Arsenal: Alexandre Lacazette recasting his role wonderfully

In Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Chelsea, Alexandre Lacazette again showed that he is far more than just goals. The French striker, whose initial reputation was that of a pure poacher, is recasting his role wonderfully.

Alexandre Lacazette is Arsenal’s club-record signing. There is a little debate about the actual fee, reported to be somewhere in the £47 – 52 million range, but even the lowest estimations of his price are clear of the £42 million deadline-day splash that was splurged all over Mesut Ozil’s infective creativity.

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For a player of that price, there is a degree of expectation that must be adhered to. Andy Carroll, for example, when the centre of Liverpool’s £36 million attention, insisted that he could deal with the pressure that a club-record fee thrust onto his somewhat broad and weighty shoulders. On reflection, that may not have quite been accurate.

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But for Lacazette, who is only six months into his Premier League tenure, the expectations of him, while high, are, for the most part, being met. A nine-game drought midway through the year that, crucially, stretched through the festive period where Arsenal lost vital ground in the race for the top four led some to question his ability to deliver. On the whole, however, the Frenchman has impressed, but perhaps not in the way that was first thought.

Having watched a good deal of him in for Lyon, his only senior club before making the North London switch, I had the opinion that he was a pure goalscorer. A sharp-shooter with darting movement in the final third, if a little limited with his long speed, an acute anticipation of opportunity, and an eye-for-goal. I was right in some ways; I was wrong in others.

Because, while Lacazette has displayed those traits on several occasions this season, he has also proven to be a far more rounded player than I initially considered.

His touch, for example, his intelligent combination play, and his surprising strength, especially with the ball at his feet, allow him to hold up play, even with his back to the goal and a defender hounding his every move, with great effect; his willingness to work the channels, as displayed in the 2-1 win against Chelsea, where his movement relieved pressure off a deep-lying defence, particularly in the second half, creates space for others, not just scoring opportunities for himself.

These are skills that while required of a player of his calibre and price are not ones that I necessarily foresaw him capable of in the English game. I was worried by his lack of physical stature, by his general interplay during the normal passages of matches, and by the possibility that he would drift through fixtures without ever impressing his mark on them unless if he rippled the net.

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But I am overjoyed to say that I was wrong. Very. Lacazette may have arrived at Arsenal with a goalscorer’s reputation. And he may have preserved that reputation during his opening few months in North London. But he is also rounding out his game to a far greater extent than many believed possible. He is recasting his role, and he is doing it wonderfully.