Mikel Arteta has been starting Eddie Nketiah ahead of Alexandre Lacazette for Arsenal’s league games for some time now.
The Spaniard seems to prefer the young Englishman leading his attack over the former Lyon man.
However, he gave Lacazette the chance to take back his shirt when Arsenal faced Sheffield United in their FA Cup quarterfinal match.
I was excited to see Lacazette leading the line again, and I hoped that he would prove to Arteta why he is a better striker.
The Frenchman didn’t do that, I’m afraid. With Nketiah and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on the bench, Lacazette struggled to trouble the United defence.
He had some nice turns and touches, and he also earned the penalty that gave Arsenal the first goal. However, overall he didn’t do much to threaten the Blades.
One thing that impresses me about Nketiah’s game is his relentless pressing that makes defenders and goalkeepers make mistakes. That was missing today until the youngster replaced Lacazette in the attack.
Lacazette will look back on this game as a chance missed and I think I can understand why Arteta would rather start an inexperienced Nketiah better now.
Lacazette is still a fine striker, but he might have lost the number nine role at Arsenal for now until he can start getting useful in an Arteta system.
An article from Ime
