Aubameyang, Lacazette and Saka offer dazzling glimpse of Arsenal’s exciting future
In the opening minute of Arsenal’s 1-1 draw, in their very first attack, Alexandre Lacazette picked up the ball in the centre circle and shouted “go!”
That wasn’t just the signal for Bukayo Saka and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to race forward. It may also have been the symbolic start of a new side to this team, and maybe a new side full-stop. That’s how good
this trio were together, in their very first match as a front three. They were transformative.
Just as symbolic on the night was Lacazette going off for Eddie Nketiah. It wasn’t just the end of that attacking trio against Leicester City. It was the end of Arsenal’s domination. Nketiah went in so rashly on James Justin, and was rightly sent off. All initiative was ceded. Leicester ensured it was a matter of time until they scored.
That goal all but kills Arsenal’s hopes of qualifying for next season’s Champions League, just as quickly as they’d been raised. That is how crucial that equaliser might have been.
Had Arsenal kept 11 men on, and kept the lead, they would have been within six points of a free-falling Leicester with four games left, and three of Manchester United. The added encouragement was that fifth place might yet be enough, given Manchester City’s potential Champions League ban, with so much added excitement from that front three.
They were that good; that vibrant. They ensured there was at least 40 minutes of football – maybe longer – that represented Arsenal’s most consistent quality attacking play of the season. They were sublime, and so sustained.
It really was only Kasper Schmeichel keeping the trio at bay, and keeping the score down.
It surely means that, as frustrating as this was, it is only a matter of time until Arsenal are back properly challenging for the Champions League places.
This result leaves them nine off Leicester with four games left, and surely way too much to do. They are almost out of it, but that should just reflect what a pity it is that Mikel Arteta didn’t strike on this trio earlier.
That is not to condemn or criticise the Spaniard. Quite the opposite. This forward line, and formation is to his credit.
You can instantly see it works for so many players, not just the three attackers. It instantly makes sense for so many players.
It’s well known by now how it works for David Luiz, but playing three centre-halves also releases the best of Kieran Tierney and Hector Bellerin. Between them, Granit Xhaka has a clearer role, and it is a fine platform for Dani Ceballos.
Arteta lionised the playmaker afterwards, enthusing how he brought “balance”. That could apply to the manager himself.
This, genuinely, is the purest kind of football management. Given Arsenal’s many problems, given the unbalanced state of the squad, and given he can’t sign anyone, all Arteta can do is to try and fix it from
within; to come up with some kind of set-up that gets more out of his available players; that best fits his available players.
This is what he’s done. It is a respectable little early win in a very young career, and offers real encouragement for the future.
That doesn’t mean everything is fixed or all is rosy, of course. But it’s a start, and all from starting three attackers together for the first time.
It might just be the signal for something bigger. Arsenal look much readier to go.