Arsenal: Only one player hasn’t changed under Mikel Arteta

Arsenal have seen a complete resurgence under Mikel Artet almost across the board, but there’s one player who hasn’t seen the turnaround yet.

It’s been pretty remarkably watching Arsenal turn around under Mikel Arteta. Not just as a team, but on an individual level. All the players that we had counted for dead have completely turned around. Completely.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang? The guy we couldn’t wait to sell for his complete lack of effort? He’s proving to be a pretty capable left winger who doesn’t just attack. The dude defends too. Crazy.

Mesut Ozil has been consistent. Of his past four matches, three have been remarkably reliable. He hasn’t done anything magical and the goal contributions still aren’t coming. But he’s making a difference. He’s playing his heart out, he’s contributing to a lot of attacking play.

David Luiz? Sokratis? The two guys who I was convinced would single-handedly sink this Arsenal ship with their poor defending? Yeah, they’re actually looking incredibly capable.

Everyone is turning it around. Reiss Nelson is back too. Granit Xhaka is staying. Lucas Torreira is looking his best, minus the injury. It’s all looking incredibly positive. But there’s just one player who hasn’t been able to latch onto that same momentum wave.

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That guy is Alexandre Lacazette.

The Frenchman has maintained his starting striker position, and he’s been doing his usual stuff. He’s been starting some strong attacking moves, he’s been showcasing his strength, creating chances, getting into dangerous positions.

He even got an assist last time out, and what an assist it was. When he took his time, he allowed that goal to happen.

But the goals still haven’t come back. The confidence problems that Lacazette has had in the past are still here. It’s not the biggest concern, because he’s still providing a strong presence in the attack. He just hasn’t really changed at all. And by all accounts, he should have. Arteta has solved everyone except Lacazette, right? Maybe it’s just his last unchecked box. Nicolas Pepe is improving, Ainsley Maitland-Niles is great. But Lacazette is still on his plateau.

On the bright side, that gives us something else to look forward to. No one is immune to the Arteta magic, it’s just time to spread that magic to Lacazette.

Give it time. As long as he doesn’t get any worse, then it’s just a matter of time before he gets better.