Arsenal are 'learning like children', says Lacazette

Alexandre Lacazette has admitted Arsenal will continue to make mistakes as they are like children trying to learn a different set of skills under new manager Unai Emery.

Lacazette scored a wonderful winning goal as Arsenal just about secured all three points from their trip to Cardiff on Sunday, but there were some all too familiar flaws in the team’s display in Wales.

Cardiff had failed to score a goal in the Premier League before the weekend, but twice came from behind against the Gunners to equalise and could have snatched a draw as some old failings away from home continued to blight Arsenal’s performance.

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Lacazette did not try to deny there were problems to solve, but he believes Arsenal will improve the more they get used to Emery’s style and methods. Having had one manager for more than two decades in Arsene Wenger, this was always going to be a tricky transition for Arsenal’s players, but their French striker is confident they will learn their lessons.

“It was a good game, even if we did some mistakes,” said Lacazette, who partnered Pierre- Emerick Aubameyang in attack for the first time against Cardiff.

“We have already learned a lot, but mistakes are going to happen. The manager said, if we do this kind of thing, we can concede a goal. So, we know everything. We just did mistakes because we are learning like children.

“It is okay, it is good, we will be better week after week. We deserved the win, so before the international break it was good to get the three points.

“I think we won just two games in 2018 away from home. This season we want to be better away and it was the first game we have won. I hope that it will the first of many.”

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Arsenal’s away form in this calendar year has been abysmal, so to get a win in only their second away game under Emery was perhaps more important than the performance or the strength of the opposition.

“It is good to get rid of that mental barrier, it’s important to win away,” Lacazette added. “Like when we started the game like, [we thought] ‘Okay we can play like we do at home’.

“You can see we had the right mentality. Last season we lost this kind of game. But if you see the [sic] faces after the second goal we had confidence and that was why we came back.

“We have only had four games under the new manager and overall it has been good, even we had two losses. They were against the two champions [Manchester City and Chelsea] of the past two seasons. If you look, the quality of the games is good. Everyone can take pleasure to watch us play – even on the pitch. I know with the new manager it can only be better.”

Lacazette's partnership with Aubameyang is a potentially exciting one. They interacted well with each other at times on Sunday, even though both of them prefer to play in a central role, rather than out wide. It is a partnership Lacazette wants to work on.

“It is nice we complement each other’s game,” he explained “It is always good to play with good players and he deserved to score against Cardiff as he has worked hard from the beginning of the season. Against Chelsea it was hard for him as he missed some chances, but he has got over that.

“I’m happy with Arsenal.  I know to be in the first eleven is hard and it is always like that in a big club, but I must keep fighting.”