After a summer of big name strikers moving to the top sides in the Premiership, we were really hoping that Alexandre Lacazette will also be one of those taking the new season by storm. Right now the massive United signing Romelu Lukaku leads the Golden boot with 7 goals already, with Chelsea’s big money arrival weighing win with 6 along with Harry Kane and Sergio Aguero while our new man has made a reasonable start with 4 so far.
Lacazette came to Arsenal with a very big reputation in France, scoring 91 goals for Lyon in the last 3 seasons (in just 129 games) but he has come out and made a statement saying he doubts very much he will match those figures in his first season in the Premier League. “I will try my level best to achieve that but there is a big difference in that I was played in virtually every match at Lyon,” he said. “Here the manager likes to rotate players to keep them fresh for the Premier League.
“I will try my best to score that many goals but this is my first season so it’s all quite new.
“I want to settle in and repay the confidence that’s been shown in me.”
While rotation may limit Lacazette’s some, the France international also admitted that the pace and physicality of English top flight is very different from that of Ligue 1.
“The main difference in the Premier League is that game is a lot more physical. The pace of the game is also very different – I now really understand what it means to play box to box.
“Things can move so fast that you don’t have time to catch your breath or think about the next move.”
So should we be worried that he is still a bit lacking inconfidence facing Premier League defenders (and referees!) or does he just need a kick up the arse and get told to just go out there and do his job?
What do you think
Wenger will not only limit Lacas but will also destroy his confidence by his obsolete rotational system to accommodate his below average players.
Below average? Only one team in England has won a trophy this season and its Arsenal
Only 1 team in England won a trophy ? Didn’t Chelsea and United win trophies too?
This season
tf
For some bizarre reason of your own , shared only by Mourinho, among serious football people, you persist in regarding the Community Shield as a real trophy. Yes, technically it is one, because the winners get to hold up a piece of silverware. Big deal! BUT all true fans- without delusions- know full well it is no more than a nice day out at Wembley for fans and a glorified pre-season friendly. How can any competition comprising just ONE game be regarded as a trophy, except by those desperate for crumbs, like you and Mourinho? FYI , the last true trophy we won was only back in May, with the FA Cup. Many fans, though not me, even downgrade that , in comparison to PL or CL titles. But the Community Shield is rather like having a hotel on Mayfair in Monopoly and claiming it as a REAL hotel on REAL Mayfair. Do start using your brain, Grimy!
It’s normal if he is surprised with the physicalities in Premier League. The English players were educated to prioritize their physical development instead of the technical development.
Ricardo Carvalho, the legendary Portuguese defender that played for Chelsea, once said:
“Players who grow in England are different, they are tough, strong. My first year was difficult because I wanted the ball, wanted to play, and the pace here is unbelievable. The players are physically strong, and if they don’t play well they kick. It wasn’t my game. And every time I jumped with my arm my shoulder would pop out. With time it got weaker. In May 2005 I had an operation, I started to work a bit in the gym, which I’d never done before, and I improved a lot. (…) My body is not as strong as a normal centre-back in England, but I like to play hard and tackle. I love to make crazy tackles, I like to slide on the ground.”
That was why I doubted Lacazette could shine in his first season, because he is short, very much like Falcao’s and Walcott’s statures. In my opinion, Arsenal’s system need a tall, fast, strong and skillful target man like Van Persie, Lukaku and Cavani, to battle the opponent physically.
Lacazette is a very skillful forward, hence he would be more suitable to more technical systems, like Guardiola’s, Pellegrini’s and Del Bosque’s systems. But even if he cannot perform well as a striker, he could be used as central attacking midfielder/ forward like Sanchez and Griezmann.
He is a striker….not CAM..
Not sure why people expect miracles when he is coming to a new league… even so he has 4 goals in 7 matches plus hit the woodwork a few times
Welbeck is the tall fast player so a good foil
Issue has been Ozil who seems completely disinterested.. he should be threading balls for Laca to run on to…. need Cazorla back .. Sanchez and Laca aldo have barely played together.. they will get better and lets see..
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Just tell him, if he is good enough, he won’t get rotated aka Sanchez last season.
Be factual mate!
The deluded one rotated Alexis against Liverpool last season in epl and also in league cup.
yes, and the primadonna had a hissy-fit…getting subed is not = rotation – that is a fact.
sorry, ok he did not play one game – ok, but that is not rotation. Özil and Sanchez played almost all games last season, but rotation is when the players are being rotated in and out of the team regularly.
Lacazette has not been playing 90 min and all games, not because of a rotation principle but because he is not strong enough for the PL. If he gets there – he’ll play.
Wenger has been rotating the squad around the playground cup and europe league – because they are seciondary to the mission of winning the PL, not due to any principle of rotation. I actually aplaud Wenger on this one,
Lacazette will flourish more if the team can be direct and adventurous…… we have so many side ways passers, Wilshere playing constantly will make Lacazette flourish…..Wilshere directness is what Lacazette needs
You can take Lacazettes comments one of two ways. You can say he is simply being realistic and knows he has to toughen up, to succeed in the Prem -and also lose a bit of padding around that waist, which is noticeable; not exactly fat, but not highly toned either. OR you can think him as rather pessimistic and already making excuses for his own opinion that he is likely not to pull up any trees and time soon. Generally, and certainly among some fans and certain French managers we know, I prefer REALISTS, which some are definitely not. But it would be good, wouldn’t it to hear Lac say something along these lines: ” I have every confidence in my new club and teammates and truly believe I will amply repay their faith in me.” Confidence or straying into arrogance is often a fine line. But personally, in players I prefer one who fully believes in himself to do the business. But hey, Lacazette is certainly a true talent and though somewhat disappointed by what he said, I propose to believe in his ability to be a big star. The only shame might well be that many of US believe in him more than he does himself.
This is typical of international breaks we become desperate for news and analysis. We are trying to read into quotations from Laca’s view on EPL to French media. The more you try to read into it the more ridiculous it becomes. The guy has already scored for being eased in. What more do we want? Let him be. Just watch him do his thing on the pitch. He was managing french media the way he knows how.