Mikel Arteta was full of praise for Alex Lacazette after the Frenchman came off the bench to bag the winner as Arsenal beat Brighton 1-0 at the AMEX Stadium.
Brought on for Gabriel Martinelli on 66 minutes, the striker needed only 21 seconds to find the net as he calmly controlled Bukayo Saka’s cutback before curling home.
Having also scored from the spot against Chelsea, it’s been a good week for Lacazette, who has endured serious struggles in front of goal during 2020.
Asked about his super sub’s performance, Arteta said: “I think this is what all the managers dream of, to bring people off the bench and they win you the game like he’s done tonight!
“I think he’s been in really good form over the last few weeks and he’s been scoring goals. He’s full of confidence and today he had a sore back, so he couldn’t start the game, but he came on and won the game for us, which is massively important.”
He added: “We had the opportunity to refresh that and use him as well in other moments. We knew Auba could last for 90 minutes, we knew that Gabi wasn’t going to last for 90 minutes for sure, so we had a substitution there and someone with a goal threat that we believed was going to be needed.””
While Arsenal’s youngsters have earned plaudits for their contributions in the last week, the boss has been very keen to highlight the role of his older heads.
“We need big players and the senior players to step up in these difficult moments, and he’s doing that for sure,” said Arteta.
“Front players need their team-mates to support them and put them in situations like he had today, as often as possible. At the same time, they have to step up and create these opportunities themselves.
“I think Laca has been working really hard. Since I’ve been here, his work has never been an issue. His goalscoring record could improve but it’s improving because he’s so willing to do it for us.”
This site can make 8 articles from one short arteta interview
top work
I kind of agree…but it’s free at the point of delivery man…and it’s the best Arsenal site in the known universe.
“… best Arsenal site”
I agree because of one thing, Ads.
This site usually has just 3 Ads.
1 before the article, another in the middle, and one last Ad after ALL the comments.
And, none of them are video Ads that auto-play forcing someone like me to turn off my data.
I like it here!
Hahahaha
Top post, well said.
Best Arsenal site, bar none.
I guess Blogs is unable to finance his new Mercedes through patreon subscriptions alone. 😉
Weird comment from someone enjoying free content.
And gives us a chance to discuss each subject individually rather than lumping them all together
This is the reason they chop them up besides creating more content. We lot have a hard enough time staying on topic, imagine everyone trying to comment at everything all at once.
This allows Jimbo to write comments everywhere whether they make sense or not.
Take your time to read and understand. Then think. they will make sense to you eventually. Althought it may take you some time.
Read. Think.Understand. In that order
no read understand then think. do try to keep up
All I know is I miss rambling Pete 🙁
A football match is not just about the 11 who begin the match: the bench is usually a huge factor in how games pan out.
Having a striker of Lacazette’s pedigree on the bench is a plus for us.
Great teams change the course of a match through their bench.
Great job, Laca.
Sign a talented attacking midfielder centre that offers an additional goalscoring threat and a through ball option and then his confidence will build further still. Part of the problem for Laca and Auba has been that we don’t really have a clear goalscoring threat from midfield. Find that player and suddenly they will score loads more simply because we’ll have more attacking options………. And I’m not taking away anything from Smith-Rowe, Saka etc, they have been brilliant (especially Saka) but imagine this side with a player like Bruno Fernandes, a prime Fabregas, prime goalscoring Ramsey, David Silva etc or a… Read more »
Very smart point. But I do think that also iur midfielders (young ones like ESR and Saka) will start scoring more frequently… Willock is also the type.
Pépé was supposed to create from the wing like Nasri did.
Pepe is a prime example of AFC poor recruiting program by not understanding the attributes of a player, how the player fits into the existing team providing balance and what is the players value in terms of the market. It will be interesting to see what the manager wants to do with Pepe, move him on or find a role for him in the team that allows his talent to come out. He’s an incredibly talented player but needs to have the system built around him and should be a fast break system. We aren’t going to do that so… Read more »
Imagine this side with mesut ozil in the 10 role no doubt we would be doing alot better.
we have a world class creative midfielder sat doing nothing
we are a side who cannot create chances and are terrable to watch
He would probably be “sick” and asking for extra days off training while the team needs him. Better to leave him out completely and use the players you are sure you can rely on even if they are not as good as he was 4 or 5 years ago
Özil would have been the first human to contract “Corona” for the sixth time inside of 2 months just to avoid going north.
And a few backaches in between from taking the swab tests.
“terrable to watch”. I rest m case.
‘i rest m case’? done well there didnt you sunshine
I personally believe that those who believe Ozil is the solution, or even a solution, forget how little he turned up during the last 18 months he was on the pitch for us. Whilst I would love to have the Ozil we had for his first two years at the club, that isn’t the player we have anymore. What we have now is a player that doesn’t care enough or try hard enough to make a proper difference. He also might not even be good anymore. We need to move on and sign someone new
Here we go yet again.
‘The last two years/eighteen months’ myth gets an airing.
He hasn’t even been given the opportunity to play in the side since March.
This is an unlikely hypothetical, but I saw a rumour a day or two back that Juventus were interested in Ozil. How would folk feel about swapping 6 month Ozil loan for 6 month Ramsey loan?
Done.
Plot twist:
Arteta and Ole become the new Wenger/Ferguson and dominate the PL for decades
Sell.
The ozil of old, not the present one. Because the present ozil is shit
Tell me, exactly, how any player can be anything – even ‘shit’ – if they’re not being given the opportunity to actually play….?
He’s been trolling the club for about a year now on social media. Prime example of not being a team player. We have no idea of his transgression against Arteta and I don’t care, I trust Arteta to manage the club, and I’ve never trusted Ozil to play for the club instead of himself. Ozil plays for Ozil and he’s not even good enough for today’s fast paced, high intensity physical game. Players have to play two ways and Ozil has only been a one way player.
So why are Juventus interested in him………?
You don’t know what you’re talking about, mate.
Wowww… You are a proper Arteta Fan boy ain’t you ‘ Trust ‘ Arteta to manage the club… 15th last week , moved up to 13th this week… Maybe 11th this coming week
And why is he not given the opportunity? Because he’s an absolute diva who cannot play in a high press / high energy / track back and work your arse off style team. He was Wenger’s pet project that 3 subsequent managers have all realized is utterly shit and who doesn’t give a fuck about Arsenal.
That’s why he doesn’t get the opportunity.
yes because that style has show such great sucess so far this season.
i must be missing something because i have seen none of this hight energy work your arse off team.
just drab boring football from a team who cant create chances
Check the table and see where this ‘high press/ high energy’ game has got us.
And these managers you mention – at least two of them (Wenger and Ljungberg) have both publicly stated that Ozil should be reinstated to the side.
As for high press – where has that got us? Our worst league season for 40 years and 15th in the table.
As for someone who doesn’t care about Arsenal, he didn’t have to publicly state his support for the team, despite being dropped, but he did.
Keep the feeble excuses coming.
Nothing to do with with the tactics and everything to do with the Wenger dead wood we still have on the books and can’t get rid of. To which Ozil is #1 culprit…and no, Freddie did not want to reinstate him, he booted him to the sidelines after giving him another chance to prove us all wrong, which of course he didn’t/couldn’t be bothered…
Ljungberg publicly stated only a few weeks ago that Ozil should be reinstated to the team.
Try and keep up.
Well, if Ljungberg had any success when he was in charge, he could have been here still and play Özil all he wants.
Pleased for him.
He may be a yard short of pace that he used to have and unable to last a full 90 minutes at high intensity, but he still a fine international, whose goals are proving all the doubters – and there were many of them, especially on this page – wrong.
5 goals in the league. well done today but hes hardly pulling up any trees is he.
Who exactly is any player in this team proving wrong when we are 13th in the league
you sound like granit xhaka after his odd good game in 10 the other day
Just giving the man a vote of confidence rather than the ignorance that was poured onto these pages by a good many during the summer.
Our woes are largely down to Arteta’s exclusion of Mesut Ozil.
fair enought i think hes done ok when played.
to be fair a prime alan shearer would struggle to score goals with the style of football this team plays
Messi would struggle with LEGO ball.
So good to see Laca start scoring again. For the goal yesterday, seemed like he didn’t have to look at the goalpost before scoring. Hope that’s a sign of good form.
Laca The best STRIKER we have.
I really felt that Lacazette should have started above Auba. Auba has been too slow and dull lately. And his lack of pressing and veering off to the left was one of the reasons why our attack was blunt in the first half. it looks he still thought as a left winger instead of centre striker, which was also one reason why Martinelli didn’t have much expression in the attack as he was forced to play unnecessarily deep by Auba’s mispositioning. Our midfielders also resorted to the bad habit of slow, sideways and backward passes (something I felt they have… Read more »
Also, I personally don’t get why a lot of people clamour for another CAM when we have ESR. In retrospect, it’s kinda good for the club that Willian was away briefly thereby forcing the manager to use him. Why do a lot of us believe he cannot really be the solution we have cried out for a while now as the creative midfielder? Is it because he is young? Fabregas was much younger when AW started using him. So why not ESR now? What we need is some calculated belief. Does he have the profile and attitude to be a… Read more »
I have a confession to make: Over the last few weeks, whenever I see a comment by Jimbo, I automatically downvote it – without even reading it. I realise that this is wrong and that there’s no excuse for it. I apologise uncoditionally. By way of attrition, I have gone back over the last two weeks and read the posts. As it transpires, I would have downvoted them all anyway!
Youve gone back over two weeks worth of posts and re read them all?.
I know christmas week can be a bit slow
But for the love of god young man get a bleedin life!
Let’s just hope his form continues in front of goal, that’s where we really need him to weigh in as Auba’s form seem to have dipped a bit. Credit to the kids who’ve come in and done a job for us. This is starting to look more like a team. COYG!!!
I never got why people were so willing to sell Laca. We lack the player he is who can combat for space and play others in but his finishing (short lift) also useful in tight congestion. Thought yesterday we were in general a bit leggy understandably bc Arteta did not rightly want to risk too much and went with same formation bar Laca. Did not think Auba was sharp and that could be confidence. He interchanged with Martinelli middle and wide left which was fine. BUT goal again came from the right which is a welcome sign. Saka again with… Read more »
Better spread of articles today blogs. Great job.
Arteta, Let’s give him a new contract… 250k or 300k… What the hell 350k !!!
Ozil is done. Forget about that man. Let’s focus with young stars.
Other thing,arteta musnt be like wenger to force a player even if he doesn’t perform well.why use William 7 to more games and he doesn’t score,create chances? One or two games is enough to prove your quality. We sick and tired of loosing games