Arsenal Vs Crystal Palace: Alexandre Lacazette goal drought misguided

Alexandre Lacazette has now not scored in his last five games. The goal drought, though, is a little misguided. The Arsenal striker is still playing well, as he did again in Thursday night’s win over Crystal Palace.

Alexandre Lacazette again failed to score in Arsenal’s win over Crystal Palace on Thursday night. He has now failed to score in five successive games. Petr Cech had to defend the Frenchman against questions of a goal drought after the 1-0 win against Newcastle United. That was nearly two weeks ago.

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But is this goal drought as accurate a depiction as many are suggesting? Or is Lacazette simply falling foul of the overhyped modern-day media that like to sensationalise every trouble or tribulation?

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Well, I happen to think that it is the latter. Take the win against Palace as an example. Lacazette may not have scored in the win, but he did play a major part in the attacking success that the Gunners enjoyed. It was his sharp play in the penalty area that set up the first two goals: first, he collected the rebounded cut-back and curled a shot towards the far-post that Julian Speroni could only parry to Shkodran Mustafi; second, he smartly brought down a loose and high ball in the area, wisely chose not to shoot, before teeing up Alexis Sanchez for his first of two goals.

Lacazette also continued to offer a threat in his movement and hold-up play. The intelligence, and awareness, to seek out and exploit space in even the tightest of areas is exceptional. He is extremely sharp in the penalty area, often the first to react to a loose ball, his touch is improving as the season progresses, adapting to the more physical nature of English football, and he is beginning to offer a greater focal-point ability with his back to the goal.

But Lacazette didn’t score. The media will take that as an opportunity to jump on the goal-drought bandwagon, however misguided it may be.

Moreover, he has not actually played five games worth of football. Because of Arsene Wenger’s incessant will to substitute him — Lacazette has started 17 games. He has been substituted in 14 of them, which is more than any other player in the Premier League this season –, he has only played 318 minutes. That equates to 3.5 games.

So, not only is Lacazette playing well during this ‘goal-drought’, even if he may not be scoring at the same rate as he was earlier in the year, but it has only been three-and-a-half games, not the five that I am sure many media outlets will advertise it as.

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Lacazette does need to score soon, in relation to his confidence as much as anything else. He was clearly frustrated when he was substituted on Thursday because he had not scored and was striving for that elusive goal. But this is not quite the drought that many will sell it as. He is still playing well, just not in the way that many perhaps expected him to.