Ah shit looks like this happening. Would've preferred morata or auba but i can see why we're not involved.

If we get mbop at this stage i think it means Alexis is gone

Our years long search for a striker ends with a slightly anti climactic wet fart

Don Pacifico wrote:
Claudius wrote:

Why would you be disappointed?

He's 26 with 11 caps for France and still playing in the French league. Hardly inspired...but probably our level these days given we can't even pretend we'll be challenging for the title next season. Objective will wholeheartedly be to get back in the top 4 without even the usual whiff of vague ambition.

The whole French caps issue doesn't bother me. Deschamps has played Moussa Sissoko and Matuidi over tons of French CMs.

I think Lacazette fits our system better than Giroud, who fits France's system much better. Same thing with Real and their persistence with using Benzema as their striker, he fits their system well. 

It's going to be hard to keep Giroud, he'll probably look for a move to get more playing time to play in the 2018 WC. 

There's arguments to be made against lacazette but imo the fact he doesn't start ahead of giroud isn't one of them

Klaus wrote:
Claudius wrote:

Why would you be disappointed?

Because he's a bang average player. This is such bullshit.

Hyperbole much?

Gazza M wrote:

There's arguments to be made against lacazette but imo the fact he doesn't start ahead of giroud isn't one of them

To be clear, it's not that he doesn't start ahead of Giroud, it's his luck of caps.

@[deleted] 

But he clearly didn't play under previous manager either. No one in his own country seems that fussed about him.

This guy's a Ford Focus when we want something a little flashier

If this is all we're left with so be it but there's no way we should settle for him because all the other options look difficult. Klaus spot on with the Darren Bent comparison and it confuses me why people feel the need to ask why we're 'wasting our time' trying to sign the next Thierry when we could just settle for the next Bent. We need to persue the likes of Mbappe, Moratta and Aubameyang until they are dead in the water before settling.

Don Pacifico wrote:
Gazza M wrote:

There's arguments to be made against lacazette but imo the fact he doesn't start ahead of giroud isn't one of them

To be clear, it's not that he doesn't start ahead of Giroud, it's his luck of caps.

@[deleted] 

But he clearly didn't play under previous manager either. No one in his own country seems that fussed about him.

Deschamps has been the manager since 2012 and Lacazette started scoring in 2013. It's clear that he prefers Giroud with Griezmann over everyone in that 4-4-2 system. 

Sure, no one seems to be fussed about him but no one was fussed about Umtiti when he was bought by Barcelona before Euro 2016. 

Lacazette is a seriously good option.

To be fair, people need to adjust their expectations. We're now a Europa league level club, so why are folk outraged that we're about to sign Lacazette, a Europa league level player?

erm people not buying an elite striker when we were in cl was the problem but now we'd struggle to attract better.

Bryant wrote:
Don Pacifico wrote:

To be clear, it's not that he doesn't start ahead of Giroud, it's his luck of caps.

@[deleted] 

But he clearly didn't play under previous manager either. No one in his own country seems that fussed about him.

Deschamps has been the manager since 2012 and Lacazette started scoring in 2013. It's clear that he prefers Giroud with Griezmann over everyone in that 4-4-2 system. 

Sure, no one seems to be fussed about him but no one was fussed about Umtiti when he was bought by Barcelona before Euro 2016. 

My bad...for some reason, I had it in my head that Deschamps had only been in the job a couple of years and then realised it was actually quite a while since Blanc was in charge.

Still, I find the general lack of interest in him quite telling given his recent goal record.

Jed wrote:

To be fair, people need to adjust their expectations. We're now a Europa league level club, so why are folk outraged that we're about to sign Lacazette, a Europa league level player?

Same way the Mancs could only sign dregs such as Pogba when they were down eh?

We'll get another star player if we sign Lacazette. Board must know the fans will be venomous if we are seen not to be improving the overall quality of our squad

Probably Lacazette and Lemar.

Lacazette is not a bad buy, but he's not the greatest. Won't mind a fox in the box type but against packed defences we're just gonna struggle again.

@lorddulaarsenal wrote:

We'll get another star player if we sign Lacazette. Board must know the fans will be venomous if we are seen not to be improving the overall quality of our squad

Wishful thinking I reckon, Dules. Assuming the board do actually care what fans think, I reckon the vast majority of fans would be pretty excited about Lacazette. The views of the Tolly are not representative of the average fan.

here is how i've gone through the 5 stages of grief to get to acceptance on this:

  1. our striker options right now are giroud, walcott, and welbeck
  2. giroud is a good option off the bench
  3. if you add alexis as an option there, then we're missing a wide/supporting forward, so it strengthens one area and weakens another
  4. right now, we are envisioning getting in mbappe, which isnt going to happen, so we're pissed about the dropoff to lacazette, which is understandable
  5. lacazette is clearly better than giroud, welbeck and walcott. he is a completely different type of striker compared to giroud
  6. if we are going to play 3 ATB and play a more counter attacking style, then lacazette will be far better in the system than giroud, welbeck or walcott.
  7. if this is a binary choice between lacazette or keeping what we have and going with that, then i am in favor of signing lacazette.
  8. he might cost £40-50m. thats a lot. however, we supposedly have £100m or so to spend. given the other holes in our squad and the lack of quality in our squad, we need to spend the other £60-70m fixing the team. that means probably buying another supporting forward (lemar?) and a goalkeeper. if we spend £125m on mbappe, its unlikely we'd strengthen elsewhere. hes 18. he looks awesome. clearly has bags of talent. but the track record for teenagers coming into the league and dominating right away is spotty at best and more realistically, not very good. in ronaldo's first season at united (who had a good team already), he played 40 times and scored 6 goals. now sure, he was a winger and not a striker, but he didn't come in and slay the league in his first season.

the atmosphere around the club is not great right now. for an 18 year old to come in, for a record fee (by a huge margin) and be expected to carry the team could be problematic. and lets be honest, he'd be our starting number 9 and the weight of expectations would be there, no matter what anyone says. he starts his career going goalless in 6 matches and people would be freaking out, no matter what they say now.

we should still be aiming for the very best talent. but given everything else, including the current state of the first team, i actually think signing lacazette and fixing 2 or 3 other holes in the squad might be preferable. in reality, it doesnt matter. nothing matters.

saw the goals comp was already posted. whatever.

Starting to feel its going to be avec laca et lemar sans Alexis

We should go after whoever real is selling

looks better than bent. Some nice linkup.

banduan wrote:
Jed wrote:

To be fair, people need to adjust their expectations. We're now a Europa league level club, so why are folk outraged that we're about to sign Lacazette, a Europa league level player?

Same way the Mancs could only sign dregs such as Pogba when they were down eh?

Man U are more attractive and far wealthier than us. End of.

Gunner89 wrote:

looks better than bent. Some nice linkup.

Of course he's better than Bent, people are just being hyperbolic.

Would be a top class signing for Huddersfield Town.

Diaby KungFu wrote:

Would be a top class signing for Huddersfield Town.

Fact.

Diaby KungFu wrote:

Would be a top class signing for Huddersfield Town.

Huddersfield are more attractive than us. End of.

mdgoonah41 wrote:

here is how i've gone through the 5 stages of grief to get to acceptance on this:

  1. our striker options right now are giroud, walcott, and welbeck
  2. giroud is a good option off the bench
  3. if you add alexis as an option there, then we're missing a wide/supporting forward, so it strengthens one area and weakens another
  4. right now, we are envisioning getting in mbappe, which isnt going to happen, so we're pissed about the dropoff to lacazette, which is understandable
  5. lacazette is clearly better than giroud, welbeck and walcott. he is a completely different type of striker compared to giroud
  6. if we are going to play 3 ATB and play a more counter attacking style, then lacazette will be far better in the system than giroud, welbeck or walcott.
  7. if this is a binary choice between lacazette or keeping what we have and going with that, then i am in favor of signing lacazette.
  8. he might cost £40-50m. thats a lot. however, we supposedly have £100m or so to spend. given the other holes in our squad and the lack of quality in our squad, we need to spend the other £60-70m fixing the team. that means probably buying another supporting forward (lemar?) and a goalkeeper. if we spend £125m on mbappe, its unlikely we'd strengthen elsewhere. hes 18. he looks awesome. clearly has bags of talent. but the track record for teenagers coming into the league and dominating right away is spotty at best and more realistically, not very good. in ronaldo's first season at united (who had a good team already), he played 40 times and scored 6 goals. now sure, he was a winger and not a striker, but he didn't come in and slay the league in his first season.

the atmosphere around the club is not great right now. for an 18 year old to come in, for a record fee (by a huge margin) and be expected to carry the team could be problematic. and lets be honest, he'd be our starting number 9 and the weight of expectations would be there, no matter what anyone says. he starts his career going goalless in 6 matches and people would be freaking out, no matter what they say now.

we should still be aiming for the very best talent. but given everything else, including the current state of the first team, i actually think signing lacazette and fixing 2 or 3 other holes in the squad might be preferable. in reality, it doesnt matter. nothing matters.

saw the goals comp was already posted. whatever.

Agreed - the priority needs to be to address the issues/weaknesses and to balance the team.
As such IMO capability / horses for courses trumps quality = ensure the team is capable of playing in the manner expected/needed/required, and then to improve the quality, rather than sign bargain quality and then try to make it fit.

I don't care if the likes of Lacazette, Lemar & Goretzka are not considered elite / top quality, if they can combine to improve the capability of performance. You need a team & match day squad with capability & balance as opposed to a collection of players with quality and potential.
 

Not going be upset with this signing. Been a long time since we bought a decent striker that is fast and can score goals.

He will fit better than Giroud. Much better

This signing has to be taken in context. We are a Europa league team at the moment and this is about as good as it gets.

I think we can do better, but I don't trust Wenger and Gazidis to execute on stretch targets. So I would seal this deal and fill out the rest of the squad.
Just sit here and think about the Higuain / Suarez debacle. A bird in the hand...

Don Pacifico wrote:
Klaus wrote:

He's a jumped up Darren Bent who bags a lot of penalties. It would be typical us to get stuck with this shower of shit in a summer where at least half a dozen high-profile strikers seem to be moving around.

Not that I disagree on Lacazette but do do you think is better that is available. I can only think of one who is out of our price range and another who is arguably less proven than Lacazette.

Morata and Auba is probably out of our reach, Belotti is far too expensive for a 1 season guy.

Probably only Icardi?

Qwiss! wrote:

This signing has to be taken in context. We are a Europa league team at the moment and this is about as good as it gets.

Pretty much, and we don't have United's money to make up for it.

Really? Which club will we unseat? Do you assume Liverpool would be too stretched?

We would have got it this season, if Wenger didn't faff about with his contract.

They finished a point ahead of us. You have to think CL vs no CL is more than a point of a difference maker. Unless they sign a good striker and seriously improve their midfield and defence it should be no problem to finish ahead of them.

god I wish I had as much free time as others. Shit posting on opp footbal forums. If only I could find the time.