Arsenal: So now there’s a second Alexandre Lacazette

Arsenal’s abysmal showing against Manchester City lacked any sort of service in the attack, which sounds just like when we had Alexandre Lacazette, no?

The idea behind getting Alexandre Lacazette in the summer was a brilliant one. Allow our brilliant passers to pick out his runs and we win the league. All Arsenal had to do was gear their game plan towards picking out those runs.

With Mesut Ozil, Granit Xhaka, Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey, even Alex Iwobi, all waiting to pick out passes, it was a no lose situation. And early on, it seemed easy enough. Lacazette was timing his runs to perfection, as he often did, and he was a bonafide finisher.

That gradually fell apart as the Gunner’s cohesion fell apart. Without solidity in the midfield, without gumption in the defense, picking out a slick pass was the least of their worries. Come January, the club went all in after a solution in the form of another striker.

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The idea behind getting Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the winter was a brilliant one. Allow our brilliant passers to pick out his runs and we win what trophies we were still involved in. All Arsenal had to do was gear their game plan towards picking out those runs.

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Again, utter failure, only quicker this time. Lacazette found pretty steady success, while Aubameyang has found out that, against tough opposition, he is going to be as useful as a soggy piece of bread.

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We saw it against Tottenham, the Gunners might have looked Aubameyang’s way two, maybe three times. This is their best weapon on the pitch and they didn’t even try to get him the ball. And then, against Manchester City, it was the same thing. Xhaka sprung him once and there was another attempt or two, but overall? That’s not what you invested in the Gabonese striker for.

So essentially what we now have are two strikers, both of whom require service to be successful, and neither of whom can get service, particularly against better teams, because this team is incapable of following the plan.

I can’t even blame Arsene Wenger that much. He is clearly set up for a counter attack against these bigger teams. It’s just that when his midfield gets the ball, the development is so slow, like they have zero desire to make something of the move and are intent on asserting authority and retaining possession over nicking a goal.

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Maybe that’s Wenger’s game plan after all, I don’t know. What I do know is we have over £100m+ worth of world class striking talent and both find themselves starved and undoubtedly a bit frustrated.