Alexandre Lacazette has his critics. A few lorry loads of them to be exact. They deride his fitness, stamina, movement, attitude and anything else they can think to criticise.
Funny things is Lacazette’s actually playing well this season. Arguably better than he has at any other time during his Arsenal career. He might even be playing well enough to earn a new contract.
That’s a thought sure to chill the spines of his main detractors, but a new deal has to be a possibility. After all, Laca is the leading goalscorer in Mikel Arteta’s team. He’s also the only true centre-forward on the books who suits the way Arteta wants to play. Or at least the way I think Arteta wants to play. It isn’t always clear.
There are few caveats here, of course. For instance, Lacazette topping the Arsenal scoring charts with a mere 11 goals this late in the day shows just how mediocre a season it’s been in attack. Consistency and quality have been in short supply, at least among the squad’s strikers not named Lacazette.
His critics can beat the drum all they wish, but three in three in the league has been a welcome return. Especially since those goals have helped Arsenal bank seven points. You can’t sniff derisively at valuable goals.
Lacazette’s important contributions are coming at an opportune moment for a player whose contract expires after next season. Arteta has previously said talks over a new deal would have to wait until this campaign is concluded. Further reports have even taken the Frenchman’s departure for granted, with Roma and Atletico Madrid waiting in the wings.
Arteta has reasons to reconsider Arsenal’s stance. The primary one being Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s ongoing struggles. We’ve now reached the stage where it’s safe to say the skipper has become a problem.
Auba’s scored just nine times during a tumultuous campaign. There have been issues off the pitch that have prompted a reaction from the manager. Being dropped for the recent north London derby ought to have been enough to refocus Aubameyang. Instead, his performances since have been dreadful.
There’s been a visible lack of effort from a striker who looks increasingly like he wants to move. Maybe I’m reading between the lines a little too much, but there can’t be many connected to Arsenal who feel good about Aubameyang’s lousy form at the business end of the season.
Auba is under contract until 2023, but his regression is in sharp contrast to Lacazette’s improvement.
There’s definitely something about playing for Arteta that seems to suit Lacazette. That’s the case even after his garbled words following Sunday’s 3-3 draw with West Ham fuelled conspiracy theorists.
The phrasing definitely needed work when Laca explained a dire first half the following way: “We didn’t respect the game-plan from the coach and we conceded three goals.”
Clumsy? Yes, but I don’t see how anyone could read this as a direct critique of Arteta. It is surely obvious Lacazette’s words were lost in translation. English not being his first language and all.
There’s better evidence Arteta can count Lacazette among his most ardent followers. Try the striker’s appearance in some of the best performances of Arsenal’s season.
This entire campaign has been spent in search of a footballing identity. When things have clicked, we’ve seen tantalising glimpses of the style of play Arteta wants. Quick and intuitive passing combinations between like-minded, creative talents. It’s all very Arsene Wenger, and I’m fully on board with the intent at least.
It’s not a coincidence Lacazette has led the line in many of the performances that surely serve as a blueprint for the Arteta grand design. He started and scored twice during the 4-0 win away to West Brom on January 2. From a style point of view it’s still Arsenal’s best performance this season.
Lacazette’s role was no minor one. He linked brilliantly with attacking midfielders Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe. Arsenal’s squad is loaded with skilled supporting players, be they midfield playmakers like Martin Odegaard or mercurial wingers like Nicolas Pepe.
All of these players need a striker who will create space and link play with clever movement and touches. Lacazette knows how to operate with his back to goal. He also knows when to drop out of the middle and leave runners to break ahead of him.
His ability to play the right pass in the final third is likely a chief reason why Arteta tried to repackage the frontman as a No. 10. Remember those depressing, pre-Odegaard days?
Lacazette still offers an all-round game when he plays in his natural position.
It’s rare to get those kind of numbers from Aubameyang. He’s a feast-or-famine finisher. Either he puts his chances away or he’s a passenger.
Lacazette is a better fit for how this team is shaping up and figures to look next season. Odegaard staying or not won’t diminish the importance of Smith Rowe and Saka.
Needing a different kind of centre-forward than Aubameyang might explain why Gabriel Martinelli is working in that role during training. Martinelli is still waiting for Arteta to play him more often, something that may not even be able to happen at the start of next season.
Football.London’s Tashan Deniran-Alleyne noted how Martinelli is set to represent Brazil at the Tokyo Olympics. It means the 19-year-old could be playing games from July through to early August.
Aubameyang’s struggling, Martinelli might not be ready to go at the start of next season, and it’s been a while since Arteta turned to Eddie Nketiah. Lacazette will have more chances to prove why Arsenal should think twice before letting him move on this summer.
I don’t know what a contract that suits both parties looks like, but Arteta and Edu should start working on some rough drafts now.
The 49 Steps 
[…] the striker finding the net, four times in his last six domestic outings to be exact. Time to put a smidgeon of respect on his […]
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[…] net consistently. More than the goals, one of the reasons I’ve endorsed the idea of Lacazette getting a new deal is his fit for Arteta’s […]
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