Welcome Alexandre Lacazette

[Midz]

He scored a great goal though, innit.

[nut flush gooner]

La-ca-zette, zette, zette, give him the ball it's in the net,
Lacazette, zette, zette, give him the ball it's in the net,
On his left on his right
In the air he's dynamite
Lacazette, zette, zette, give him the ball it's in the net

And until the goal on saturday, both him and bangbang were fcuking useless and lazy b.stards too For all the weekly bashing of our defence, the reality is that if we had the victims forward line we probably would have won on Saturday - when you consider how dominating our midfield was against the victims, it is a shocking indictment that neither of our two goalscorers looked dangerous until wellshit and iwobi came on (or until bangbang went off). It was the lazy arrogance from the 2 of them that wound me up, but tbf it was far more on bangbang than lacazette

From close quarters at the front of the North Bank I thought Laca worked his socks off, with very little return from the pool defence. You have to look at the defensive record of the the teams above us to realise whilst we can beat them all in a one off game, over a season its their defences that is the difference. Although others said he had a good game I found Ozil quite infuriating personally, there was quite a few occasions where he ducked out of a tackle or putting his head on the line. This thread is a very good snapshot how people write off a player, compared with Giroud he is on a different level and really should have had a lot more caps for France than he has.

We have a problem incorporating Laca and Auba in the same team, from the start. That's something Emery has to sort out, I am sure he will figure it out.

[augie]

La-ca-zette, zette, zette, give him the ball it's in the net,
Lacazette, zette, zette, give him the ball it's in the net,
On his left on his right
In the air he's dynamite
Lacazette, zette, zette, give him the ball it's in the net

And until the goal on saturday, both him and bangbang were fcuking useless and lazy b.stards too For all the weekly bashing of our defence, the reality is that if we had the victims forward line we probably would have won on Saturday - when you consider how dominating our midfield was against the victims, it is a shocking indictment that neither of our two goalscorers looked dangerous until wellshit and iwobi came on (or until bangbang went off). It was the lazy arrogance from the 2 of them that wound me up, but tbf it was far more on bangbang than lacazette

From close quarters at the front of the North Bank I thought Laca worked his socks off, with very little return from the pool defence. You have to look at the defensive record of the the teams above us to realise whilst we can beat them all in a one off game, over a season its their defences that is the difference. Although others said he had a good game I found Ozil quite infuriating personally, there was quite a few occasions where he ducked out of a tackle or putting his head on the line. This thread is a very good snapshot how people write off a player, compared with Giroud he is on a different level and really should have had a lot more caps for France than he has.

We have a problem incorporating Laca and Auba in the same team, from the start. That's something Emery has to sort out, I am sure he will figure it out.

Isnt that more about expectations then ?? I recognised a long time ago that giroud wasnt all that and my expectations of him were greatly reduced as a result, but lacazette and bangbang meant to be top strikers and for me that means that they have to play like top strikers. You are right when you say that ozil pulled out of a few 50/50s on saturday, but how many times did either of our strikers "bust a gut" to get into the danger area's from our crosses ? Look back at the full game again and you will see countless times where one or both were hiding on the edge of the penalty area hoping for luck to shine on them by giving them an easy shot on goal Compare that attitude to wrighty who was a proper striker who would be making the hard runs into the danger zones with the intention of making something happen, and you can straight away notice a huge difference in hunger and application

I dont want to turn this into a bashing of our front 2 strikers cos I do believe that they can be quality for us. I do however want/expect to see a much different/better attitude from both of them (especially bangbang) when things are not happening easy for them - we have all bemoaned this squad in the past for being flat track bullies, and I will always judge a player on how they react when their backs are to the wall, so for me a "needs to do better" grade is fair for last saturday's game

[nut flush gooner]

La-ca-zette, zette, zette, give him the ball it's in the net,
Lacazette, zette, zette, give him the ball it's in the net,
On his left on his right
In the air he's dynamite
Lacazette, zette, zette, give him the ball it's in the net

And until the goal on saturday, both him and bangbang were fcuking useless and lazy b.stards too For all the weekly bashing of our defence, the reality is that if we had the victims forward line we probably would have won on Saturday - when you consider how dominating our midfield was against the victims, it is a shocking indictment that neither of our two goalscorers looked dangerous until wellshit and iwobi came on (or until bangbang went off). It was the lazy arrogance from the 2 of them that wound me up, but tbf it was far more on bangbang than lacazette

From close quarters at the front of the North Bank I thought Laca worked his socks off, with very little return from the pool defence. You have to look at the defensive record of the the teams above us to realise whilst we can beat them all in a one off game, over a season its their defences that is the difference. Although others said he had a good game I found Ozil quite infuriating personally, there was quite a few occasions where he ducked out of a tackle or putting his head on the line. This thread is a very good snapshot how people write off a player, compared with Giroud he is on a different level and really should have had a lot more caps for France than he has.

We have a problem incorporating Laca and Auba in the same team, from the start. That's something Emery has to sort out, I am sure he will figure it out.

Isnt that more about expectations then ?? I recognised a long time ago that giroud wasnt all that and my expectations of him were greatly reduced as a result, but lacazette and bangbang meant to be top strikers and for me that means that they have to play like top strikers. You are right when you say that ozil pulled out of a few 50/50s on saturday, but how many times did either of our strikers "bust a gut" to get into the danger area's from our crosses ? Look back at the full game again and you will see countless times where one or both were hiding on the edge of the penalty area hoping for luck to shine on them by giving them an easy shot on goal Compare that attitude to wrighty who was a proper striker who would be making the hard runs into the danger zones with the intention of making something happen, and you can straight away notice a huge difference in hunger and application

I dont want to turn this into a bashing of our front 2 strikers cos I do believe that they can be quality for us. I do however want/expect to see a much different/better attitude from both of them (especially bangbang) when things are not happening easy for them - we have all bemoaned this squad in the past for being flat track bullies, and I will always judge a player on how they react when their backs are to the wall, so for me a "needs to do better" grade is fair for last saturday's game

Laca and Auba are top strikers. Under very poor management last season, I think Laca did reasonably well. Auba has continued on from where he left off at Dortmund, with a very good goals per game ratio.

In terms of work rate, you are more likely to see Laca covering the ground than Auba. That clearly is why Emery has decided Laca should lead the line in the middle. My only concern about them both, is how they haven't clicked as a partnership when they both start. They've scored for fun, with Auba coming on off the bench. Apparently Arsenal are the top team when it comes to covering ground in the PL this season (compared with 8th last season), I am not sure how much of that is the front line, but Emery won't let the players rest on their laurels.

This season is the first in years where I actually look forward and enjoy going to watch them play.

[augie]

La-ca-zette, zette, zette, give him the ball it's in the net,
Lacazette, zette, zette, give him the ball it's in the net,
On his left on his right
In the air he's dynamite
Lacazette, zette, zette, give him the ball it's in the net

And until the goal on saturday, both him and bangbang were fcuking useless and lazy b.stards too For all the weekly bashing of our defence, the reality is that if we had the victims forward line we probably would have won on Saturday - when you consider how dominating our midfield was against the victims, it is a shocking indictment that neither of our two goalscorers looked dangerous until wellshit and iwobi came on (or until bangbang went off). It was the lazy arrogance from the 2 of them that wound me up, but tbf it was far more on bangbang than lacazette

From close quarters at the front of the North Bank I thought Laca worked his socks off, with very little return from the pool defence. You have to look at the defensive record of the the teams above us to realise whilst we can beat them all in a one off game, over a season its their defences that is the difference. Although others said he had a good game I found Ozil quite infuriating personally, there was quite a few occasions where he ducked out of a tackle or putting his head on the line. This thread is a very good snapshot how people write off a player, compared with Giroud he is on a different level and really should have had a lot more caps for France than he has.

We have a problem incorporating Laca and Auba in the same team, from the start. That's something Emery has to sort out, I am sure he will figure it out.

Isnt that more about expectations then ?? I recognised a long time ago that giroud wasnt all that and my expectations of him were greatly reduced as a result, but lacazette and bangbang meant to be top strikers and for me that means that they have to play like top strikers. You are right when you say that ozil pulled out of a few 50/50s on saturday, but how many times did either of our strikers "bust a gut" to get into the danger area's from our crosses ? Look back at the full game again and you will see countless times where one or both were hiding on the edge of the penalty area hoping for luck to shine on them by giving them an easy shot on goal Compare that attitude to wrighty who was a proper striker who would be making the hard runs into the danger zones with the intention of making something happen, and you can straight away notice a huge difference in hunger and application

I dont want to turn this into a bashing of our front 2 strikers cos I do believe that they can be quality for us. I do however want/expect to see a much different/better attitude from both of them (especially bangbang) when things are not happening easy for them - we have all bemoaned this squad in the past for being flat track bullies, and I will always judge a player on how they react when their backs are to the wall, so for me a "needs to do better" grade is fair for last saturday's game

Laca and Auba are top strikers. Under very poor management last season, I think Laca did reasonably well. Auba has continued on from where he left off at Dortmund, with a very good goals per game ratio.

In terms of work rate, you are more likely to see Laca covering the ground than Auba. That clearly is why Emery has decided Laca should lead the line in the middle. My only concern about them both, is how they haven't clicked as a partnership when they both start. They've scored for fun, with Auba coming on off the bench. Apparently Arsenal are the top team when it comes to covering ground in the PL this season (compared with 8th last season), I am not sure how much of that is the front line, but Emery won't let the players rest on their laurels.

This season is the first in years where I actually look forward and enjoy going to watch them play.

What I will say in their defence to that, is that dick is not playing them together in my opinion - playing bangbang as a winger and expecting them to click as a partnership is unreasonable, cos otherwise we would be moaning that lacazette hasnt formed a partnership with iwobi and mikki etc either. The main gripe/concern I have with dick at the mo is his refusal to play both as a 2 man forward line would ozil behind them - for me tactics is all about picking the system that works best with the players available, AND maximising the talents of your best players (as well as negating the opposition players obviously), and I would say that the current system isnt getting the best of ozil, lacazette and bangbang.
Of course if we keep seeing performances (more important than the results maybe) like we seen against the victims, then it will be hard to put up any argument against staying with is working

[DB10GOONER]

I'm with you on this one augie. Ozil in behind Boomerang and Lacazette. But Dick has to give them a run of games like that. Striking partnerships seldom hit it off straight away and can sometimes take time to develop.

[clockender1]

What I will say in their defence to that, is that dick is not playing them together in my opinion - playing bangbang as a winger and expecting them to click as a partnership is unreasonable, cos otherwise we would be moaning that lacazette hasnt formed a partnership with iwobi and mikki etc either. The main gripe/concern I have with dick at the mo is his refusal to play both as a 2 man forward line would ozil behind them - for me tactics is all about picking the system that works best with the players available, AND maximising the talents of your best players (as well as negating the opposition players obviously), and I would say that the current system isnt getting the best of ozil, lacazette and bangbang.

what i would say is this - wrighty had the best back five in world football behind him, and they were protected by a midfield with the likes of Parlour, Schwartz and Jensen . players who were organized and knew their roles. we had a 4-5-1 or 5-4-1 formation with either smudge or wrighty as the goal hanger. support provided by either Merse or Campbell when we had the ball.

Laca and PEA do not have that. nowhere close, so we defend as a team.

i agree with your comments about balls into the box with no one there, but laca 100% put a shift in tracking back and they both pressed the scousers defence and helped stop them building from the back.

our game plan was to stop Liverpool playing football then play ours, and it worked pretty well.


As xhaka and Dozer improve and Torreira gets fitter ( see that cramp at the end ? ), and the back four become more regimented and confident, i am sure Dick will play one of PEA or Laca very high up - on the shoulder of the last defender - PEA most likely as i think he prefers the ball over the top a little more than Laca. because that prevents the opposition playing a high line and compressing the gap between defense and attack.

Any manager wants the opposition gap as large as possible as its harder for them to find passes under pressure, but at the same time is easier to pass through with pace and directness.

we are a work in progress, but it will come. i think that will be in January when the pitches are a little heavier and its easier to stretch the back four with the odd ball over the top.