Arsenal: How many more ways can Alexandre Lacazette prove it?

Arsenal decided to bench Alexandre Lacazette again against West Ham, and again, we needed him more than ever. When will this change?

Every week, I say that the next week, Arsenal will finally start Alexandre Lacazette up front where he belongs, and they’ll stop being obstinate, annoying and frustrating. And then the next week comes to pass and nothing has changed.

For the record, as if this needs to be said, I am happy with the 3-1 win over West Ham. I believe that a lot of steps were made in the right direction, and a lot of steps that can be built on for the future of the club.

But yet again, things didn’t really latch on until Alexandre Lacazette came on. The French forward is truly a wonderful striker and it was his fired in cross that accounted for the go-ahead goal.

Prior to Lacazette coming on, the Gunners were having trouble putting the ball where it belongs. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang continues to struggle as an isolated front man, mainly because h is relying on two unreliable midfielders on either side of him to feed him the ball.

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Once Aubameyang was moved out wide, and Lacazette was pushed into the middle, the attack, yet again, looked so much more powerful. The combined speed and movement of the two was everything we know it is – potent.

So when, when, when will Lacazette have finally proven that you just can’t sit him? You really can’t. If he isn’t doing enough, you can always sub him out, but for the love of everything, depriving the attack of their most fearsome cannon from the start is daft. Just plain daft.

And he has proven this time and again. Maybe not against Chelsea, as he had a bit of a stinker in his limited time, but every other time, he has been fantastic. I think I heard, during the course of the West Ham match, that Lacazette and Aubameyang have only started together three times since Aubameyang joined (I think).

Why is that a thing? Why deprive the attack of two guys who can change the course of the game in order to accommodate players that do far less?

It’s baffling. Huzzah for the win, but when will Lacazette start to get fed up with all of this? I’m no longer confident saying that he will start next time, because I really don’t know what the plan is anymore. I understand the experimentation aspect, and I support it, but Lacazette has to start. That is an experiment that has been completed already.