not just the back four.

Former Paris St Germain boss Emery concedes he ultimately has to deliver for the club's supporters but insists he is never too reactive to a result.

"When we are winning I stay calm, when we are losing I stay calm," he added.

"I want to win more than lose and really I want to be consistent in our way and in our steps ahead. We know each match is very important because we have a lot of supporters in London, England and also worldwide.

"We know our responsibility and we know we want to give them very good moments, we want to give them special moments and feel connected with us because it is not only how we can win, it is also how we can play and how we can give them our energy, our capacity, our skills and enjoy each match with us."

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