Arsenal: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang puts Lacazette in better role
By Josh Sippie
Arsenal nation is digging into just how the club can fit so many attackers into the same formation, but moving Alexandre Lacazette to the wings isn’t the answer.
Arsenal have locked up Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, making it now twice in the span of six months that the Gunners have broken the club transfer record on a striker. This coming just a week after Henrikh Mkhitaryan joined to replace Alexis Sanchez, which has everyone wondering – how does everyone fit?
The formation ideas are pouring out of the woodwork. Many people have compensated for having two strikers by moving Alexandre Lacazette out to the left wing, where he can play an Alexis type role.
While I believe he is perfectly capable of doing this, it is absolutely not the answer. Lacazette is not a wide player, he is a striker. That doesn’t mean he has to be the front of the formation though. In fact, the very arrival of Aubameyang should help push Lacazette into a much better role.
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When Arsenal boasted Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp, they had two strikers. Henry led the line and Bergkamp satin behind him as a sort of false nine. He was integral to the build up play with his wizardry with the ball and it led the Gunners to heights no other team will ever achieve again.
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I’m not going to sit here and say that Aubameyang/Lacazette can do the same thing. No one can live up to that partnership. But they can play in the same way and to similar effect, given the skill sets of the people involved.
As we have seen from Lacazette thus far, he has a lot of skills that aren’t directly related to thumping home goals. Like Bergkamp, he has a sensational first touch and he is superb at navigating tight spaces. But he is just as keen to create a chance for a team mate as he is to pop off a shot.
Aubameyang doesn’t have that same creative grace. He is a shot-popper and that’s all he should be. But we have to think about where Lacazette serves him best – out wide, where he doesn’t belong, leaving Aubameyang isolated, or central, in behind the new striker, linking up with him and taking Wengerball to a whole new level?
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I get that Wenger has shunned two striker sets lately, but if there was ever a time to overcome that, it’s after you’ve dropped £100m+ on two new strikers. Both of whom have the distinct capabilities of playing the roles required in a two striker set.