#expect #Lacazette
Alexandre Lacazette (AFP PHOTO / JEFF PACHOUD)
The formalization of the return of Alexandre Lacazette is long overdue but it is already possible to imagine what the striker could bring to OL. Five years after his departure, the striker has evolved in his game, review expectations?
The hours go by, the days too and theOL continues to hold the suspense. Having seen the information leak perhaps too soon, the club raised a wait that today seems endless and unbearable for Lyon fans. More than five days after the announcement of an agreement in principle with Alexandre Lacazette, still without formalization. Discussions continue over certain details, but the finish is not in question. Waiting for all these little people to make this comeback official, it’s time to find out what the “New Lacazette” can bring to this second episode of Lyon.
A strong leadership role
First point and perhaps the most important for theOL now, the return to a Lyonnaise identity with the head of a gondola to embody this project presented by Jean-Michel Aulas. With Lacazettethe Lyon club manages to bring together in a single player someone capable of bringing experience thanks to his stay at Arsenal but also to certain wild evenings at Parc OL while playing on the local fiber.
“This return seems super coherent to me in terms of the project. The club is expanding Caqueret, it has a base with Lukeba and Gusto and perhaps Cherki if he returns well. They will really allow us to rebuild the identity of the club. says Arthur Merle, a journalist for Eurosport and a regular follower of OL. Whether it’s in terms of storytelling and even a project internally streamed to players, you want something cohesive. You have a real pattern with a change of mentalities.”
By signing the boy from Mermoz, the OL unknowingly buys social peace with his fans and finds himself with a player capable of acting as a link between those in the region and others. this season anthony lopes I had part of this cap but with Lacazette, is one more step in this desire to create a true collective unity. During his first adventure, the attacker had already shown that he had the shoulders to hit the table with his fist when things weren’t going well. Five years later, this role is even more embedded in him, having played the older brothers in the Gunners. A quality that he also highlighted in his last season, statistically less successful (only 4 goals).
“With the departure of Aubameyang and this duo that can cause regrets, he regained the bracelet and showed himself to be a true leader. Charles grants wattsLondon correspondent for Goal. He took this role very seriously, whether it was in games or in training, where he knew how to mix good humor and seriousness when necessary. But last season showed that Lacazette was past his prime.”
A profile that has changed in the last 5 years
At 31, Alexander Lacazette is still in full force of age. For many attackers, this period corresponds to when talent and experience are best expressed together. In London, the taste of unfinished business remains, in Lyon, the emotion of seeing the boy of the city return. However, it must be understood that the passage from Lacazette to Arsenal made it evolve. If last season he scored only four goals, the explanation is halfway between a lack of confidence and the role he played in the squad. Much less of a goalscorer at heart if you could say, the French international has really become something of a false 9 with lightning-quick full-backs like saka Occupying space.
His advanced stats in FBREF prove it, he is well above average when it comes to working for the team (pressing, tackles, interceptions, assists) when his contribution as a pure attacker (xG, finishing) is well below. Lyon supporters had seen a few snippets during their first visit, but they will have to get used to it. Today, this feeling of a losing striker is even more apparent with this move to the Premier League, but it may fit Peter’s demands perfectly. the forest.
“He’s less of a scorer but maybe more of a worker in a 9 1/2 role who’s going to drop a lot, defend a lot and display a mentality that should be beyond reproach. continues the Eurosport journalist. His arrival may allow Bosz to really set up his game plan with a very playful, hard-working 9 who will allow pure wingers to play and shoot into space. It will free up space on the axle.”
And Dembele?
It is still necessary that the management of theOL manages to put his hands in real extremes… This arrival of Lacazette, which should therefore not be delayed any longer, also raises the question of Moussa’s place Dembele. At the end of the contract in one year, the striker has perfectly fulfilled his role this season with the status of top scorer and captain. Functions that the club now seems to want to give to Lacazette. Are the two so incompatible? For Arthur Merle, “This return is an opportunity to start from scratch, especially since both will want to be starters.”
Except that Dembélé is not in a hurry to leave and imagining a 4-4-2 of diamonds or a flat system can be attractive. But clearly there is a catch to this fantasy. By hiring Peter Bosz, Jean-Michel classrooms He wanted to opt for continuity and offer the Dutch coach what he finally needed. In his recent experience in Ajax, dormund Y LeverkusenBosz leaned on an immovable 4-3-3 and today it is difficult to see him making more concessions after this unsuccessful season. On paper, a partnership between Lacazette Y Dembele, two attackers with different profiles but who like to play as a prop, it is exciting that the former Gunner can even occupy the current position of Paquetà but far from the reality of Lyon. In any case, one thing is for sure, Lacazette will not fix OL’s house on his account. His arrival is only the first stone of this reconstruction.