Arsene Wenger says that hisdespite protestations to the contrary, Alexandre Lacazette is frustrated by his first season in English football.
The French striker has scored 8 times so far, but is now 9 games without a goal as he experiences a mid-season slump.
The Arsenal manager says it’s normal in a debut campaign in England, as players get used to the differences in refereeing.
“What he has worked on is to cope with the intensity of the challenges,” said Wenger. “In France, if you go down it’s a free-kick.
“In England, you go down and it’s no free-kick. That is much more difficult for a striker to get used to.
“This guy is used to scoring 30 goals per year so at the moment, even if he says no, I am sure he is frustrated.
“It is always a surprise for the players. You accelerate and play more and the body needs to get used to it, the mind as well.
“It’s a difficult period, the first year, because the family comes over and it’s a bit less football-orientated.
“But you get used to it and he has played many games until now and I would say that the physical pressure on the strikers here in England has become absolutely massive.
“The defenders have become much quicker than before. They are all athletes now at the back.”
The Gunners could do with Lacazette finding some goal scoring form again tomorrow, with just two wins from eight in the league, three points are well overdue.
It’s a very good point by Wenger. He hasn’t played in such a physically demanding league before and it is only to be expected that he experiences a slump at some point. You have to look beyond it at the quality of his touch and movement to see that when his acclimatisation is complete he will be fantastic.
No one ever passes to him, that’s why he’s not scoring. Chambers is the only one who plays him decent balls
True that. I think he’s the best striker that we’ve bought over the past decade. The goals will certainly come, no doubt
No doubt. But until then, what should we do?
Pray. #prayforalex
Got to say, Lacazette may not be scoring but he seems to put a good shift in at every game I see him play. He isn’t frightened to get stuck in and he also knows the value of a pass.
I think there could be many good years ahead for this fella….
Maybe he would have scored some if you weren’t taking a piss on him each game, by substituting him who can score goals for Welbeck etc. You are kinda at fault here Wenger, I don’t see Lukaku leaving at 65 minute mark, striker needs confidence, Lacazette lost it and you clearly are not helping. How? Lacazette is currently under huge pressure from everyone around him : – He was paid 50 million – He used to score 20+ each season – He started his Arsenal career nicely – Fans want him to perform and deliver goals – Manager also wants… Read more »
I’m sure is he would have played 90 minutes every game and picked up an injury you would have been here blaming Wenger for overplaying him in a new physical league and not managing his workload.
Despite his barren run in front of goal, I have absolute faith in Lacazette to eventually find form. You don’t go from prolific to irrelevant overnight. His poise, close control and wonderful shot on both his left and right clearly demonstrate the calibre of player we’ve picked up. Confidence is everything in modern-day football (just look to Morata, Lukaku et al). I can’t wait to see him start slamming them in.
In a decent team he’d be fine. In an inconsistent team like Arsenal, there’s no surprise he’s struggling a bit. Sort out our problems in the summer and he’ll flourish.
All athletes at the back…. Except the bfg!
Yet the BFG put in an amazing performance against Chelsea not too long ago
Per is 33, knows it’s the right time to transition out of top level, and is one of the most perfect examples of a dedicated professional you’ll ever see.
Show some fucking respect. That’s ridiculous.
Are you down voters saying he can run?
Or just have no humor left after the last two seasons!
He purrs along just fine.
He was scoring goals until Ramsey got injured. Both Ramsey and Laca’s game based on movement and intelligent off the ball runs. Lacazette is a typical Arsenal type player.
The only odd one out is Sanchez as his playing style has always been different to what we are used to seeing at our club. Lacazette IMO is much better than Sanchez but the thing that makes Sanchez great is his energy levels. The guy is a physical monster and i hope we replace him with 2 players instead of one.
Very good analysis. At Lyon, the Ramsey role was played by Tolisso. The Laca goal where he scores the screamer and did his famous non-celebration, it’s Tolisso making the decoy run ahead of him. And yeah, Alexis is the current red-headed stepchild but in his prime he was scoring and assisting at Henry/RVP levels. During that unbeaten run in the first half of last season when Wenger pushed Ozil forward in search of goals, Alexis showed off an incredible ability to spot his runs and deliver precise, creative assists. It was some of the best football we played, especially the… Read more »
Agreed. Not just Laca but any legit striker or winger that would have permanently left Sanchez at striker and not tempt AW to move him back to Winger.
He wants full control he gets full blame for the inadequate transfer policy and being cheap. Always looking for a bargain. Its not like we are out there buying 5-8 players every summer. We are targeting certain players and if it fails to materialize we get stuck with a panic buy and no legitimate plan B in the transfer market.
He’ll get there -the guy puts a load of effort in, makes the runs and has an eye for goal and a hard finish.
I do hope so – at the moment he’s hanging his head a bit as if wondering if he made the right choice of clubs.
Looks a waste of money so far.
He makes so many intelligent runs it must be frustrating when there isn’t even an attempt to find him. Taking him off with 20 minutes of football still to play would also hamper your goal tally.
Which is why we should get Mahrez instead of a Malcolm. Firstly for 40m for the Brazilian compared to 50m for the Algerian, its a no brainer to get the more experience and complete player. Secondly Mahrez is already blooded in the PL and proven. Thirdly in terms of marketing, Mahrez will make the difference in commercial sales. IF Wenger penny pinches and goes for future potential we are risking it considering our league position. We are simply not in the position for this sort of gamble but there is no one in the board to nudge him and remind… Read more »
I would rather gamble on Malcolm upside then whatever Mahrez brings. I don’t care for immediate results but long term vision for the future manager.
I think what doesn’t suit Lacazette is him having to drop deeper to come get the ball. Then sometimes he is out wide on the right so it means he is nowhere near goal. It isn’t his fault as he is asked to play that way and as a lone striker.
All this ‘lack of service’ excuse is nonsense. You could make the excuse for any striker. He needs to be sharper but it takes time to adapt. BUT with GIroud likely gone this summer, Welbeck barely a “plan C” we would do well to consider our options replacing Alexis. Instead of a like for like player, we need to cast one eye on the CF role. IF a Draxler is available we should be strongly considering him instead of risking a band aid option (We’ve had enough of those – Perez, Campbell) Draxler is two footed and has the frame… Read more »
Why? copy and paste everywhere.
We could do with a few “Athletes” at the back.
Lacazette has looked good in almost every game this season, even with no supply he looks impressive.
No doubt he’ll come good and explode.
I dont know. Considering he plays with one of the best frontline in the Prem i was expecting more goals from him. But credit where its due. His hold up play and runs are getting better with each game and he’s physical too. Hat-trick against Bournemouth please?
What must be more frustrating for him is making all those well timed runs and we keep passing it from side to side and again
As much as getting used to a new league he has to get used to not getting enough timely supply.
Anybody who watched him play at Lyon knows that they always tried to release him at every opportunity. He’d use that trademark Fabregas look up to see what the striker is up to before sending a perfect over the top pass.
Problem is he isn’t being found with the pass that his runs are asking for. Sanchez hogs it, ozil/wilshere goes backwards and sideways to go forwards while Lacazette is calling for it off the shoulder. I can only remember a handful of times over this season where someone has hit a cross for him, and when they have he has scored.
its not lacazette,s fault, its only jack who is creating anything for him, we need someone else besides jack
Wenger (10 Jan 2018) : We won’t sell Sanchez until we able to find replacement for him. Wenger (31 Jan 2018) : We wish Sanchez all the the best in his new club. We’ve already have world class replacement in Iwobi who’s clearly has the potential to be a World Best Player in the next 25 years. He’s progressing much better than Henry when he joins Arsenal. Wenger (1 Feb 2018) : We don’t have the mighty financial resources like City or Utd. I will not buy players just for the sake of pleasing the fans. That’s why I decided… Read more »
No mention at all about our style of play.
Watching Lacazette and I’m convinced this team only knows how to play with Giroud and other strikers have suffered. It explains why Podolski seldom worked Andrew wasn’t given a chance to work.
Watching Lacca is like watching Podolski when he played a stint or two as striker. That another player imo we didn’t take full advantage of.
I beg to differ. My thoughts are the opposite. I don’t think we know how to play with OG. We don’t take advantage of non of his strengths on a consistent basis.
If thats the case whats the point of buying a young player from the same league for this window unless he is highly rated? Not just potential