It's a done deal clearly. He would have denied it outright if it wasn't.
Alexandre Lacazette
Could be keeping other interested parties on their toes by saying those things?
I hope this one goes through. As I said few weeks ago, having kept a close eye on him this season, he's way better than I thought he was when we were linked with him last season. Quality striker.
Recent talk is that he's being considered as a potential like for like replacement for Sanchez at this point, although he'd likely slot in as CF if Mbappe fails to happen.
If he's being brought as a replacement for Sanchez then maybe we are going to use a 2 striker formation. Wouldn't be too bad so long as Ozil stays and we bring in another top striker. If on the other hand it's Giroud/Welbeck/Walcott that'll fill in then it'll be a disaster.
Art wrote:If he's being brought as a replacement for Sanchez then maybe we are going to use a 2 striker formation. Wouldn't be too bad so long as Ozil stays and we bring in another top striker. If on the other hand it's Giroud/Welbeck/Walcott that'll fill in then it'll be a disaster.
I think the inference was that Lacazette is being pursued irrespective of the Mbappe negotiations, which means that signing Lacazette may not mean that we are no longer after Mbappe.
In which case Lacazette could replace Sanchez in either the 3421 or 4231 with Mbappe as CF in either.
If we retain Giroud then perhaps we may see a 3412, and a front 2 of Giroud & Lacazette with Welbeck & Walcott as cover,
and Lemar & Mahrez/Martial on the flanks.
I find it hard to believe the club see Lacazette as a like for like replacement for Sanchez.
Qwiss! wrote:I find it hard to believe the club see Lacazette as a like for like replacement for Sanchez.
I think it's more about his versatility as both are equally at home across the forward line & both are able to score and provide assists. The major difference is that Sanchez is best playing on the ball in the space created by the CF whilst Lacazette is best playing into space ahead of the ball. As such the ideal would be for Lacazette at CF if we retain Sanchez, and perhaps Mbappe is more the replacement if Sanchez departs?
There is no replacement.
Coombs wrote:There is no replacement.
Just as there has been no replacement for PV or TH as yet.
However IMO Mbappe in if Sanchez departs lessens the blow.
I'd take Mbappe or Martial as Sanchez replacement in addition to Laca tbh. Would even consider it a good summer, specially if we bring in a quality midfielder.
Art wrote:I'd take Mbappe or Martial as Sanchez replacement in addition to Laca tbh. Would even consider it a good summer, specially if we bring in a quality midfielder.
Raises the question of quality v role & capability.
Most would argue that we've not replaced the likes of TH & PV if based upon capability/role,
but at the same time there is the other side of the argument that we have replaced them in terms of players of similar levels of quality in the likes of Fabregas, RVP, Ozil & Sanchez.
However the missing ingredient is not in regards to the individual quality / capability / roles, but in terms of the team balance.
I'd gladly sacrifice the lack of elite quality players like Ozil, Sanchez etc IF the offset was that the team & match day squad had even quality AND balance, and were also horses for courses in terms of the shape & tactic. As such whilst I agree with AW's comment that the players determine the strategy rather than the shape, I fundamentally disagree that the shape & tactic is irrelevant as opposed to player quality. Player capability should determine the shape & tactic and their quality then determines the performance & outcomes. You can not win the season with a team of TH or Fabregas any more than you can a team of Ozil or Sanchez.
no doubt his 'great' goal scoring stats will be thrown around alot, but in the 3 seasons before he joined swansea, gomis scored 20 or more goals in ligue 1, and that guy is generally viewed as bin juice.
my french colleague views him as wiltord but with bucketloads more will, workrate and consistency. i reckon we're getting a guy that will do what it says on the tin and nothing more
i think the biggest benefit will be having pace and finishing through the middle, with the brains and heart to back it up (looking at you theo and danny)
Qwiss! wrote:I find it hard to believe the club see Lacazette as a like for like replacement for Sanchez.
It's more likely replacement for Giroud.
Giroud clearly won't stand being 3rd choice behind Lacazette and Welbeck, sadly. If he goes we will miss a plan B all of a sudden.
Gazza M wrote:no doubt his 'great' goal scoring stats will be thrown around alot, but in the 3 seasons before he joined swansea, gomis scored 20 or more goals in ligue 1, and that guy is generally viewed as bin juice.
14, 16, 14 are the Ligue 1 goal tallies for Gomis before joining Swansea. Last 3 seasons for Laca are 27,21,28.
Big difference.
And one wouldn't need stats to know Lacazette is currently miles better than Gomis was
Gazza M wrote:no doubt his 'great' goal scoring stats will be thrown around alot, but in the 3 seasons before he joined swansea, gomis scored 20 or more goals in ligue 1, and that guy is generally viewed as bin juice.
Pretty sure this past season at Marseille was Gomis' first one where he broke 20 league goals. Lacazette is easily two levels above him
Top French marksman
The striker scored 28 Ligue 1 goals in 2016; the best total for a French forward in a single calendar year since Jean-Pierre Papin notched the same number in 1991.
Clinical finisher
Lacazette held the highest chance conversion rate in Europe's top five leagues last season (38.9 per cent), beating RB Leipzig striker Timo Werner (34.4 per cent) and Monaco forward Radamel Falcao (33.9 per cent).
European champion
He scored the winning goal in the 2010 European U19 Championship, heading home against Spain to seal a 2-1 victory for France. Current Arsenal midfielder Francis Coquelin was also in that French team.
Emirates experience
Less than 24 hours after the victory over Spain, Lacazette played in the Emirates Cup for Lyon, arriving 10 minutes before the warm-up and starting the match against Celtic.
Puel's prodigy
The France international came through the youth ranks at Lyon and was handed his debut by former Southampton manager Claude Puel.
Lacazette came through the youth ranks at Lyon and made his debut under Claude Puel
Lacazette came through the youth ranks at Lyon and made his debut under Claude Puel
Footballing familyHis cousin Romuald Lacazette plays for 1860 Munich in Germany and his older brother played in the Swiss second division before moving into coaching.
Penalty box predator
Of his 28 Ligue 1 goals last season, just two came from outside the penalty area.
International goalscorer
Lacazette scored his only France goal to date in a 2-0 win over Denmark at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, home of Lyon's fierce rivals St Etienne.
His only international goal so far came against Denmark in 2015
His only international goal so far came against Denmark in 2015
Arsenal comparisonLacazette scored 28 league goals last season, more than Olivier Giroud, Theo Walcott, Danny Welbeck and Lucas Perez combined.
In good company
Since the 2012/13 season, only nine forwards have scored more goals in Europe's top five leagues. They are Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Suarez, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Robert Lewandowski, Edinson Cavani, Gonzalo Higuain, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Sergio Aguero.
Qwiss! wrote:Gazza M wrote:no doubt his 'great' goal scoring stats will be thrown around alot, but in the 3 seasons before he joined swansea, gomis scored 20 or more goals in ligue 1, and that guy is generally viewed as bin juice.
14, 16, 14 are the Ligue 1 goal tallies for Gomis before joining Swansea. Last 3 seasons for Laca are 27,21,28.
Big difference.
i stand corrected, i was looking at goals in all comps. the point i was (poorly) trying to make is that is that his prolific numbers in france might not translate to england. when you're a guy thats all about goals and little else that's a problem
Gazza M wrote:my french colleague views him as wiltord but with bucketloads more will, workrate and consistency. i reckon we're getting a guy that will do what it says on the tin and nothing more
That's quite an endorsement in my book.
Gazza M wrote:Qwiss! wrote:14, 16, 14 are the Ligue 1 goal tallies for Gomis before joining Swansea. Last 3 seasons for Laca are 27,21,28.
Big difference.
i stand corrected, i was looking at goals in all comps. the point i was (poorly) trying to make is that is that his prolific numbers in france might not translate to england. when you're a guy thats all about goals and little else that's a problem
Thats true but its a gamble I think we need to take. There are nice fantasy wishlists about Aubameyang, Mbappe, etc but we are talking about the same Arsenal manager and CEO that have signed strikers like Welbeck, Lucas and Sanogo since van Persie left. Lacazette is a big step up from that.
I'm not expecting Lacazette to be anything more than a goal scorer. His runs and finishing are top drawer. He's quick and he's lethal. If we could keep Ozil and Sanchez I think it'd be a really strong front 3. If they go who replaces them will make or break how successful Lacazette can be.
For fear as being lambasted for being optimistic, it sounds as if for once we are organized - 1st choice was Mbappe but we move on to back up plan either in parallel cause we know we don't have great chances or we know Mbappe is not coming. Maybe we did learn our lesson.
On Lacazette specifically, if we retain Ozil and Sanchez I think he'll be a good fit. He has the qualities that Wellbeck has in terms of pace and workrate, but can actually make intelligent runs and score.
The one thing that gives me hope about him is that Ateltico wanted to sign him. And Atletico's record with strikers is pretty amazing.
Either that or they just buy a lot of strikers. Vietto and Jackson didn't exactly work out.
Quincy Abeyie wrote:Either that or they just buy a lot of strikers. Vietto and Jackson didn't exactly work out.
Or Gameiro. The jury is still out on Correa as well.
We have Sanchez, Welbeck, Walcott, Lucas and Giroud as our striking options. Regardless of what happens later in the summer, securing Lacazette this week would be wise. I imagine summer camp starts in the next 10 days. It would be good to go in with a strengthened forward line, considering that Sanchez probably won't appear until the week of the Community Shield.
After being rather vocal about my contempt for this signing, I decided to watch a video compilation of his career goals with Lyon. One thing I was impressed with was the variety of goals/finishes in his repertoire. I do still maintain reservations given what he's actually achieved in his career to date and the general quality of the French league but I'm cautiously optimistic.
Price is a joke though and if this is our only attack-minded signing, then I don't think it makes a change in ambition.
He's a good striker and someone that'll do well for you, pretty much what you've been in need of since Van Persie left, but don't change your opinion of him based on youtube.
The only way he'll be a great signing is if he somehow clicks, bit like Adebayor in 07/08. Its worked for Wenger in the past but not for a while and the fact that it's someone we've turned our nose up at in the past doesn't fill me with confidence.
Don Pacifico wrote:
After being rather vocal about my contempt for this signing, I decided to watch a video compilation of his career goals with Lyon. One thing I was impressed with was the variety of goals/finishes in his repertoire. I do still maintain reservations given what he's actually achieved in his career to date and the general quality of the French league but I'm cautiously optimistic.Price is a joke though and if this is our only attack-minded signing, then I don't think it makes a change in ambition.
hmm until this season there weren't that many penalty goals. The way people were talking about him earlier, you'd have thought he was a penalty merchant.
Why did we sign Lucas? I don't get it.
TBH whilst I'd prefer Lacazette ahead of our current options, I get the feeling that he's not any sort of statement signing despite his last 2 seasons.
Reports are that Aubameyang is available for 63m = less than 10m more than what we are looking at for Lacazette, and he has a bigger reputation as a CF to the point IIRC he was touted as being the ST most like TH until Mbappe.
Is anyone able to give any observations re each?
Is either better suited to any particular style?
flobaba wrote:Why did we sign Lucas? I don't get it.
Given how big a part he played in our FA Cup run, it is all worth it.
The part I don't get is, he's been so effective in the final 3rd but Wenger hasn't gave him much chances to adapt to the team.
Qwiss! wrote:Gazza M wrote:i stand corrected, i was looking at goals in all comps. the point i was (poorly) trying to make is that is that his prolific numbers in france might not translate to england. when you're a guy thats all about goals and little else that's a problem
Thats true but its a gamble I think we need to take. There are nice fantasy wishlists about Aubameyang, Mbappe, etc but we are talking about the same Arsenal manager and CEO that have signed strikers like Welbeck, Lucas and Sanogo since van Persie left. Lacazette is a big step up from that.
I'm not expecting Lacazette to be anything more than a goal scorer. His runs and finishing are top drawer. He's quick and he's lethal. If we could keep Ozil and Sanchez I think it'd be a really strong front 3. If they go who replaces them will make or break how successful Lacazette can be.
i agree. i said at the start of the window that i'm at the point where i'd take lacazette over 'powder dry' status
flobaba wrote:Why did we sign Lucas? I don't get it.
Why did we sign Park? And Debuchy? And diverse others? What is the meaning of Arsene?
I'm convinced we signed Park because Wenger lost bet with someone.
Either that or it was some kind of 'dinner with schmucks' kind of thing whereby old Wengy was required to buy a striker and then troll supporters by never actually playing him.
Think Park came in the window Chelsea signed Hazard didn't he? There were reports at the time that Park was snatched when he was already in a hotel to sign a contract with Lille. Not sure if I can see Wenger being petty enough to sign a player just to fuck another club over but there aren't many other scenarios I can think of
See my posts Jones. Only possible explanations.
.. or we fucked around with real targets and had money to blow.
Strange thing is.. Park (as well as Lucas and even Debuchy) were brought in with pretty decent reputations. Not playing Park at all was mind boggling to be honest. As for Lucas, well, for some reason Wenger doesnt trust him (though, not sure why since he's shown ability and work rate and skill in every game he's played for us). Debuchy was not a bad player at all. Unfortunately, he suffered the really early injury with us, and Bellerin took his chance. Even when Deb came in that one game on his return, he looked pretty decent (until he got hurt again).