Arsenal: Robert Pires’s Alexandre Lacazette warning necessary

Arsenal legend Robert Pires has offered a timely reminder about Alexandre Lacazette, and it is definitely something supporters need to keep in mind.

Arsenal made a massive splash when they broke the club record with a £52m transfer fee on Alexandre Lacazette. As always, that kind of thing carries heavy expectations. After all, if you cost the most money of anyone in club history, it therefore stands to reason that you should perform as one of the best in club history.

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Those high expectations are not at all lessened when you think about how starved Gooners have been as they’ve waited for a striker signing just like this. Couple that with the fact that we’ve been waiting for Lacazette for literally three years.

There are a lot of factors putting a lot of pressure on this one guy and supporters, myself included, are going to be expecting him to come out at the start of the season and score like, two or three goals a game. Something easy to do like that.

Thankfully, Robert Pires is here with a timely reminder. A reminder that probably shouldn’t be needed and probably still won’t be heeded. Yet here it is, take it away, Mr. Pires (as quoted by SkySports):

"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."

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Pires, of course, made the exact same switch himself, and he touched on that as well:

"But to make the adaptation, 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. For me, because I came from France, it was heavy and that is why it is difficult in the Premier League."

This is absolutely something we have to remember, especially for a technical striker like Lacazette. Even Olivier Giroud, who is a big, physical striker, took time to adjust to the bigger, more physical Premier League. Now he is a seasoned veteran, but as you are well aware, it didn’t click right away.

I think we need to be prepared for Lacazette to not click right away. And we may have to weather some criticism from silly Tottenham fans or Manchester United fans because of it, but that’s why we have Giroud. When the going gets tough, Giroud gets going. Isn’t that what they say?

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Lacazette will settle in time and he will have a huge impact, but expecting that from the start is unfair. Do yourself a favor and remember that. Mr. Pires says so.