Arsenal: Alexandre Lacazette cannot be “Girouded”

Arsenal looked to be moving away from Alexandre Lacazette already, but competition won’t kill him. The key, though, is opportunity.

Arsenal gave Alexandre Lacazette six whole months to prove that he was everything they could ever dream of as a striker. It looks like he failed in his initial, impossible test, but unlike what some people may think, this doesn’t mean that the Gunners are simply done with the Frenchman. But I shouldn’t need to tell you that.

The problem, though, is that there is an inherent risk in the current situation that could potentially push Lacazette towards ruin.

Let’s look back at Olivier Giroud. Giroud didn’t face any real competition for his striker position for about four years. He was just given free reign, come feast or famine. That isn’t a great way to develop a player.

Every form of competition has been weeded out because of misuse. Lukas Podolski came, was forced to the wings, and left. Danny Welbeck came, was forced to the wings, and is still inadequate. Theo Walcott had to admit himself that he was not a striker.

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The first real potential for competition came in the form of Lucas Perez. But rather than let Lucas duke it out with the big bearded Frenchman, Wenger handed the job to Alexis Sanchez and unceremoniously turned Giroud into a supersub. No matter how good Giroud played, he was never given a run of starts.

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And then Lacazette was brought in. Finally, finally he would face real competition. Only, yet again, he was never given a chance to make his case. He was used as a sub, or not at all. In order for competition to work, there has to be some hint of an opening, otherwise what are you competiting for?

This is what needs to be avoided with Lacazette. It looks like he is in danger of being Girouded – where competition is brought in, but there is no chance of overtaking the first choice.

Again – the key to competition is giving an actual, tangible chance to overtake the person you are competing with. It’s just been one match thus far, so we don’t as of yet know the long term plan, suffice to say if I am Lacazette right now, I’m a bit peeved, and that is the kind of thing you can unleash on the pitch.

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Of course, in order to unleash it on the pitch, he has to see opportunity and he has to be rewarded when he takes it. Unlike Giroud, who saw neither of those things.