Arsenal: Alexandre Lacazette has a needed friend in Olivier Giroud

Arsenal invested a lot in Alexandre Lacazette. A lot that may not pay itself back right away and supporters won’t be happy. But Olivier Giroud knows the feeling.

Arsenal supporters are certainly excited about Alexandre Lacazette. But if you’ve explored Twitter at all recently, you may have noticed that there are already grumblings that he doesn’t look to be the second coming of Christ, like many supposedly expected.

Just yesterday I was reading numerous tweets from people asserting that they were already disappointed in the new French striker because he wasn’t the special, game-changing striker that they had thought he would be, given the price.

This was bound to happen and Robert Pires did his best to nip this in the bud with a casual reminder that it takes time. Pires struggles at the start too. He didn’t come to Arsenal and become a legend overnight. He had to acclimate.

Most supporters won’t accept that. They will want results from the moment the first whistle blows against Leicester City. If Lacazette does not perform well in that game, be ready to hear more moaning and griping.

And God forbid it takes a few months for him to get settled, supporters may start to get antsy, wondering why we would spend so much money on someone who needs time to adjust to the Premier League style.

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It’s going to be annoying to those of us that accept that time is needed and it will probably be a bit disheartening to Lacazette, but I think it’s important that he remember that he has a crucial ally in Olivier Giroud.

Giroud made a similar move back in 2012 and he has been getting flak for the job he does ever since. Even after he acclimated, he is still subjected to more undue criticism than anyone else in England.

Having someone at the club that knows what it is like, who has made that journey, knows that struggle and can sympathize with you, that is something special. Especially at a high pressure club like Arsenal, where the world is expected of you.

No matter what flak Lacazette catches, it will never amount to what Giroud has had to put up up with.

I know this won’t do any good for me to reassert what I said yesterday, but we really need to listen to Pires. Lacazette is not going to click right away, as we can see. He is going to struggle. That doesn’t mean that he isn’t exactly what we wanted.

Next: 3 Reasons Alexandre Lacazette Doesn't Have To Play Striker

We just have to give him time to become his best self before we start throwing premature judgments at him. That is certainly not too much to ask.

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