Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has told Football.London that he thinks Alexandre Lacazette could play as deep-lying forward or number 10 moving forward.
The Gunners boss has been trying to find a solution to the current goalscoring woes; Arsenal have managed just two goals in their last six Premier League games.
In the Europa League, Arteta went with both Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah away at Molde, with many assuming that he was playing a 4-4-2.
However, Lacazette actually played as more of a number 10, supporting Nketiah as Arteta decided to test him in something of a new position.
The Frenchman’s lack of mobility has been limiting Arsenal’s fluidity and pressing in the final third, but he obviously does still have quality on the ball.
Lacazette came up with three key passes and one shot on target in that 3-0 win at Molde, so there were some aspects to be encouraged by as he attempts to carve out a role.
Speaking today ahead of Arsenal’s Europa League clash with Rapid Vienna on Thursday, Arteta has suggested that he thinks Lacazette is ‘comfortable’ in this role and could play there in the future.
That may mean the same tactic is trialled against Rapid, with Arteta talking up the partnership of Nketiah and Lacazette.
“We wanted to play our team so we had two strikers,” said Arteta. “A way to do it with the qualities of Eddie and Laca was to drop Laca a little bit [deeper] in some situations. It’s something he’s very comfortable doing, while Eddie’s more of a pure No 9. It’s something we can use as well in the present and the future,” he added.
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