Arsene Wenger Admits Alexandre Lacazette’s Confidence Has Been Rocked By Recent Arrivals

By The Editor
on 12th February 2018

Alexandre Lacazette has been benched since Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s arrival…

ARVE Error: The [[arve]] shortcode needs one of this attributes av1mp4, mp4, m4v, webm, ogv, url

Arsene Wenger had admitted that the arrivals of Henrikh Mkhitaryan and – particularly – Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang may have had a negative effect on Alexandre Lacazette’s confidence in recent week, Goal reports.

Lacazette has come under intense criticism after missing a guilt-edged chance in the dying embers of the game against Spurs, poking the ball wide as Hugo Lloris came rushing out.

It was his second opportunity in a matter of minutes after coming on in the second-half, a move which saw Aubameyang moved out to the left-wing.

Upon the former Dortmund man’s arrival, Wenger said he wouldn’t guarantee Lacazette’s place in the team, with the Frenchman now on a run of one goal in 11 league games.

“He has gone through difficult periods before. He works hard in training, works on his finishing,” Wenger said following our last derby-day misery.

“I don’t know what happened, did he not touch the ball well? It can happen, it is a fraction of a second.

“Maybe the confidence is not at its highest because he has seen a competitor coming in for him.”

It is rather worrying that a player’s confidence can be rocked that easy, but perhaps Wenger should look at how he’s used Lacazette before the arrival of Aubameyang.

The former Lyon man was frequently substituted in each league game, regardless of the scoreline. Also, he was left out of some big games this season in favour of Alexis Sanchez – including Manchester City and Liverpool away.

We desperately need Lacazette to find his touch again given the number of goals we let go during the January transfer window.