Alexandre Lacazette makes a case for starting ahead of Eddie Nketiah

Alexandre Lacazette is giving Mikel Arteta a selection headache.

After coming off the bench to score yet another goal for Arsenal, Alexandre Lacazette is making it look unwise for Mikel Arteta to start Eddie Nketiah ahead of him.

The Frenchman has scored some important goals in recent months after netting the all-important goal against Olympiacos in Greece as well as scoring the winner against West Ham.

Nketiah claims that there is no rivalry between them as teammates but I think Lacazette has taken the competition in good faith and he is beginning to show his worth to the manager.

Lacazette is the more experienced of both strikers but he has been on a poor run of form this season.

It is understandable why Mikel Arteta decided to start playing Nketiah ahead of him, that kind of decision is meant to spur the Frenchman on and Arteta has to be delighted with the response that he has gotten from the former Lyon man so far.

I think it is time for Lacazette to be returned to the starting XI. Nketiah has been amazing and I’d like to think that he has taken his chances very well, but Lacazette is also showing that he is the man for big game occasions.

Lacazette probably needed to be dropped to wake him up and even though Nketiah is doing extremely well, he is still not on the same level as an in form Lacazette and if he is back to form then it is hard to see how you can leave him out with so many important games coming up.

An article from Ime

21 Comments

  1. I still wonder how Nketiah start games ahead of Martinelli. Arteta is not trying in that aspect.

    1. MA explained it yesterday,he said it was about balance having to play certain players out of positions,he named Auba,
      Saka,he hinted that when Tierney is back fully fit Saka will be moved meaning Auba too…..

  2. I fail to understand why Lacazette was not the first choice against West Ham. Arteta has his own designs who are his best players? he needs to really step up against his best mate when we play Man City!!!!

    1. Or maybe MA is trying to give some fringe players some play time so we can get offers to sell MA will only have transfer money if he sells players and all do Eddie has potential but he is a few years from first eleven what ever fans think, let’s just hope he nets a few before the end of the season so we can get max on him, financially we can’t wait until he fully matures in to his position

  3. Arteta should go and buy more Flair, technical and creative players for that midfield and wings too. Our type of football struggles to dominate and win games convincingly. We will never make top 4 with our current type of playing football.

  4. Exactly Franco. . We lack flair and not subtle In midfield and our wingers lack both especially and of course it’s not so wise to be dropping laza, yes he’s not been scoring much but I feel he has d best foot work of all our strikers and dat works for me coz he can help create goals

  5. on paper we have an awesome attack in reality its average because players just dont seem to work together … i suspect we will need to start afresh as auba will want to go if we dont have CL and probably laca too … nketiah is less than average and the hype i hear is delusional .. same goes for nelson … martinelli saka pepe will come good in future but we will need the right additions i suspect from sale of current assets

  6. Guardiola went into the Madrid game without a striker. He did the same against United and won emphatically. Should MA try some…………the fans would skin him alive.
    We should please allow MA to work cos he can’t select all the players to play. COYG.

  7. Emery won games but not convincing
    Many said we were just riding our luck
    He went 22 games unbeaten but so many fans said that the wins was just peppering over how bad we are.
    The rest we all know is history
    Fast forward to this day i saw Same fans who said that emery was just riding his luck now praising arteta even though we are seeing similar display from the early tenure of emery westham played us all over the place were far the better team how many man of the match display have leno put up.
    I am not comparing both managers not at all but it is just amazing how this world is. Just try telling an ozil fan that ozil is not assisting anymore and you will be shocked how effective he can make ozil look,.
    My point is that arsenal problems were mismanagement that have been accumulating over years of poor recruitment and player management give this team to the best manager and he will come short at the end of the day.
    We have players offering nothing. On high waves and if they don’t play they destroy the dressing room.
    If we believe players like ozil,lacazeth,xhaka,niles,socratis etc will take us to where we want to be then we can keep dreaming. I have never seen an arsenal midfield as terrible as this a midfield that you will have more confident on the defense scoring than the midfielders.
    A decent player in this arsenal team is now seen as a world beater because we are slowly losing sight of great players wearing arsenal jersey….

  8. We’ve been starting slow and just managing the game. How many 0-0 first halves have there been?! While that’s still an issue, I think bringing Laca off the bench is the right move. He’s an emotional player, and walking in at halftime without a goal has a psychological effect on any striker.

  9. Orbinho
    @Orbinho
    ·
    Feb 27
    THREAD
    In Mikel Arteta’s opening 12 games, Arsenal have conceded 0.83 goals per game, compared to 1.45 per match under Unai Emery – that sounds good right?
    Orbinho
    @Orbinho
    ·
    Feb 27
    Let’s look at shots allowed – Emery’s Arsenal allowed 15.8 shots per game and Areta’s Gunners have given up only 12.5 per game. Again, seems like a definite improvement.

  10. The fact that he scored one goal at home doesn’t mean that he should be given a start. Remember he killed us in the Europa league. If he had buried two out of the chances he got we still would be in the competition. However I can’t understand why M.A starts Nkeihta ahead of Martineli.

  11. For the posters saying why is MA starting Nketka over Martinelli. We have played Martinelli on the left so maybe he is more of a sub for Auba, I’m just spit balling here but football is a team game, giving Nketia minutes and getting a result is a good thing, in my view Laca is better coming off the bench as he has Is not getting any younger and can take advantage of a slightly tiring defence, if Laca is happy with that tactic and we keep winning then I’m happy.

    The amount of energy Martinelli uses maybe he needs more rest time, I’m a big fan of his since the first pre season game I saw him in but he is still young, I don’t want him burning out and MA is best placed to make that decision.

    1. I totally agree with what you mentioned about benching Laca, apparently, he is doing better whenever he is coming from the bench plus giving time to players like Nkeitah and Martinelli. In my opinion, starting with Martinelli in the next game with Auba in front and Pepe on the right will be a good option.

    2. Arteta didn’t start Martinelli for Olympiakos game, a crucial game, and subbed him in way too late. I dont know the reason Marti isn’t starting but I dont think it’s burnout. I think he genuinely wants Auba as a winger over striker.

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