Arsenal: For once, upsetting Alexandre Lacazette a good thing

Alexandre Lacazette has expressed his frustrations at being substituted when on a hat-trick against CSKA Moscow. However, for once, upsetting the Arsenal striker was a good thing.

It has been a strange old season for Alexandre Lacazette. Signed in the summer for a club-record £47 million, it was assumed that he would be Arsenal’s star striker for the upcoming few seasons. But just six short months later, not only was his record fee broken, but his starting place in the team was decimated.

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Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang arrived for £52 million. He has played every minute that he could possibly play in since that transfer. A dagger to the heart of Lacazette, who was dealing with a two-month injury layoff thanks to knee surgery.

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And yet, now he has returned and is perhaps the most important player in the squad. With Aubameyang cup-tied for the Europa League and the Premier League relatively unimportant now that the top four is out of reach, Lacazette was immediately reinstated as the unquestioned starting centre-forward for the most important competition of the season. Very peculiar indeed.

However, throughout that whole tumultuous time, there has been one consistent: Arsene Wenger’s relentless insistence that Lacazette needs to be substituted. The Frenchman has made 22 Premier League starts this season. He has been substituted in 15 of them. That’s a lot.

And the case was again true on Thursday night as Arsenal dismantled CSKA Moscow to the tune of a 4-1 scoreline, with Lacazette himself notching two goals. Lacazette was withdrawn in the 74th minute, Danny Welbeck coming on in his place. As he trudged off the pitch and proceeded to sit on the bench, he was noticeably troubled with the decision, unhappy that he was not allowed to search for that hat-trick goal, something that he admitted in an interview after the match.

I have been critical of Wenger’s continued decision to substitute Lacazette. While it makes sense in some cases, the frequency at which it has happened has not helped him acclimatise to life at a new club with new teammates in a new country. His confidence has seeped away as a result.

But in this case, it makes total and absolute sense. Lacazette is coming off a two-month absence having only played 29 minutes of football prior to Thursday night. He is absolutely vital to Arsenal’s Europa League chances with Aubameyang unavailable for selection in the competition. The game, at 4-1, was won with a healthy advantage to protect in Russia.

Lacazette may be frustrated that he was unable to pursue personal glory, but perhaps he should take a look at his strike partner who subsided his own hat-trick hopes to give confidence to Lacazette himself on his return. That is a much better attitude to have.

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Will it be frustrating to see Lacazette substituted without fail time and time again between now and the end of the season? Absolutely. But on this occasion, upsetting him was the right thing to do.