Arsenal: Harry Kane statements give boost to Alexandre Lacazette

Arsenal has lacked the cold-blooded striker that Tottenham have in Harry Kane, but the Englishman’s comments lend belief to Alexandre Lacazette becoming just that.

Arsenal’s impending North London Derby has one pressing question – who starts? It’s annoying that we’re having to ask that, but the truth is, historically, we don’t have that many players that have excelled in these kinds of matches that you just start because of that pedigree.

We also don’t have that many players in the best of form in recent matches, so you can’t bank on that either.

It sucks to say, but we don’t have a Harry Kane, who is so good against Arsenal, that even if he was, in some bizarre universe, at risk of being sat because of bad form, you’d put him back in against the Gunners because he has 20 goals in the past 24 North London Derbies.

But the Gunners may have that now, and I say that because of something Kane said, something that seems obvious, but is also something we have lacked in previous Derbies.

“I think in the game, you just have to move on straight away — the next chance can come a minute later, 30 minutes later and you have to focus on what’s next,” Kane said, via the Mirror, among other things.

But it’s that one statement that I think rings truest, because with Olivier Giroud, he had a tendency to get down on himself. With Mesut Ozil, he absolutely gets down on himself, as does Alex Iwobi. For Alexis Sanchez, he will only try harder, screwing himself into the ground.

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We didn’t really have someone who could just move on, except maybe Aaron Ramsey, but I’m thinking strikers at this point, guys who can emulate Harry Kane’s success, just in the opposite direction.

Alexandre Lacazette is that guy because he does exactly what Kane said – he moves on straight away. I have seen Lacazette hit the post, get frustrated, and come back immediately, more determined, and score. That is the kind of reaction you need because Kane is right (never thought I’d say that), there will be plenty of chances coming your way, especially as a striker, and if you’re still mentally at the previous chance, you’re not ready for the present one.

This is why we got Lacazette. To take those chances to to not get hung up on missed chances. I love Giroud, but that is his flaw. Although, to be fair, I do think he has overcome that in recent years. Just a shame we didn’t push him to that end earlier.

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Literally as I wrapped up this article, I came across what Ian Wright said about Lacazette sharing this killer mentality with Kane. So if you don’t want to take my word for all this, take Wright’s.

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