Can you actually believe that we have just 11 games left in the Premier League this season? It’s amazing how time flies in this division, and I must say, it has been yet another frustrating campaign for Arsenal. The fans were used to finishing in the top four all these years and it became a bare minimum in terms of expectations but after finishing in fifth place last season, one must have thought that the Gunners would do enough to at least challenge for the title or something, but shamefully, the Gunners are a whopping 27 points behind Manchester City and eight points behind fourth placed Chelsea.
The potential for yet another campaign outside the top four is looming but the team’s cause isn’t helped with the recent update that top scorer (yes, with nine goals), Alexandre Lacazette will be out for four to six weeks due to an ongoing knee problem that required him to go under the knife. The club’s website released an official statement,
“The minor procedure was a success and he will now undergo a period of rehabilitation. It is envisaged that he will return to the squad within four to six weeks.”
With the likes of Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott shipped out to other Premier League clubs, Arsenal is left with their new record signing, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Danny Welbeck as the only senior center forwards in the team. The likes of Eddie Nketiah and Chuba Akpom are still waiting in the ranks to stake a claim for first team action but they are far from ready.
Lacazette’s time in the club has been bittersweet so far with the initial buzz surrounding his arrival and his debut goal after 94 seconds against Leicester City. He had such a good start to his Arsenal career and I strongly believe that the constant substitutions for Olivier Giroud didn’t help his cause. With Giroud suffering an injury layoff, Lacazette managed to play for 90 minutes but he failed to influence most of his games. I will still need to cut him some slack as he’s playing in a different league and that requires some adapting to do, but many expected better from the French forward.
I’m quite unhappy about the timing of Lacazette’s injury, as it has come at a time when he needed some goals to improve his confidence, falling his horror show at Wembley as well as Arsene Wenger’s comments about how Aubameyang’s arrival affected his confidence. With Lacazette injured, Arsenal will need Danny Welbeck to come up with the goods in the Europa League, while Aubameyang would lead the charge for the fourth place finish we remain hopeful for.
I wish Lacazette the very best and hope he recovers swiftly as we need his services for the remainder of what’s left of the season.
Sayonara.
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