Ian Wright has claimed that Alexandre Lacazette ‘proved a point’ to Mikel Arteta on Monday night that he should be starting for Arsenal, as he told Premier League Productions (18/10/21 at 10:10 pm).
Arsenal recorded a 2-2 draw at home to Crystal Palace, with Lacazette coming off the bench and rescuing a point for his side.
Mikel Arteta opted to start with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang up front, with the latter opening the scoring for his team, before Palace pushed ahead and then Lacazette came off the bench to net that stoppage-time equaliser.
It’s a quick turnaround for the Gunners because they will now host Aston Villa on Friday night.
Wright shared how Arsenal ‘need’ Lacazette in the starting XI and how he was seemingly playing with a ‘purpose’ against Palace.
“He came on with a purpose,” said Wright. “I would have liked the ball to be played into him a lot more. There was a lot of backwards and sideways passes. When you can bring someone like him on, who can lift the play. In the end, he came on, got the crowd going and got the goal, thankfully because I don’t think Arsenal deserve anything.
“What he is trying to do is make a point that I should be playing. He is somebody that plays a different type of striker role as Aubameyang.
“What he is trying to do is making a point that ‘I should be playing’. He is somebody that plays a different kind of striking role than Aubameyang. And it’s very tough to get them both in the side.
“If he’s in the side, then Aubameyang plays out on the left, which is not his most potent position, because he wants to be down the centre. With those three guys, Saka, Odegaard and Smith Rowe behind him to give him the ball, which didn’t happen much (v Palace).
“But you need someone like Lacazette, who can keep the ball, link those three, keep the ball in the final ball, which then keeps the pressure on a Palace.”
From a quality standpoint, Palace, who were without Wilfried Zaha, were the better team on Monday, so does Arteta change it up?
He somehow has to accommodate Lacazette in the side because he is now proving that he deserves that starting berth.
If the North London club allow themselves to be dominated, like they did against Palace, for their home tie with Villa, then they might not be so lucky in walking away with a point.
Both Lacazette and Aubameyang have played together before, with the latter pushing to the left, and it has worked, so there is no reason why they can’t start together again.
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