The Frenchman has started all of the Spaniard’s first three Premier League matches on the bench with his longest cameo seeing him play 45 minutes of the 3-1 win over West Ham after replacing Alex Iwobi at half-time.
Lacazette has made an obvious impact in all of the Gunners’ matches so far and it was his cross which was diverted into his own net by West Ham defender Issa Diop to put Arsenal ahead with 20 minutes to play.
He scored 17 goals in 39 appearances across all competitions – 14 in 32 in the league – in his first year following his £52.7million switch from Lyon last summer but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has become Arsenal’s first-choice No 9 since joining in January.
But having played so impressively so far this season, particularly given the disappointment of missing on a spot in France’s World Cup-winning squad in the summer, Lacazette’s first start is seemingly close. Yet the 27-year-old has opened up on what he must do in order to command a spot in Emery’s starting line-up.
“I have to be more powerful and be quicker in my decision making,” he told Arsenal Player. “It’s harder in England than in France, so I have to take in information quicker and be more powerful.”
And Lacazette also dismissed suggestions that he is pressuring Emery into starting him alongside Aubameyang or not despite the potential for a potent strike-force between the two.
“I like to be with Auba. He’s a good guy,” he added. |I’m not asking the coach or telling him, ‘I want to play with Auba’ or something like that.
“He knows we can play well together and then afterwards, he makes his decision.”
Arsenal have endured plenty of criticism in the early days of Emery’s reign after losing back-to-back top-flight matches against Manchester City and Chelsea before winning against West Ham.
The north London club even fell behind at first to the Hammers after Marko Arnautovic’s opener before bouncing back through Nacho Monreal.
Diop’s own goal and a stoppage-time Danny Welbeck strike gave Arsenal – minus the reportedly-ill Mesut Ozil – a much-needed win at the Emirates Stadium although they weren’t wholly convincing.
And Lacazette believes Emery’s charges require patience as they seek to adapt to the new manager’s methods with predecessor Arsene Wenger having been in charge for 22 years.
“We just need time to adapt to Emery’s football,” Lacazette continued, referring to Emery’s tactics which involve a high press, playing out from the back and a high defensive line.
“I know we worked hard in pre-season and it will be better now. We can also see that when everyone works as a team and we understand what the coach asks us to do, we can be a good team.
“We just need to be more efficient with our chances so that we score more goals. We’ll keep going and we’ll keep working.”
Arsenal’s next outing sees them travel to south Wales for a clash with newly-promoted Cardiff on Sunday (1.30pm) with the Bluebirds yet to pick up their first win of the campaign.