Alexandre Lacazette

One thing I will give Giroud credit for is he’s elite in the air, I’m yet to see what Lacazette is elite at in his time in North London thus far.

He should play for West Brom then because heading doesn’t suit our style and it’s accepted he’s a plan B at best. Lacazette finishing was elite in Lyon, I swear he had the best conversion rate in Europe last season

I don’t think Pulis would’ve attracted Aubameyang :zipper_mouth_face:

The way people talk about Giroud you’d think he had Sanogo’s record.

‘near useless beyond his first touch’ is clearly disproportionately false and an unobjective assessment .

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While sat behind the goal the other night I paid close attention to Lacazette’s movement off the ball - mainly in the first half.

There were a bunch of details you could analyse but to put it simply, it’s obvious he’s losing faith in teammates reading his runs and picking him out.

I think it’s been frustrating and fairly unlucky for him. He’s been ignored and misread by teammates quite often. There have been times where he’s got into some good positions for no reward.

Confidence comes into it, mistakes from Lacazette come into it, but I think it’s also a failure of his teammates. And I include Özil in this.

One example of him not being serviced efficiently is the Chelsea game at home when we’d just gone 1-0 up. Then immediately we created this opening:

Lacazette made a smart and unseen inward run. He’s calling for it and he’s ready to pounce. Chelsea defenders have no idea he’s there and they’re stretched.

But Alexis was too inefficient with his end product.

Alexis’ first instinct was to cut inside, which let the defenders get back in position and basically butchers the move. Lacazette had to adjust on the fly but the chance isn’t half as good by this point.

This is where he ended up receiving it…

This kind of thing has been happening quite a lot with Laca. Think it’s taking a toll on his natural game.

With Alexis replaced with Mkhitaryan and our team seemingly playing better football I have hope that we can start servicing Laca more efficiently when he makes these kinds of subtle movements.

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He definitely has been affected by Alexis ball hogging for sure

However in the games Alexis hasn’t played he hasn’t been setting the world alight either. Well let’s see, maybe that will take time to get used to it.

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This is what I have been advocating.

When people were creaming themselves over ‘AOL’ It was clear to me that Laca was at the bottom of a attacking power dynamic dominated by Alexis and his playing style.

Now that he’s gone I expect him to be grow in stature as a primary goalscorer whilst the guys behind him want to create chances as their first instinct. For Laca it’s important to focus on what he does in the final third. He doesn’t need to drop deeper let Ozil and Miki do the creating for him

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Someone gets it :pray:

Very crucial point that. It’s about staying true to his game and trusting that he can focus on his natural approach. No need to over-adapt. It’s an important juncture for his Arsenal career.

The fact you’ve highlighted his best bit of movement as a play where he’s continually marked/blocked, behind the ball player and in poor positions generally pretty much shows how poor his movement is.

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Out of curiosity what’s his record in the games Alexis has missed ? Given Sanchez ball hogging has cost him and all.

We have been shit in first half.
Seems like we are finally finding some rhythm and with Mkhitaryan coming in, surely we will have relatively better second half of season.

Let see his contribution now, shall we?

Didn’t state anywhere that this is his best bit of movement. Just thought of one example where he wasn’t serviced well despite getting in to what I consider a threatening position.

You seem to have a really simple way of looking at performances and ability.

It was one example where Sanchez happened to be the one who failed to be the provider. It’s not taking away all the blame from Lacazette but poor service is what I consider a substantial contributing factor to his struggles here. I know I’ve seen plenty of instances where the likes of Ozil, Wilshere, Iwobi and Ramsey could have set him up but either ignored him, didn’t spot him or flopped the service to him.

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I’m just looking forward 2 years time when he still hasn’t scored 30 goals in a season for us and everyone is saying “ yeah Aussie you were right, Lacazette isn’t world class “
I remember when I joined this forum most were saying Wenger was going to win the league again :rofl:.

It’s reactionary to hate Lacazette after only 6 months here, he’s hit 30 goal seasons before and he’ll do it again, now with a focused team around him

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Don’t think anyone is claiming he is or will be.

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I remember most alongwith you saying Arsenal won’t win any trophy with Wenger again.

Well that’s all I’m saying not that he’s shit, he just doesn’t have anything I find elite about his game. I thought maybe his finishing, but based on what I’ve seen in the EPL with less time to convert chances, his finishing isn’t elite.

Fair enough he has not shown Alexis esque impact but he is not a complete dud even in matches where he doesn’t score.

I have a feeling the football with him, Wilshere, Ozil, Mkhitaryan, Iwobi will be ace in coming months.
If we add a midfielder & winger, we could really collectively play better football & score more as a team.

Lets wait.

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Well, in 2014-15 Sanogo in 140 min (biggest sample size available) averaged 1.3 dribbles per 90, 0.7 fouls drawn per 90, dispossessed 1.0 per 90, and 1.7 bad controls per game, with a 62.2% passing percentage, Giroud in the same season, his best season for Arsenal, averaged 0.3 dribbles, 1.1 fouls drawn, 1.9 dispossessed, and 1.9 bad controls, with a 67.7% passing percentage.

So yeah, it would certainly be less ridiculous to compare his record re: link up to play to someone like Sanogo then it would be to say something as absurd as: