Arsenal: The key element that sets Alexandre Lacazette, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang apart

Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored all seven of Arsenal’s goals in their Europa League semi-final against Valencia. But what really sets them apart was highlighted by Unai Emery in his post-match press conference: their work rate.

Your strikers scoring all seven of your goals in a European semi-final is not always a good thing. It illustrates an over-dependence on their ability to make the net ripple. And when you concede three at the other end, that dependence is only deepened. Nevertheless, in Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Arsenal really do have two dependable strikers.

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They proved it again on Thursday night. Aubameyang scored a hat-trick, his first for the club, with Lacazette assisting the first and playing a key role in another, and Lacazette got a goal of his own after an excellent dribble by Aubameyang opened up space that was duly exploited by Lacazette’s movement and a nice Lucas Torreira pass.

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The goals were sensational, and, ultimately, they are why both are in the team. It is the striker’s job, after all. But there are plenty of excellent goalscorers around the world. There is an added element to both Aubameyang and Lacazette’s game that sets them apart from many of the other allegedly world-class strikers: their work rate.

This was Unai Emery speaking about his most precious pair after the second leg win over Valencia on Thursday night:

"“Yes, really they are very good strikers but I am proud of them in how they worked defensively. We needed that today, the big players can be good strikers but when their commitment is like today, working defensively to help us, it’s amazing. After their goal, our attacking moments were coming because our positioning and other players can create chances for them to score. But I think it’s the work of every player and they did it perfectly.”"

This is where the value and impact of both strikers rocket. Yes, they score a lot of goals. Yes, they create chances for one another. And yes, they can turn a game on its head, working their magic from seemingly hopeless attacking situations, as they did in both legs against Valencia. But it is their willingness to press from the front, their diligence in tracking back, and the ground that they cover that make them so invaluable to the collective set-up.

There was a point on Thursday when Aubameyang gobbled up a good 40 yards to recover his position after pressing the Valencia defence, close down the ball, and help out right wing-back Ainsley Maitland-Niles who was dealing with a precarious two-on-one situation. Lesser strikers would not have even tried.

Emery actually added a tactical wrinkle to the set-up which specifically required Aubameyang and Lacazette to work exceptionally hard. Rather than have them press the Valencia centre-halves, as would be the norm for a striker, because of having no wingers in the 3-5-2 shape, Emery pushed Mesut Ozil higher up the pitch to pressure the centre-halves and Aubameyang and Lacazette split, tracking the runs of the full-backs, the two wing-backs thereby freed to focus on the opposing winger. Such a strategy would not work if either Lacazette or Aubameyang were not committed to their defensive duties.

They are sensational footballers, both of them. And they will be sensational assets for Arsenal moving forward. But what really sets them apart is their diligence, their industry, their work rate. That is what makes them truly great.