Having scored his first goal at the Emirates Stadium yesterday, Alexandre Lacazette drew positive remarks from Arsene Wenger, but the manager was keen to point out the striker would still take some time to adapt to his new club.
The 26 year old became Arsenal’s record signing earlier this month, and big things are expected of him after a 37 goal season for Lyon last time around. He netted in the 2-1 defeat to Sevilla, with Wenger praising his penalty box awareness, but also warning it might take a while before we see him at his best.
On being in the right place at the right time, the manager said, “For a striker it’s vital. I think he has shown some good things. He was not involved a lot because we didn’t have a lot the ball today, like we’re used to having, and the strikers suffer from that.
“Overall, what he has done is good. It’s his strength. He has a very strong record in scoring goals and that comes from the fact that he is in the right positions in the box and anticipates well.
“That is a very important quality that will be needed throughout the season.”
It’s not uncommon for new players to take a little while to adjust, and that’s something that’s clearly in Wenger’s thinking.
“Sometimes it takes a few months, sometimes it takes very little time,” he said.
“The only thing I must say with Lacazette is that week after week he looks to adapt quickly, but overall I think it will take him one or two months.”
Looking at his performance in the second half yesterday I think he will come good
Let’s just prey Sanchez stays and Wenger doesn’t play him on the left every game..
He appears to contribute very little to build up play, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. He’s the type of player who will hardly touch the ball all game, but then be in the right position to fire home a winner. We have players like Ozil and Ramsey who can create and maintain possession, we don’t need Laca for that. All we ned him for is popping it home!
So he is basically a French Walcott without much of the speed?
Just asking
That’s actually a really good point. When Walcott went missing everybody took that as a sign that we should sell him, regardless how many goals he scored. With Lacazette everybody seems to praise him for exactly the same thing Theo gets constantly criticized for.
Well, there used to be this world class player called inzaghi….he can only do two things on the pitch. Scoring goals and getting offside.
And I always thought his main strength was getting cheated penalties.
When he disappears tho, Walcott does not just disappear… he has an insipid play setting where he wimps out of challenges, gifts the opposition the ball, doesn’t work back, doesn’t run, can’t control passes, says insipid things in post match interviews.
He also disappears for weeks then goes on a streak, gets injured scores on return then disappears.
Henry could go missing but it would be for a part of a game not a part of a season. If Lacassette is the finisher then let’s build a team around getting him on the end of things.
If you play right wing you can’t afford to go missing. Also laca holds the ball up and brings others into play Walcott has never been capable of that
I’ve always said Walcott is a “raumdeuter”, a wide player that does his best work off the ball, picking up great positions while avoiding defenders. That’s why he’s able to score the amount of goals he does, only Sanchez is more prolific on the wing when you discount penalties. It’s not that Walcott goes missing but rather we often aren’t trying the high risk passes to find him in the dangerous areas he tends to be in. The problem in the past is that when we aren’t making those passes (being too tippy tappy etc), Walcott has a tendency to… Read more »
I would add that Walcott often makes very dangerous runs that open up space for others, especially Sanchez. In that sense, he has gotten involved even when not on the ball.
The problem with Walcott is not really that he “goes missing,” but that his technical skill on the ball is not as good as it should be; his involvement is either off the ball, or trying to score.
Spot on, the major failing of Walcott is and always has been technical ability.
I felt he improved on the ball last season and was more involved generally. Will be interesting to see how he adapts to this new formation too
I don’t disagree. I like Theo a lot, but I don’t want him trying to carry the ball past defenders as he cuts to the inside.
Well said. Theo gets a hard time from fans but he scores goals!
I kind of get what you’re saying. You’re saying he is an player similar to at least in terms of style to Muller dele alli and all. Those guys are good at off the ball running and taking up positions to score goals. But you see the problem is those guys are way better player than walcot is . they all can do a lot better than just find gaps , they can pass dribble past a player which walcot cannot do.So if plan a doesnt work they can switch up any time. No team with ambition will keep on… Read more »
Lacazette does get involved in the building up, and does have good link up. He’s also an intelligent player that when put under pressure can either dribble his way out or find a teammate.
He is way more clinical than Walcott, Walcott shoots for the sake of taking a shot, could be very wasteful in possession, Lacazette is clinical and so far all of his shots have been in a corner.
Give him some time to adapt and get used to his teammates and our playing style and I’m convinced we’ll see a completely different player.
You can clearly see the differences in both this pre-season. He might not be as speedy as Walcott, but his movement off the ball, passing, and finishing is better. If only we have a shoots per goal ratio comparison between him and Walcott you can see what I am talking about.
A Podolski comparison is better i think.
French Walcott with technical ability, and good use of speed, I’d say.
Still…I have this niggling doubt that he isn’t THAT much better than, say….Perez (who’s more of a budget Suarez type of CF, but that just happens to be the type of centre forwards I like; all action, combative types).
Budget biter.
I agree. I’d love to read the Wenger autobiography that explains why he didn’t think a Perez was worthy of more opportunities. The guy scored every time we played him. He’s fast, works hard, has good positional sense and is a natural finisher. Maybe because we only paid 16M for him he couldn’t be considered seriously. Sadly, I suspect we’ll never know the truth. Anyway, I hope Laca gets more opportunities and takes advantage of them. I’m still very nervous that we’ll lose Sanchez and Laca will end up being his replacement and not a net add to our forward… Read more »
I just don’t think he’s Wenger’s “type”. Perez seems more of an anarchist not that dissimilar to Sanchez (but not as good, obviously). He’s more like a Suarez/Costa type (both of which, Wenger overlooked when he could’ve signed. Excluding the whole £40m+1 fiasco).
Wenger has a type and simply, Perez isn’t his type.
Now the question is whether Wenger’s type is what will get us to win the title is another question. Maybe the fact he’s not Wenger’s type is exactly why we need him.
Must win knockout tie with Roma..i guess they were without their best defender in Rudiger.. but still some really good players there on the pitch..
https://youtu.be/HExvpRNkKX8
Lacazette is one of the most talented forwards we’ve signed in a long time..
I think he has a bit more to his game than that to be fair, but at the moment we aren’t seeing it. He seems a bit overawed.
We saw some bits in his first couple of games. At one point he won the ball near our goal and zinged a nice pass up the field. He played a one two with Nacho to set up Giroud. He does some good stuff in his vids on YouTube too.
Watching him at the game yesterday I don’t think that’s true. He linked up well throughout when given the chance to. Get a pass into feet, pass it on and move into space. He won a few aerial duels against taller defenders. I think with Sanchez and Ozil as the 2 behind him he’ll do very well, or help in them doing better with his clever movement and good link us play. His attributes are very different from Walcott’s.
I remember a certain player who was with us once who didn’t contribute much in the play but was always popping it in for us. In spite of this, Wenger and the fans did not like him and let him go. #Podolski
Not convinced tbh. Hope he comes good but I’m not overly positive about him. Seems like a bit of a desperate purchase to me.
Based on a couple of friendly matches you already rubbish him.
No. First of all I did not rubbish him. I just don’t think he is of the quality we need to win top tier trophies. I don’t think he is the answer we are looking for. This is, obviously, my opinion and I may well truly be wrong (which I hope I am). It just worries me that not many teams were after him before we made the purchase. If he is such a wonder kid, I’m pretty sure more teams would’ve been in for him.
Not many teams were after Koscielny when we bought him, Nor were there lots of teams fighting for Holding. Just saying……
Well, those 2 players weren’t 26 or established footballers in the game when they were bought, were they?
Your argument doesn’t hold water. Drogba to Chelsea?
What argument? It’s just my opinion on a player. There have been players who sucked at one team and went on to flourish at another and vice versa. There is no argument to be made because he hasn’t kicked a ball for us on a competitive level yet. I just expressed my opinion on what I think will happen given the circumstance.
So considering what you’ve JUST said, how on earth can you express an opinion that you’re “not overly positive”…? And then there’s this issue of desperation… the market is open for another month. How does that make the recruitment of Lacazette “desperate”?
I think you need to try a bit harder, mate.
Not that I disagree with you, but if you have to go to a player signed over a decade ago to prove your point, that’s a bit of a worry, no?
Or Henry to Arsenal?
Are people not allowed an opinion anymore? Chill out!
Over the past three seasons he is the third top scorer in all the major European leagues.
He was off to Atletico Madrid before the transfer ban.
Tbh, there may be some truth to the desperate purchase angle, largely because Wenger obviously wasn’t convinced by him the last few years to purchase him, but seemed quite keen to not dilly-dally about this window, and didn’t want to be burnt by hanging around and waiting for a last minute deal for some of the strikers he really did want.
But then Wenger did the same with Perez, and I like him (thought Wenger clearly doesn’t).
Wenger just can’t with then really, whatever way he does things!
Of course he can win. The signing of Kolasinac was a steal. Well done to him for that. Anyway, only time will tell in regards to Lacazette. I’m just a bit cautious. Time left in the window isn’t necessarily a huge factor. It could be that, since the Arsenal faithful were begging for a ”big money” signing, Arsenal were desperate to oblige and only saw Lacazette as the reasonably affordable option to quench their thirst…
Athletico Madrid tried to sign him. They have a recent track record of unearthing the likes of Falcao, Torres, Aguero and Greizman. That’s all the justification I need to give the guy a chance.
So many toxic arguements here, why can’t people discuss moot’s point instead of feeling insulted?
Back On Topic: I think lacazette was a desperate purchase. I think lacazette might not be on Europe’s top 5 striking talents list.
But I think the desperation was more desperate to have ‘him'(rather than desperate for any purchase) And the top European clubs are going after a player who scored half the goals lacazette did in the same league in a better team for one season so attention is elsewhere.
Nothing is black and white like people tend to think it is!
I hope we manage to keep Giroud as well and they give each other hell – which will lead to improved performances for both. Giroud already looked in the pre-season like trying to prove a point.
Walcott has raised his game too. The competition is good.
Walcott got 19 in 37 last season, and many were saying that was his best ever season for us in terms of all round performance. So not sure he’s really raised his game. Same with Giroud, a bench player last season but more or less solid whenever he came on, and 16 in 39. Neither are nearly as bad as people on here make out
Walcott wasn’t playing up front a lot last season. I would say from mostly out on the right a goal every other game isn’t bad.
I love Giroud, Can’t say I’m convinced by Lacazette. I’d also find it ironic that if we sign Lemar? And let Alexis go? We’d then have Ox, Bellerin, Lemar, Kolasniac dominating the wide areas and putting the ball into the box for a 5ft7 striker who’s just going to get outmuscled by centre halfs. Then we can spend the next 3-4 years talking about how we need a striker in the mould of Giroud to get the best out of our wing play, only to then sign one as we swap out wide players for a couple of inverted wide… Read more »
How tall is Messi?
Does he get on the end of a lot of crosses?
He’s not a CF so not really comparable…
We have been waiting for this type of forward for a while we need those close range goals and finishing off passing moves laca and hfb is a good mix to have i think? really hope welbeck can start to sharpen up his efforts on goal this butter boots and air shots habbit is getting out of control now i still like him though 16m still worth it even for those two goals vs united hard working too!
It is of course way to early to pass any sort of judgement on him but so far he hasn’t been setting the world alight and I would pick Welbeck ahead of him.
Hope he improves as he gets settled and starts to form an understanding with Özil and Xhaka.
You would pick wellbeck ahead of him? Looooooool
One or two months?
He’s already making excuses for being out of the title race by Sept/Oct…..
Mr negative strikes again.
Why go for the player instead of the ball?
If you don’t like my comments? then either debate them? Or ignore them.
Ok, here’s an answer to your comments (which, by the way, fit the relentlessly negative attitude that Martin points out): Wenger’s comments are entirely commonplace–everyone agrees, and often says, it often takes a player coming from another league some time (sometimes a whole season) to adapt to the English game. It’s not an excuse, it’s not something particular to Wenger or to Arsenal. And he said nothing about being out of the race if it takes time for Lacazette to settle–it just means we cannot rely on him as much as we will later. So, except for a lack of… Read more »
It’ll be interesting to see how quickly all the new faces at $iteh get up to speed…
So to sum up preseason based off this comments section. Walcott has raised his game and Lacazette needs raise his game? This based off of two games? ….. Of course Lacazette needs to ‘raise his game’ but he only just joined. It’ll take some time. Walcott has been with us since 2006.
It is worth pointing that he is from Lyon and has never played at any other club. Being French, Arsenal is the right choice however, he is really going to need time to adapt… in all aspects of life including football.
I’ve never been a big fan of Laca(not for 50 million) but i think he is an excellent option to have when you compare his profile to that of Giroud, Walcott and Welbeck. End of the day, Sanchez is the main man for me.
This is a really underrated point. Madrid play Benzema because he gets the best from Ronaldo, Costa is/was good at making space for Hazard, and I think the reason we have gone for Laca is he will do similar to what Welbeck (and previously Theo) does for Sanchez in terms of stretching defences, working channels, occupying defenders and vacating spaces for him to arrive in the penalty area. I think we’ve essentially purchased a much tidier Welbeck who can finish and pass much better, which is fine with me. I don’t think he will outscore Sanchez, I don’t think he… Read more »
As an aside, I watched Walker in the friendly against Spurs, for which he got much praise. I thought he proved once again that he runs extremely fast, that he is very determined, and that he cannot cross the ball.
Definitely going to take time to adjust to the PL for him as well as to his new teammates. Pre-season is such a mixing and matching of players it’s tough to get continuity with the players he’ll be playing with as the regular season begins. It’s also not clear how Wenger will look to deploy him early on. Will he start with Giroud (until Sanchez is ready) or as the lead striker? Also, how will he adapt to those teams that sit deep and counterattack us (which wasn’t the case in the preseason when it’s more up and down? Another… Read more »
Give him time. I’m really looking forward to seeing him link up with Sanchez, who loves playing with a mobile forward. All of his best games came when playing with either Welbeck or Walcott, not to mention how many through passes Sanchez provided last year that unfortunately were’t finished off. If we can get 20 from Laca and another 30 from Sanchez I will consider his signing a success.
People over-complicate things way too much. 1. Is Lacazette proven at sticking the ball in the net over 20 times a season? Yes 2. Will he receive plenty of service from one of the best no.10’s in the league, and other very attack minded / creative midfielders? Yes. People think moving to the premier league is like playing against the Harlem Globetrotters every week. Look at English sides in the champions league, easily beaten by teams from leagues the media portray as inferior. If you’re a half decent player in a team which suits your style, it’s pretty likely you’ll… Read more »
Well said mate. I would add for years we have needed a striker that can make those great runs and then finish them week in week out.
Despite what some gooners say, giroud, Walcott and wellbeck are not that player for differing reasons.
Laca will score a fuck ton of goals for us and by the end of the season there’ll be no doubt whose our best striker.
For now, all the giroud and Walcott fan boys can thumb me down. But those same people will be on this site saying how great laca is in a few months.
The two points are mutually exclusive. I am one of those ‘Giroud Fan Boys’ – and I hope and believe that Laca is a fantastic signing. You seem to be seeking arguments where there are none!
Giroud I would certainly keep as you need a player who can attack efficiently via ways other than through balls + when he comes off the bench, the last thing the opposition centre backs want to see is a 6ft 4 muscular guy coming on the pitch full of beans backing into them challenging for the ball. Welbeck & Walcott.. not to fussed if they get shipped out, decent squad players but not good enough to win the league. If Arsenal fans were really realistic, you would have to admit they wouldn’t get near Man City, Chelsea’s starting 11 and… Read more »
Not at all, I’m just a bit tired of people saying we should start wellbz, giroud or Walcott ahead of laca.
I want to see change, those players have all had chances and haven’t proven to be top class, so after spending £50m on laca I would hope we might give him a chance, but some gooners already right him off.
IMO giroud and Walcott will be great from the bench and wellbz is a very useful squad player
Off topic but I can’t resist gloating over the fact that Barcelona have been having sleepless nights over Neymar. Their sneaky players have for years unsettled our players (thrusting Barca top over Fabregas and ongoing batting of eyelashes at Bellerin). Karma really is a b!tch.
Lacazette looks like a confidance player, with a slight inferiority complex coming to a bigger club and his price tag. When he misses a ball he fees dissapointed. He needs someone to re-assure him and tell him not to worry. He will score those goals
Most new signings to the league need a bit of time to fully settle, but he looks sharp and more or less ready to go. Let’s hope he can do the business
Will be good seeing kolasinac putting crosses in for lacazette I think he will get lots of goals , n I’m hoping he will be more ian Wright Wright Wright !legend !
Off topic: 40m for 28yo Magic, that’s daylight muggery if I ever I saw it. How do Chelsea get away with selling players for ridiculous prices? Wish we could do a bit of that.
*Matic
Damn you auto correct!
Clearly so. But already he is much sharper than Welbz. BOTH Giroud and Lacazette present differing qualities which we will need to unlock teams with. To me there are 2 sets of forwards (generally) as discern from pre-season line-ups : …………………………….Giroud……………………………… …………..Iwobi……………………………Walcott………….. IN this case Walcott comes in direct off right side and adds as a second striker. Iwobi does more intricate work joined presumably by Ramsey. ……………………………Lacazette………………………….. ………….Welbeck…………………………..Ozil…………….. In this expression Welbeck is the one coming in direct from left as a ‘second striker’. Ozil does the more intricate work again joined presumably by Ramsey Of course there is… Read more »
I feel Wenger’s intent if he is going for Lemar is to play one of MOnreal or Kolasinac more central in the 3-4-3 and have the left sided player like Lemar essentially perform the same wing back role as Ox with more offensive intent. Both flanks will have Bellerin and either of as mentioned Kolasinac or Monreal as further alternatives. Whether this is an all encompassing solution is questionable as it does not afford us ability/flexibility to switch to 4-2-3-1 if need be. In essence we are slaved to the new formation which is not ideal. The crux of the… Read more »
Lacazette for me is more like a French Aguero. Walcott lacks the nous.