Arsenal: Sometimes it’s okay to sub Alexandre Lacazette out early

Alexandre Lacazette yet again didn’t last the full 90 for Arsenal, but unlike other times, against Chelsea it was the right thing for Unai Emery to do.

There have been plenty of occasions this Arsenal season where Unai Emery has made the wrong decision with Alexandre Lacazette. Either not starting him or subbing him off early. It’s even gotten to the point where the fans were openly booing when the No. 9 came up on the board, especially when there was a deficit to be made up.

Against Chelsea, Lacazette was again taken off before he could make it the full 90. And it was right around the same time as always – just after the hour mark. He came off in a dual move that saw him and Ramsey make way for Iwobi and Maitland-Niles.

Initially, I was peeved. Mostly because I’ve been so conditioned to be peeved every time Lacazette is taken off the pitch. But as the game went on, I totally understood (this time, at least) why Unai Emery made the decision that he did.

It was bold enough to start the match with two strikers, and it paid off in a big way with their combination play.

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But as the match wore on, the Gunners weren’t attacking much, if at all. Having two strikers on at that point (even with how well they had defended on the day) made little sense. They needed to have as many players as possible that were more defense-oriented and who had fresher legs, and their young reinforcements sorted that out.

The only other argument for keeping him on is if Emery instead should have taken Aubameyang off. Lacazette had been the better player on the day, there’s no ignoring that, so why leave him on instead of Lacazette?

That’s easy. We weren’t attacking consistently, which is when you need a striker like Lacazette. The only attacking push we were potentially going to find was on the counter, at which point Aubameyang is probably a better weapon to have. Now, that counter threat never really materialized, but the point remains that we were better equipped for it, if it would have.

I hate seeing Lacazette taken off just as much as the next guy, but in this situation, it was the right thing to do and there are other situations, too, where it’s an okay thing to do. So let’s not blanket criticize every time he is taken off.