He even looks Vardy-ish.
At 27 years of age, Lucas Perez Martinez is no spring chicken. Nor is he considered among the striker elite. Not exactly top, top quality, a favourite byline in Wengerisms. So who is this player finally supplanting Gonzalo Higuain, Jamie Vardy, Alexandre Lacazette, to name a few of the favourites linked to the Gunners? If reports are to be believed, he was not even considered good enough by Wenger just last month. The change of heart occurred because Steve Walsh, the newly minted football director at Everton, the discoverer of such bargain basement talent like M’Golo Kante, Vardy, and Riyad Mahrez, while at Leicester made a strong case to buy Lucas which is why the Toffees were favourites to sign him before Arsenal gazumped the deal. So in essence, Arsenal piggybacked on another club’s talent scouts. An indication of how far down Arsenal have fallen in that department. The discoverer of diamonds in the rough.
From some of the footage available, there is a Jamie Vardy feel to him. And like the Leicester City striker, Lucas is a late bloomer ending last season season at Deportivo La Coruna with 17 goals and 10 assists. By far his most productive in a career that saw him debut for Atletico Madrid in 2007, move to Rayo Vallecano’s B team, and then work his way to the Ukrainian and Greek leagues before PAOK sold him to Deportivo after a loan spell. So a bit of a journeyman. He seems to have Vardy like pace, breaking free to chase balls down, very direct to goal, and no hesitation in pulling the trigger. Not bad in the air and he can kick in a corner too.
So he can score and is nifty with a pass too. But how does he fit into Arsenal’s possession heavy style? Vardy was able to achieve his success because Leicester went down the counterattacking route. Golo M’Kante- Drinkwater- Vardy boom! Into the net. Simple, direct, effective. But at Arsenal, the style is to graft goals through swarming possession and intricate passes. It’s all slice and dice and flicks and tricks, when it works it’s pleasing to the eye but most of the savvier sides now amass banks of four, down the middle, and frustrate the Gunners into sterility or a match costing mistake.
There have been times when Arsenal does allow the other side to dominate possession, relying on precision counterattacks. A 2-0 win over City two seasons ago had pundits chattering about Wenger’s new philosophy but somehow it never materialized into anything substantive. Giroud is too inert and Walcott, too injured and indecisive, constantly yo yo-ing from winger to striker and back, so the counterattacking potential is limited by the type of players. A good way to look at it the umpteen times Alexis Sanchez over elaborates on the ball which allows defences to speed back, reorganize, and take the sting out.
If Wenger has to utilize his new striker to his potential, then he’ll have to go down the Xhaka- Oezil- Lucas route. Because to be frank, recycling the ball around the box looking for the killer pass, will only render him a cog in the machine. Wenger needs to make tactical adjustments to bring out to take advantage of Lucas’s strengths. With Xhaka, to snatch the ball in the backfield- relay to Oezil- a well placed diagonal from the chief creator could find a rapidly accelerating Lucas for that 1-2-3 finish. One only needed to watch Burnley last weekend, in two clinical strikes, break Liverpool’s heart with just 20% of the ball. Arsenal have the makings of a nascent, more parsimonious component, to break the stagnation in their attacking options. Will Wenger have the courage and tactical acumen to make such adjustments?
Lucas on the attack: Similarities to Vardy?