Last week Outside90 focused on one-half of Lyon’s dynamic duo in the shape of Nabil Fekir, now we examine his partner in crime – the fantastic Alexandre Lacazette. The striker scored a staggering 27 goals in 33 league appearances, a tally that lead to him picking up the top scorer award for the 2014-15 Ligue 1 season.
Lacazette was born and raised in Lyon and joined the academy at the age of 12, he played his way through the youth teams whilst also getting international recognition from France. Playing for the nation team at every youth level.
There has been a lot of reported interest in Lacazette this summer and it is easy to see why. He is clever in possession, has the pace to beat a man and has fantastic agility.
All these traits combined make him a nightmare for opposition defenders.
The quick, fluid-attacking movement that Lyon manager Hubert Fournier adopts really brings the best out of his forward. It allowed Lacazette to drift into space and expose gaps left by opposition defenders. His determination and work rate helps him create space for himself. Yet, a major assest that Fournier has bought out in Lacazette is his hold-up play.
He has a sense of his teammates’ movement and has the ability to find them almost effortlessly with a perfectly weighted through ball. His holding up of the ball and vision yielded six assists – a number not to be looked down upon from a striker.
He ended up creating 51 chances from open play. Throughout the whole of Ligue 1, only two players bettered this statistic.
So why do the Lyon fans appreciate him so much?
He has a desire off-the-ball to win possession back that we rarely see in modern day strikers. Once his team has been disposed you will not see the Frenchman standing still. He closes opponents down, showing fantastic energy and determination to regain possession with his physical strength, a feature of Lyon’s high-pressing game that Lacazette has adopted effortlessly.
Watching the 24-year-old closely, one will notice a repetitive theme in his finishing. Of course an accurate finisher, the majority of his goals are low shots into the corners of the net.
He is composed, clinical in-and-around the box and is able to use both feet. Last season he had a shot accuracy of 67%, converting 34.6% of those chances.
So he has all the qualities needed to be a world-class striker. The interesting thing is it was not until two seasons ago that he got a break upfront. He was usually being deployed as a winger, Lyon exposing his pace down the wing to produce crosses and create chances. Perhaps this is where he developed his intelligent, precise passing?
It is clear why Lyon manager Fournier is very keen to keep hold of their star striker, stating, “of course, some clubs are going to be attracted to the sort of player he is, but he is under contract at Lyon and with all the different competitions we have this season with the Champions League and the domestic French cups, we obviously want to keep him at the club.”
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With last season’s second place finish comes Champions League football. This will give Lyon and Lacazette the chance to prove themselves to the European stage against the best teams of the continent.
It is fair to say the striker was one of the best players in France, if not Europe last season. His development over the past three years has been a joy to watch and the maturity he plays with is something we rarely see in football. The determination on the pitch is reflected off it, with his decision to stay with his boyhood club rather than move in a bid to make Didier Deschamps’ Euro 2016 side.
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