Arsenal: Playing Alexandre Lacazette isn’t playing two strikers

Unai Emery has stated that he will not set up with two centre-forwards just yet. However, inserting Alexandre Lacazette into the Arsenal line-up does not commit him to playing that way.

Sometimes, I feel like I am banging the same drum over and over again. That is what it feels like when I start yet another piece outlining my belief that Unai Emery should be starting Alexandre Lacazette. I have detailed why, from the presence he provides in central areas to the repeated impact that he has on games when introduced from off the bench, and still believe that it seems obvious from the early-season evidence.

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However, three matches in, and Emery is yet to start Lacazette, each time fielding Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang through the middle instead.

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And, when asked about the prospect of starting two strikers against West Ham United on Saturday afternoon, Emery was emphatic; he would only be playing one centre-forward:

"“At the moment, no. At the moment, I think we need to have the control with the possession, with the positioning on the pitch, with more players inside. And after this possession, to do the attacking moments and defending moments with this balance. But, it is one possibility to continue in our progress and in one moment to try also to play with two scorers. In the last match of the pre-season, against Lazio, I did it with Lacazette and Nketiah. But also, this position also for the players, they know that in one moment we can do that. But at the moment, no.”"

It is a fair argument. This Arsenal team is at their best when they control of the game through extended periods of possession, raising the importance of that third central midfielder. But employing Lacazette as a striker does not mean that Emery must commit to playing two up front.

As shown last season and in the preseason, Aubameyang was extremely effective playing as a left winger with Lacazette through the middle. Admittedly, Aubameyang’s position is not an orthodox left midfield position, with the spaces he takes up extremely advanced, on the shoulder of the opposition defence, often looking to run in behind into the wide space and half-space off the left flank. But it still is not a second centre-forward.

In playing this way, it still allows Emery to have three central midfielders to ensure that control of the match is not ceded for crowbarring two strikers into the starting XI, and also provides greater space for whoever is positioned on the right wing, most likely Henrikh Mkhitaryan or Mesut Ozil, who then have the freedom to drift into central positions without narrowing the attack.

And it’s not as if Aubameyang has expressed a clear disinterest at playing out wide. He and Lacazette have an excellent relationship, on and off the pitch, he has had success in that position, both at Arsenal and in his younger years (that was mostly as a right winger), and he can still score goals with the evolution of the modern-day winger, akin to Liverpool or Tottenham or Manchester City’s wide players.

Playing Lacazette does not commit Emery to playing two strikers. Although both he and Aubameyang may be a centre-forward by name, by nature, in the 4-3-3 system that this team is becoming accustomed to, only one is, and Arsenal look all the better for it.