Alex Lacazette says he brings something different to Arsenal when he plays and knew that he could influence Saturday’s game against West Ham when he came off the bench.
The France international is yet to make Unai Emery’s starting lineup this season but made a big impact against the Hammers as a substitute when his cross was put into his own net by Issa Diop to give the Gunners a 2-1 advantage.
While Emery has thus far resisted the temptation to pair Lacazette with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in attack, the £46.5 million signing from Lyon maintains that he still has the trust of the Spaniard.
“I knew I could help the team,” reflected Lacazette. “What I do is different to everyone else. I just want to play and help my team all the time.
“When you come off the bench you have to be ready for your team-mates, it is what I tried to do and obviously it helped us to get the win.
“The manager just told me to play my game and said we will win if I play well.”
Having experienced a season under Arsene Wenger, the Frenchman also admitted that the playing style being implemented by the new coaching regime is very different.
“There is a lot of difference under the new manager,” he added.
“You can’t really compare the two coaches [Wenger and Emery] – they are their own men when it comes to football.
“Even if the aim is still to play and hurt the opposition with the ball, there are some big differences.”
Get him starting with Auba, lots of goals there.
yeah, but not from auba
Are you literally here just for the purpose of cutting into the team and players? It sure seems like it most of the time.
Do you have an incredibly short memory or just enjoy complaining?
Iwobi has got talent but he seems reluctant to do defensive duties . He kind of act he is defending.
Laca does defensive work more sincerely.
A Lac of agression in Iwobi’s game
You missed the Chelsea goal then, huh?
Nope and I didn’t miss his miss too. But I am not complaining abt his attacking play much but his defensive duties. Open your eyes.
Clearly you are too focused on criticizing Iwobi so much that you failed to realize Paul was talking about chelshit goal and not Iwoby’s- the one which Laca failed to track Hazard and eventually led to their winning goal. Am in no way endorsing Laca’s criticism but c’mon give the kid a break. We’ve seen worse performances from far more experienced players. It’s still a learning curve for him and he is obviously not an Mbappe but I still think he will come good.
Tbf Lacca did track Hazard.
He just got turned inside out by Hazard en route to his assist.
I’d rather have Laca play in the now famous no. 10 role than either Ramsey or Ozil: he may not have Ozil eye for a pass or Ramsey’s engine but he can hold off the ball better, he maneuvers better in short spaces , he’s more direct and know where the goal is.
Plus his contract is not an issue for now 😉
I think you are describing a classic no. 9–everything you said fits Olivier Giroud better than Lacazette (or Aubameyang).
I’m old enough to remember Derek Tapscott & David Herd playing C/F for us, they weren’t called strikers then. So I’ve seen em come & go. Till DB10 & Henry the best I saw was Radford & Kennedy. Radford is a forgotten man for us he scored a bucketful…. There is something about PEA & Kennedy that reminds me of them. Yeah they are different course they are, it’s a different era. But Radford used to work that inside forward channel so well & at speed as did Kennedy & who ever got in the middle got the benefit. If… Read more »
“You don’t have to play a pressing game or high line”
Certainly you don’t have to–but that is the style that Emery has played in the past, it is the style he says he wants, and it is the style he has tried to have on the pitch so far.
I really don’t think it’s as simple as that. There’s a reason why Klopp and Pep, arguably the best managers around right now (and all the other top young managers) play with a 4-3-3 variant/overload the midfield; it’s to control the play, to press and counter/defend in unison. I think this desire for a 2-man forward by most usually is at the expense of this key midfield point. Though a 3-5-2 could work, but then it comes back to your own point; “what players you have should decide how you play”, and we don’t have the midfielders for that type… Read more »
While Aubameyang comes across like a pure poacher that occasionally runs the channels, Lacazette looks like he’s a lot more commited to bringing others into play. He’s a great presser, keeps the ball under pressure well and helps with build up. He doesn’t quite have Auba’s instincts, finishing and raw pace though. If you could fuse them you’d have a near on perfect striker.
we all know that lacca, I think lacca should start with welbs, and drop auba, auba has lost his confidence in front of goal
I love his hold up play – we always seem more secure in possession when he’s on. Nice interplay with those around him and able to dribble to fend off defenders until able to release to a team mate. Quite similar to Giroud although less good on the end of crosses but better close control to get out of trouble.
Whilst I love this type of problem… Aubameyang? Or Lacazette? I only think there’s certain games we can pair them, and periods when we’re chasing the game, but I think it’ll be the exception and not the rule. I said in the summer I’m not sure you can afford to have one of Lacazette/Aubameyamg on the bench, when there’s other areas of the pitch that need upgrading, therefor we should have sold Lacazette providing we could get a top class edition in another position. This certainly isn’t a dig at Lacazette, just an observation of our situation. i also think… Read more »
He’s hungry.
Loved the way he came on and grafted for the goal.
If Auba does not deliver, Laca should get the nod.
That said, it was correct to start Auba just to work with his pace.
BUT we can also see that even Welbeck has function for us. He brings something different with power and height.
Its who knocks it in there is no automatic starter just like everywhere-else in the team.
The team is picking itself at this stage. Torriera has to play and so does lack and AUB, they have publicly admitted they want it and love it.
Do we remember when we had a go at Wenger at his tactics (me included) for his logic in playing Auba on the wing and Lacca up front? Almost all of us and all the popular podcasts (Arseblog, Arsenal Vision) were decisive in our conclusion; your best striker should play in his best position.
We even got uneasy with Emery when he did the same in Preseason.
And look at where we are now. Maybe sometimes it’s best to just accept that we don’t always know everything.