Alexandre Lacazette Considered to Have Failed to Meet Mikel Arteta’s Expectations

DBasia.news – Given the confidence of being a striker in Arsenal’s first team this season, Alexandre Lacazette is considered to have failed to meet the expectations of his manager, Mikel Arteta.

Having always scored in the opening three Premiere League matches, the French striker has never listed his name on the scoreboard in his last six occasions to strengthen the Gunners in all competitions.

The 29-year-old attacker’s performance is also considered to continue to decline. Finally, in the match against Aston Villa, Lacazette failed to take advantage of one of the Gunners’ golden opportunities.

At that moment, Lacazette, who met Kieran Tierney’s cross, made a header right in front of the goalmouth and without the close guard of the Villa players.

However, the ball from Lacazette’s header instead bounced over the crossbar. Arsenal finally failed to score and had to give up 0-3 from Villa in the eighth week of the Premiere League.

In fact, at the start of this season, Arteta claimed to have trusted Lacazette to be able to play the role of the Gunners center-forward.

”He needs to prove himself as the best center forward at this club. He is happy to hear it and so far, he has trained very well and is ready to answer that challenge,” Arteta said as reported by the Mirror, some time ago.

Even so, since the talks with Arteta, Lacazette has actually experienced a decline in performance. Lacazette’s lack of contribution to the Gunners is also reflected in his performance statistics.

Based on data from Infogol, Lacazette only fired a total of nine shots in seven Premiere League matches. Of the nine shots, only six shots were directed at the goal.

Former Arsenal striker Ian Wright also admitted that Lacazette’s performance had decreased. Wright, who claims to have spoken with Arteta about his plans for Arsenal’s attack, said it was difficult for Lacazette to answer the expectations of the Spanish coach.

In addition, Wright considered, Lacazette seemed burdened and thought too much when on the field. This condition made Lacazette unable to perform optimally and take advantage of all the opportunities he got with his instincts as an attacker.

“He always seems to be thinking about how to maximize the next opportunity that will be obtained. He really thought about it. I can tell, from the gesture or movement when receiving the ball or gore in the stomach,” Wright said as reported by the Mirror.