Simone Pepe (40 Viewers)
- Thread starter Dostoevsky
- Start date
Whatever You Need: Simone Pepe Proving He Belongs
Of all the summer signings made by Beppe Marotta, Simone Pepe was the one met with the most derision. An incredibly average season for Udinese last term & a very poor World Cup were all held up as valid reasons why his transfer was both ill advised & unnecessary. Very few people believed he was a good acquisition, & almost nobody expected him to have any real impact upon the team.
After losing his place in the starting line-up to a player in Claudio Marchisio who, for all his qualities, is not a real winger & given the amazing start to life in Bianconero being enjoyed by Milos Krasic, finding a way back into Gigi Delneri’s first XI seemed impossible. Yet not only has the Roma youth product become a vital player for the coach, he has become the most adaptable member of the squad.
The number of roles he has covered in the team is remarkable. On the opening day he played his most natural position, as a genuine right winger before Krasic truly made that spot his own, & he ended that match playing in a second striker role due to a complete lack of options in attack. Following that game he was put in to a left wing position, but one laden with heavy defensive responsibility to cover the previously fragile Paolo De Ceglie at left back. Both roles he did efficiently, scoring a goal against Sampdoria & making some great runs as Delneri’s system of switching flanks brought the best from him. Then came the Inter game & Marchisio took his place, initially to limit the impact of Maicon, but it worked so well that became the default choice.
With Pepe on the bench & the team becoming settled a move to fullback was discussed, nowhere more so than here on Il Tifosi, but Delneri made it clear this would need serious work on the training ground before ever being tested in a match situation. Yet just over a week later, with Giorgio Chiellini, Zdenek Grygera & Paolo De Ceglie injured that is precisely what would happen & he was pressed into service as an emergency left-back, in not just any game but against Milan at San Siro.
Pepe took it in his stride & despite being targeted aerially by Zlatan Ibrahimovic (resulting in what would be no more than a consolation goal) he did extremely well, earning much deserved praise from many quarters. The following game he again played fullback, this time on the opposite flank as eligibility issues prevented Fabio Grosso from taking part. Once more he did a great job, staying tight & compact, making an extremely good impression & drawing comparision to Gianluca Zambrotta, a player who underwent the same transformation seven years earlier.
Following that match Grosso was welcomed back into the squad, Armand Traoré returned slowly from injury & Frederik Sørensen emerged as a viable option so Pepe was once again on the outside looking in. Then came the Krasic dive, ban & subsequent injury just as Roma came to Turin for what would be an important game for an injury ravaged Juventus.
Pepe would return to the right flank, but in what can only be described as a hybrid role, neither winger nor fullback, providing defensive cover when Roma pressed forward but also giving width & stretching the play when Juve were in possession. It would be a breakout of sorts as he put on a fantastic display, probably his best to date in a Bianconeri shirt, never out of position & with an endless stream of dangerous penetrating crosses.
So in just over three months Pepe has been deployed in a high number of very different roles, yet the impact of his versatility is only part of what he brings to both the squad & the club. Clearly well liked by his teammates - as witnessed by the celebration of his goal against Fiorentina - his interviews are always laced with humour & he brings some comic relief to a side that took itself far too seriously last term. His part in the Alberto Aquilani interview on the Juventus Channel evidence of the camaraderie now found in Turin.
The other, & perhaps most important contribution, is a trait touched upon by club legend Antonio Cabrini earlier this week - the spirit & style of Juventus, made a Bianconeri hallmark under Gianni Agnelli. Some players have grown up at the club - like Marchisio & Giorgio Chiellini - & have this spirit seemingly embedded in their DNA. Others arrive at Vinovo & never grasp the concept as Amauri demonstrates on a daily basis. Some however inherit it immediately on pulling on the famous shirt, & this is the case with not only Pepe but Leonardo Bonucci too.
That never give up attitude, the grinta that last seasons Juventus so obviously lacked is on show in abundance in Pepe’s every performance. Certain players find a home at certain clubs & it transforms them, not only as athletes but as men too. Here in Turin that is seemingly so evident with Simone Pepe, quickly becoming a true Juventino.
http://iltifosi.tumblr.com/post/2173303731/whatever-you-need-simone-pepe-proving-he-belongs
Of all the summer signings made by Beppe Marotta, Simone Pepe was the one met with the most derision. An incredibly average season for Udinese last term & a very poor World Cup were all held up as valid reasons why his transfer was both ill advised & unnecessary. Very few people believed he was a good acquisition, & almost nobody expected him to have any real impact upon the team.
After losing his place in the starting line-up to a player in Claudio Marchisio who, for all his qualities, is not a real winger & given the amazing start to life in Bianconero being enjoyed by Milos Krasic, finding a way back into Gigi Delneri’s first XI seemed impossible. Yet not only has the Roma youth product become a vital player for the coach, he has become the most adaptable member of the squad.
The number of roles he has covered in the team is remarkable. On the opening day he played his most natural position, as a genuine right winger before Krasic truly made that spot his own, & he ended that match playing in a second striker role due to a complete lack of options in attack. Following that game he was put in to a left wing position, but one laden with heavy defensive responsibility to cover the previously fragile Paolo De Ceglie at left back. Both roles he did efficiently, scoring a goal against Sampdoria & making some great runs as Delneri’s system of switching flanks brought the best from him. Then came the Inter game & Marchisio took his place, initially to limit the impact of Maicon, but it worked so well that became the default choice.
With Pepe on the bench & the team becoming settled a move to fullback was discussed, nowhere more so than here on Il Tifosi, but Delneri made it clear this would need serious work on the training ground before ever being tested in a match situation. Yet just over a week later, with Giorgio Chiellini, Zdenek Grygera & Paolo De Ceglie injured that is precisely what would happen & he was pressed into service as an emergency left-back, in not just any game but against Milan at San Siro.
Pepe took it in his stride & despite being targeted aerially by Zlatan Ibrahimovic (resulting in what would be no more than a consolation goal) he did extremely well, earning much deserved praise from many quarters. The following game he again played fullback, this time on the opposite flank as eligibility issues prevented Fabio Grosso from taking part. Once more he did a great job, staying tight & compact, making an extremely good impression & drawing comparision to Gianluca Zambrotta, a player who underwent the same transformation seven years earlier.
Following that match Grosso was welcomed back into the squad, Armand Traoré returned slowly from injury & Frederik Sørensen emerged as a viable option so Pepe was once again on the outside looking in. Then came the Krasic dive, ban & subsequent injury just as Roma came to Turin for what would be an important game for an injury ravaged Juventus.
Pepe would return to the right flank, but in what can only be described as a hybrid role, neither winger nor fullback, providing defensive cover when Roma pressed forward but also giving width & stretching the play when Juve were in possession. It would be a breakout of sorts as he put on a fantastic display, probably his best to date in a Bianconeri shirt, never out of position & with an endless stream of dangerous penetrating crosses.
So in just over three months Pepe has been deployed in a high number of very different roles, yet the impact of his versatility is only part of what he brings to both the squad & the club. Clearly well liked by his teammates - as witnessed by the celebration of his goal against Fiorentina - his interviews are always laced with humour & he brings some comic relief to a side that took itself far too seriously last term. His part in the Alberto Aquilani interview on the Juventus Channel evidence of the camaraderie now found in Turin.
The other, & perhaps most important contribution, is a trait touched upon by club legend Antonio Cabrini earlier this week - the spirit & style of Juventus, made a Bianconeri hallmark under Gianni Agnelli. Some players have grown up at the club - like Marchisio & Giorgio Chiellini - & have this spirit seemingly embedded in their DNA. Others arrive at Vinovo & never grasp the concept as Amauri demonstrates on a daily basis. Some however inherit it immediately on pulling on the famous shirt, & this is the case with not only Pepe but Leonardo Bonucci too.
That never give up attitude, the grinta that last seasons Juventus so obviously lacked is on show in abundance in Pepe’s every performance. Certain players find a home at certain clubs & it transforms them, not only as athletes but as men too. Here in Turin that is seemingly so evident with Simone Pepe, quickly becoming a true Juventino.
http://iltifosi.tumblr.com/post/2173303731/whatever-you-need-simone-pepe-proving-he-belongs
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