Scout report: Alexandre Lacazette
Alexandre Lacazette
Alexandre Lacazette, the Lyon faithful. He can play on either wing or as a striker. He has started the Ligue 1 season perfectly and if he keeps it up top clubs will certainly be having a gander at this young French man.
Profile
Lacazette was born in the city of Lyon on the 28th of May 1991. A hometown boy, Lacazette was playing the youth team at the age of 16, and began training at the CentraTolaVolage, the club’s training centre. While in the training process, he was gaining a lot of attention from media and coaches as many considered him to be the rising star of French football.
At the age of 19, Lacazette was a European champion, scoring the winner in the final against Spain and claiming the u19 European Championship. Lacazette has represented all the French age groups, and with good form this season for Lyon he will be looking to impress Deschamps even more for the senior side. He has already received a call-up, but is yet to make his debut.
Lyon’s coaches first became aware of Lacazette’s potential in the 08-09 season as he aided Lyon’s CFA team into success and scored 5 goals in 19 matches. The next year, he improved on his record by obtaining 12 goals in 22 matches. He then earned his first full team debut, which was against Auxerre in May 2010. We next saw him in pre-season at the Emirates Cup and witnessed a very dedicated performance from him. His first goal in Lyon colours was against Sochaux in October 2010. Interestingly, he has scored more goals against Sochaux than any other club. He went on to score another that season in his second Champions League appearance, as he scored a late equaliser at home to Hapoel Tel-Aviv.
Lacazette is a big game player, and has helped his side out on many occasions. Scoring the winner against Spain in the u19 Euro Championship final ,on his Champions League debut when Lyon were losing 4-0 to Benfica, he was brought on and set up two goals and Lyon very nearly salvaged a draw from that match; he even scored 2 goals in a semi final in the Coupe de la Ligue and in the Coupe de France he replicated that.
Lacazette’s breakthrough year was the 2011-2012 Ligue 1 season, as he played 29 Ligue 1 games and 6 Champions League games, notching 6 goals in total. And thus, receiving a regular first team starter spot. The 2012-13 Ligue 1 season was a case of the ‘second season syndrome’ for the young winger as he failed to imitate the performances which gained him a first team spot in the first place. He only netted 4 goals and 3 assists in total. Through the backend of the the 12-13 season he was slowly picking up his previous form and has carried this into the 13-14 season. He has been playing in a relatively new position this season, but Lacazette has now been given the task of leading the line and plays in a lone striker role in a 4-2-3-1 with Grenier behind him in the pocket, young talented winger, Yassine Benzia on the right side of him and journeyman Yoann Gourcuff on the left side. It’s a role he has fitted in well with a great start to the season, including the first brace of his career on the opening day against Nice.
Style, Strengths and Weaknesses
Alexandre Lacazette has a lot to offer Lyon for years to come. He is an all-rounder, has an eye for a finish, is a fox in the box and a hard worker.
Lacazette is no slouch when it comes to closing down opposition defenders. He often does so intelligently. The amount of distance covered by a player isn’t as important as the amount of distance covered by him in sprints, and Lacazette is a player who seems to know this. He turns on the speed when a defender around him gets the ball, and presses the man ferociously. In their recent game against Sochaux, he executed 2 tackles, and both of them led to goals.
Lacazette is an accomplished finisher of the ball, he has scored some fine goals for Lyon over the past seasons, all types of goals. Long shots, volleys and finesses. He has an eye for goal and an extremely capable one-on-one finishing ability.
Lacazette can use both feet to great effect, in the modern game that is such a great tool and an advantage to any player, to be adept with both feet.
Lyon at the moment are a very exciting team to watch, and Lacazette is at the heart of this creative and attacking Lyon side and he adds flair to the team. He uses his guile and agility to skip past players and is very skillful on the ball and can leave defenders trailing with his box of tricks. The other benefit that this brings to Lyon is in the amount of free kicks he wins for his side, especially near the opposition box. Clement Grenier may have Lacazette to thank for a lot of his free kick goals!