Arsenal: The logic behind starting Alexandre Lacazette

Arsenal pulled out some surprises against Qarabag, namely starting Alexandre Lacazette, but the logic behind that decision is sound enough.

Prior to the starting XI being announced for the match against Qarabag, I was convinced that, given the turgid fixture list that starts this weekend and continues through the month, Arsenal would have a pretty clear priority in their starting XI. It would have been all youth.

And then the starting XI was actually released, and there were a lot of things I didn’t understand at first. Alexandre Lacazette was starting up front, relegating Eddie Nketiah to the wings. Mesut Ozil, the Fortnite kingpin, was starting in place of an injured Emile Smith Rowe, and Sokratis and Koscielny were both starting in the central hub of the defense.

To me, the most surprising was Lacazette. The Frenchman only just returned to the starting XI after suffering a groin injury prior to the Bournemouth match and, after having a frustrating 45 minutes against Huddersfield, I figured it was best to let him ride out the Qarabag match until Southampton.

But again, Unai Emery had a better idea. I had pegged Huddersfield as the match that would reawaken Lacazette and his goal-scoring ways, but that simply wasn’t the case. That was compiled on by the fact that his clear goal against Manchester United was later ruled an own goal.

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The confidence wasn’t there, and as we have come to learn from Lacazette, confidence is key. We saw that last year in the throes of his struggles. It required a friendly opportunity from Aubameyang to right the ship.

Qarabag is the friendly opportunity now.

Arsenal can’t risk Lacazette struggling through December. They need to get him back on the right foot and nothing has been proven to do that better than a bit of confidence building by getting the ball in the back of the net.

This really hit home when that goal found the back of the net in the 17th minute. I registered why Lacazette was out there, and it all made sense.

I would hope that the objective is carried out – that Lacazette can come back into the Premier League and really start to hammer home the goals again, because we are going to need him as the month wears on and Aubameyang goes hot and cold.

Next up is Southampton. Who knows how Unai Emery will approach that one.