Hello gunners far and wide, it is my favourite day of the week and I can’t wait to witness another week of shocking results this matchday, which has already begun yesterday as the Liverpool slayers were given a humble pie in their own backyard to end their 100 percent record, phew!
Aside from the entertaining display of the visitors, I was impressed by the ruthlessness and confidence of Patrick Bamford, what a player! I quickly thought to myself, “no wonder Nketiah was allowed to return to Arsenal, he is nowhere near Bamford’s level” in trying to be fair, I concluded that maybe Nketiah will do better in a team that is encouraged to attack freely.
That said, I have been thinking about Lacazette’s form for some time now, and it seems like this is the perfect time to write about it.
I fear Lacazette will also be remembered as a player that has only one good season for Arsenal because since he was voted Arsenal’s player of the season, he has been average at best. I love his qualities and what he brings to the team, he gives us what nobody can give us in the team, but it frustrates me to see an elite striker miss the chances he misses, it is mind boggling.
In my opinion, Arsenal have not really made Lacazette feel wanted and important right from the days of Wenger. He is always the guy to get dropped for the big games despite always scoring against the top six teams. When he starts, he is also the first to get subbed, which continued under Emery and I fear it is starting to manifest under Arteta which only affects his form further.
Having thought about it, i think his continuous loss of confidence may be as a result of the following:
France snub
He has been completely ignored by the France national team even when he was in his best form, could that be why he lost his motivation? We all know all players want to play for their countries, and constantly being ignored might have hurt him.
Contract Situation:
Lacazette watched as Saka and Aubameyang made the headlines because of their new contracts, and Martinelli also got offered a new contract, but despite also being in the last two years of his contract, nothing is being said or done about Lacazette. On the contrary, he was made available for transfer. Rumours had it that we tried to include him in the Partey deal and so on, This will hurt a player’s confidence in my opinion, he is human after all.
Constant change of Managers
Only Leno, Aubameyang and probably Guendouzi stood out in what has been a very frustrating two years, constant issues on and off the pitch, change of managers and all, this may have contributed to his form.
Team Structure and Tactics
Lacazette plays a similar role to Firmino in our team, some call him (Firmino) a defensive striker. Jurgen Klopp will always start him even if he does not score. He is their Alpha technician, he makes Liverpool tick by playing like a number 10 in their 2-3-2-1-2 movement. He plays so deep to connect the midfield and offense.
Technically, Firmino is far superior to Lacazette but Lacazette is a bit more prolific.
In our team, Lacazette is like a lite version of Firmino who still manages to be in good scoring positions sometimes, but the problem is he misses too many CLEAR CUT chances.
It is not a coincidence that Aubameyang benefits from this structure while Pepe or whoever plays on the right does not, that’s because we overload the left side of attack and almost completely ignore the right. Mane and Salah are two inside forwards which in our case should be Aubameyang and Pepe, but we are so focused on the left thereby putting more pressure on Lacazette who is already working hard.
As we do not have a good number 10, Lacazette is forced into midfield to occupy that position (an instance is our goal against City in the FA cup). Imagine we have a De Bruyne/Cazorla/Payet behind Lacazette. Aubameyang and Pepe in a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 set up, interesting right?
As we already know, our midfield lacks creativity and MOVEMENT. We scored our first goal against Sheffield because Elneny moved into space, thereby causing Bellerin to move further up (kindly watch again) unlike the first half where we kept passing the ball in midfield and defense.
Our midfielders are static and they play too safe, it forces the strikers to drop deep to get involved. That is why Aubameyang playing through the middle may never work, he, with Pepe, are not as technically sound and imaginative as Saka and Lacazette. I was so surprised Willian was deemed a better false 9 than Lacazette who is already playing in a very similar role. This will further affect his already fragile confidence in my opinion, he really looks a frustrated figure at the moment.
We need Lacazette to score more, we need to make him feel important and wanted like Aubameyang, we need runners in midfield, more forward and expressive football, we need better chemistry in our front line, Richarlison, DCL,James— Son, Kane, Bale—-Mane, Firmino Salah etc. Close your eyes and imagine the chemistry in these teams and compare them to Auba…Laca…Pepe.
All i am saying is, our structure and game play AT THE MOMENT (I am hoping it changes soon) can make any striker less effective.
What do you think?
Goonerboy…