Alexandre Lacazatte’s Undiscovered Arsenal Balance

Arsenal host Aston Villa on Sunday in a must-win clash.

All the pre-narratives regarding key man Jack Grealish, Arsenal’s potential engine room and the return of Emiliano Martinez will be front and centre in the build-up, but the man up top has got a point to prove against the Villans, too.

Beating Manchester United at Old Trafford was a down to team unity: players knowing their roles and striking fluid combinations across the pitch.

Alexandre Lacazette, who was guilty of some poor touches on the ball, was ferocious off it. The Red Devils couldn’t beat the first line of press, which was fronted by the Frenchman’s relentless work-rate. As superb in his application as he was determined in his execution, nobody else in the side could have performed the role as aggressively, or effectively.

Some people however, are old fashioned. When you’ve got a centre-forward in the side, you want him to score goals. We see hybrid strikers in the vein of Roberto Firmino who operate as an axis for the fellow wingers, but the Brazilian boasts greater technical ability than Lacazette and is a different mould of player, so his lack of goals is catered for by the rest of side.

Lacazette appeared to rediscover his scoring touch with three strikes in the first three Premier League matches of the season, but the team’s struggles in attack have seen him revert back to the deeper slot in order to add bodies in between the lines.

The balance has been hard to strike.

Not all of the bluntness in front of goal can rest solely on Lacazette’s shoulders. Tactically he is being asked to do a job which is selfless and with an eye on the greater good. More Alexandre Dumas than Alexandre Lacazette.

I am someone who likes my strikers to score goals. The team comes first, but 2018/19 Lacazette used his aggression in the box, not outside of it. A return to that would be welcome.

There has to be an improvement when he has the ball at his feet, granted, though, most of the time it’s back to goal.

As Arsenal begin to click in a creative sense we can anticipate a more direct role for the 29-year-old, but as of yet, the balancing act of edge of the box tenacity with predatory forward runs and one-touch finishing leans too heavily to one side.