Alexandre’s mixed emotions
THE writing looked to be on the Arsenal wall for Alexandre Lacazette when Arsene Wenger shelled out £57.5million for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in January.
The Frenchman had scored just eight Premier League goals in the first half of the season and one in 12 in all competitions in the weeks before Aubameyang’s arrival from Borussia Dortmund.
It looked like the flamboyant Gabon hitman was a direct replacement for a player who had cost a then-club record £46.5m from Lyon only seven months earlier.
Not least because it was no secret that Wenger had wanted Aubameyang for some time.
Lacazette’s situation was not helped by a knee injury sustained soon after Aubameyang’s arrival that ruled him out for more than a month.
And with the newcomer scoring three goals in six games the future looked ever more bleak.
But then Lacazette returned with a goal against Stoke in April – Aubameyang scored the other two in a 3-0 win – and two more in the following game, a 4-1 Europa League victory over CSKA Moscow.
And with the pair forming a promising partnership, Lacazette finished the season with a respectable 17 goals to his name.
Now he is hoping new boss Unai Emery continues to keep faith in the partnership which, alongside Henrikh Mkhitaryan, sets up a tasty front three.
Lacazette said: “I never said Aubameyang’s arrival was bad for me, only people in the press said it was bad. I was happy because I knew I could play with him.
“I didn’t see him as a rival more than a team-mate, so since the beginning I was happy about his signature.
“Of course, it’s good that we have a good relationship off the pitch – if people are good off the pitch, on the pitch it will be easier to play.
“When I didn’t score of course I was frustrated.
“But last season has finished, it’s the past, I’ve learned from this and now I am happy to start a new season.
“Now I know all of my team-mates, I know the club, I know how English football is, it’s totally different but now I’m more ready.
“Power is the main difference, it’s more powerful in England.
“Referees are less strict than in France, teams like to play low and counter-attack and defenders in general are stronger than in France.”
In January, Wenger said those powerful defenders and the fact there was no winter break made life hard for Lacazette in his first season and pointed to Alvaro
Morata’s struggles at Chelsea.
Morata has since revealed that he changed his hair, his car and his boots to try to break his bad spell but
Lacazette stuck to more standard practices.
He added: “Sometimes you can do everything but it’s only about a little bit of luck.
“I know it was my first season so I can’t be too hard on myself. I wanted to score more goals but it was okay. I don’t care how people judge me.” ARSENAL striker Alexandre Lacazette was broken-hearted when Didier Deschamps left him out of his France squad for the World Cup this summer.
And when his compatriots went on to win the tournament last month – beating Croatia in a thrilling final in Moscow – he could be forgiven if he was angry and jealous as well as overjoyed that his nation had triumphed.
But he insists any negative feelings were soon overtaken by the pride that his mates had become world champions.
“I am still happy because it’s my country,” said Lacazette. “Of course, at first I was disappointed not to be in the team but one month later I had forgotten this and I was happy for my friends.
“Was I still in contact with them and part of the WhatsApp group? Yes, of course – they are my friends.
“At first that was hard because I was sad, like I said.
“But after, when you know you will not be part of the adventure, you just have to be with them, it’s normal I think.” TOM HOPKINSON