Bacary Sagna has backed his fellow country man, Alexandre Lacazette, describing the Arsenal frontman as ‘amazing’.
Lacazette has come in for lots of criticism during the current campaign having found the net just nine times.
Mikel Arteta had started Eddie Nketiah as he preferred to Lacazette.
The French forward came off the bench to score the late winner against West Ham.
Arteta said after the win against West Ham: “I saw it straight away the moment I was talking with him, giving him instructions on the touchline, he was alert, focused and I could see in his face he was really determined to come out there and score the goal like he did."
Recall that Sagna spent seven years with the Gunners between 2007 and 2014, before he moved to Manchester City.
“Laca is vital,” said Sagna. “He is the type of player who gives everything for the team. Of course you always see the one scoring the goals, like Aubameyang - who is a goalscoring machine - but the amount of work Laca puts in is amazing.
“The way he holds the ball, the way he fights for the ball, the way he presses the defence. This is invisible work that not everyone will see. But for Arsenal’s system and the way they want to play, he is amazing.”
On Lacazette poor scoring form away from home, Sagna said: “He can score many goals, in front of the goal he is clinical,” said the former Gunners defender. “But most of the time he has his back to the goal. When he receives the ball, he is trying to protect and defend the ball for other players.
“He is getting kicked for his team-mates and this is why, for me, he is vital to the Arsenal system.
“He is running a lot. You know how tiring it is to run all the time and press from the front? It’s very tiring, people don’t realise how difficult it is. On top of this, yes you have to score goals. People will ask to score goals because we only remember goalscorers, but he is doing a lot.”
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