Arsenal: Alexandre Lacazette shouldn’t be the question mark he is

Arsenal are suddenly loaded with strikers, perhaps because Alexandre Lacazette didn’t catch quickly enough, but is he a question mark? Absolutely not.

Arsenal had a murky striker situation for awhile. Olivier Giroud was a mammoth and my favorite player, but you know when Giroud himself was calling for another striker to compete with, that something was up. And he did that.

Call it the inverse of Granit Xhaka trying to “replace” Patrick Vieira, where the expectations were huge. Alexandre Lacazette had only to replace a striker that no one appreciated in Giroud and he had a mass of superstars behind him.

Nine goals and three assists, a steady, often prolific presence, when matched with the right talent, and it seemed like everything was going well. But then he hit his first struggle, the struggled after six months that literally every new Premier League player faces.

Related Story: 3 Reasons To Revise Your Opinion Of Granit Xhaka

And then Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang came and just like that, people far and wide were calling Lacazette’s time to a close, or saying he hadn’t lived up to his job, or all manner of things that made next to no sense.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

• 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
• 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
• Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
• 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
• Mikel Arteta provides Gabriel Martinelli injury update after Everton win

But that’s just the thing – they didn’t make sense. There are a lot of things that take some time to translate between leagues. One thing that is universal, and needs no transferring, is the ability to finish like a champ.

Lacazette has that. He knows how to score goals. It’s what he has always done. He has done the same stuff for Arsenal, but the things that do need translating – the gelling with team mates, the physicality, the speed – they do need time to develop.

I love that the Gunners now have Aubameyang too. How can you not? But I’m still not sold on whether or not it was entirely necessary. If you would have told me we could have Lacazette and Giroud or Lacazette and Aubameyang, I would have to do some serious consideration. Mostly because of the variety in the first pairing and the similarities in the second.

But that’s not what I’m here to debate. I’m here to debate why Lacazette is being regarded with so many questions. It’s foolish, really. Lacazette is a world class striker with faculties galore. The fact that he his a rough patch is not grounds for an early dismissal, it’s grounds for hope. Hope for the next step, where he improves and becomes even better than when he first arrived.

Next: Top 5 Summer Positions Of Need

I can understand why people are concerned about his future, but I cannot understand why people would question it. Lacazette, if given the proper opportunities, is world class.