Former Arsenal defender Lee Dixon has told winger Nicolas Pepe that he must "play better" in an effort to nail down a first-team spot at the Emirates Stadium.
Following the arrival of former Chelsea winger Willian during the summer, Pepe has struggled to assert himself in Mikel Arteta's side.
The Ivory Coast international, who joined the club for a fee understood to be in the region of £72million in the summer of 2019, has started just once in the Premier League so far this season, the 1-0 defeat to Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium last month.
Willian, meanwhile, has started seven league games this term, with the Brazilian clearly impressing Mikel Arteta.
Now, Pepe has admitted his disappointment at not recieving as much game time as he would have liked so far this season at Arsenal.
The winger told French channel Canal Plus: "My goal is to play more. To have a little more playing time. A player who plays is happy.
"For me, I would like to play a little more to find a smile again.
"He (Arteta) wants me to be 100 per cent focused during the 90 minutes of the match. Afterwards, I see during training that I will be a substitute the following weekend.
"But the coach speaks to me, he also has assistants who are there for that. But it is frustrating for any player to be on the bench.
"A super-sub role? The coach makes his choices. It's up to me to show him that I don't have that role."
Now, former Gunners right-back Dixon has delivered a blunt verdict on the winger's comments in a tweet responding to a Sky Sports article explaining Pepe's claim.
Dixon tweeted: "Play better then."
In total, Pepe has racked up 12 appearances for the Gunners this season, but has only made six starts, with three of those coming in the Europa League.
In those 12 outings, Pepe, who played 42 times last season, has scored three goals and claimed two assists, with his last goal coming in the Gunners' 4-1 win against Molde last Thursday in the Europa League.
However, he was back among the substitutes for the 3-0 home defeat against Aston Villa, with the Ivorian coming off the bench with 25 minutes to go.
