Canadian international Cloe Lacasse, who joined Arsenal Women during the summer transfer window, had a fantastic season at Benfica and was awarded “Best Player of Liga BPI” in 2022-23, after scoring 21 goals and 13 assists in that title-winning season. With those kind of stats Arsenal fans must have been thinking “Lacasse, what a signing!”, and understandably so..
Unfortunately, the Canadian has not had the impact that many expected. Jonas Eidevall hasn’t used her much. And some have suggested that when he has played her, he has played her out of place on the right wing. Even so, she’s managed two goals and two assists.
Eidevall needs to trust Lacasse and play her more in the second half of the season, and if I were to advise him on where to play her, I’d put her on the left wing. When she was flying at Benfica last season, she mostly played on the left wing.
Yes, she can play all over the attack because she is comfortable with both feet (though she may be mostly right-footed). She’s technically gifted, she’s got a great shot, and TFA’s Selina Ben Hmida conceded as much in a scout report on Cloe’s time at Benfica: “Lacasse knows exactly when to use the right or the left foot and always looks in control of both types of passes… What is even more impressive is that she frequently succeeds to shoot using her left foot from a difficult angle and still scores, which says a lot about her shooting techniques.”
Arsenal women have struggled in front of goal, despite the high expectations placed on them given the quality of their strikers. Lacasse has to play more in the second half of this season, and Jonas Eidevall should consider putting her on the left wing, where she was a hit last season.
Caitlin Foord is fantastic, but she needs to keep things simple at times; a fight for a starting slot between her and Lacasse might be of real benefit to Arsenal women.
What do you think Gooners? How does Eidevall get the very best out of Lacasse?
Michelle Maxwell
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As a past defender I always hated a box runner with the ball, hard to force where you want them and very easy to bring down for a penalty
Jonas Eidevell doesn’t trust several of his players because he’s wedded to his system. Arsenal won’t win the league with him in charge.