Arsenal: Alexandre Lacazette needs patience that he may not get

Alexandre Lacazette will need time to adapt to the pace, power and intensity of the Premier League according to Robert Pires. Arsenal and Arsene Wenger must give him time, even when the fans are shouting for change.

The Premier League offers unique footballing challenges. While other leagues may have the upper tier quality that used to preside on these shores, as is displayed time and time again in the Champions League, Arsenal often being the most embarrassing of these, there are nuances and aspects of football in England that is so substantially different to that on the continent, that it can be extremely difficult for players, and managers, with no prior experience to adapt to a whole new footballing culture.

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The pace and intensity at which the game is played at, and not just by the better teams in the league, the physical battle, the sheer size and stature of many of the players, especially defensively, and the more tactically abrasive managers all make for a league that is far more competitive than any of its European rivals.

Some may protest to the statement that the Premier League is the best league in the world and I, in fact, would be one of them. But what cannot be doubted is its uniqueness, its special trials and tests that are unreplicable in any other domestic league.

That is why so many players have struggled to flourish early on. It is also why Arsenal’s new club-record signing, Alexandre Lacazette, needs patience from Arsene Wenger. Speaking in the aftermath of the signing, Robert Pires, who also made a similar switch from France to England in 2000, Pires stated that Lacazette needs time to adapt to English football:

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"“I think he’ll be a success. But maybe he will need time to adapt. He is a good striker who has scored a lot of goals with Lyon. Of course, it will be very difficult in the beginning because when you play in France and move to England it is not the same, it is very aggressive. Maybe he will need time for the adaptation but everyone around him is very important, especially the French connection. But to make the adaption, to find the rhythm and the tempo, for me it took six or seven months. It was very tough, for me it was the aggression and intensity.”"

Unfortunately, when a £52-million price tag is slapped on your head, time is a rare and precious gift that you are rarely afforded. Given the other high-profile striking additions that have been made this summer — Romelu Lukaku and Alvaro Morata to Manchester United and Chelsea respectively –, if Lacazette is off to a slow start, while those around him bloom, then criticism could come his way sooner than desired.

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No matter his struggles, Arsenal must be patient with Lacazette. Wenger must allow him to make mistakes, and learn from them, and the fans must remain positive and supportive as he tries to work out some of the issues that he may well encounter. There is a lot of pressure on the Frenchman to perform. Pressure means little time and patience, something that could be extremely precious to his development.