They say Lacazette can be the new Wrighty – Are they Wright?

This blog will be short and sweet, (not always the case with me) and has been inspired by those making comparisons between our shiny new record signing and a certain Mr Ian Wright. Indeed only yesterday, a man who should know, Gerard Houllier, described Lacazette as the ‘New Ian Wright’.  Indeed there so may similarities – The coolness under pressure, the ability to finish with either foot, the speed over a short distance, the ability to turn a defender either way and not forgetting, the delightfully deft, over the advancing keeper, dinks.

I could go on and on about this man, Alexandre but it is impossible to stress, for me at least, the importance of two genuine two-footedness in a striker. It allows the striker the confidence of knowing that he can continually have the opposition’s defenders guessing. That alone makes it money well spent for me. I do not particularly care if Lacazette does not fit into Deschamps France plans currently but I would be prepared to bet a fair sum that he will be in Russia come June 2018.

Anyway, I digress because it was the Wrighty comparisons that had me scrambling for the stats last night. There has been a lot made of Lacazette’s prolific record for Lyon, over the last four years and how that has earned him the move to Arsenal. I thought it would be quite cool to look at Ian Wright’s breakthrough four years at Crystal Palace, which similarly, 26 year ago, earned his move to the Arsenal Big Time!

So here goes with Alexandre Lacazette for Olympic Lyonnais..

And for Ian Wright for Crystal Palace…

So there we have it – Two strikers learning their trade and at the top of their respective games before moving to The Arsenal. If Wright had not suffered the leg break in 1989/90 there is little doubt the comparative records would be even closer than they are. For Lacazette, a goal scoring ratio of over 0.6 over four seasons, including many games at Europe;s top table, penalties or no penalties, is a fabulous record.

I sincerely hope that Lacazette goes on to replicate the goal-scoring success that Wright had in North London but as for the latter, where George Graham failed, was with his strikers supporting cast. If the Frenchman is to fire Arsenal back the big time it is the supporting cast and supply line that will be crucial. Early signs are good so now it is over to Arsene and his negotiating team…

Dave Seager

Passionate fifty-something Arsenal supporter who has been making the journey to N5 regularly since the early 1980s – although his first game was in 1976. Always passionate when talking about The Arsenal, Dave decided to send a guest blog to Gunnersphere in the summer of 2011 and has not stopped writing about the Gunners since.

He set up his own site – 1 Nil Down 2 One Up – in February 2012, which he moved on in 2016 to concentrate on freelance writing and building Gunners Town, which he launched with Paul in 2014.

The objective of GT was to be new and fresh and to give a platform for likeminded passionate Arsenal fans wishing to write about their team. Dave still of course, writes for the site himself and advises the ever-changing writing crew.