Alexandre Lacazette bunked off English lessons at school… now the Arsenal ace intends to teach us a footballing lesson
French striker's first ever coach Jean-Pierre Parsi recalls his time working with the forward as a youngster
ALEXANDRE LACAZETTE used to bunk off English lessons at school to play football.
But this season the French striker is hoping to give English football a lesson in scoring with Arsenal.
The club’s record £52million buy has come a long way from the shy suburban kid who rocked up at local club Elan Sportif De Lyon 8th with his dad aged five.
His family lived on the 13th floor of a tower block overlooking the pitch.
Jean-Pierre Parsi was his first coach and proudly flicks through photos of the young Lacazette, bringing back fond memories.
He said: “His parents were happy for him to join our club because he only had to cross the street and they could watch from their window.
“Even at that age, he had something a little more than the others because he loved having the ball. He always had it at his feet.
“He was quiet and conservative but was a quick learner — you only had to show him once how to do something and he’d do it.”
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Although Lacazette, 26, has always been a striker, Parsi revealed he preferred playing in goal and had to be coaxed to play up front halfway through matches.
He said: “A lot of kids don’t like to be in goal, they prefer to be scoring goals, but he loved it.
“When we were losing I had to tell Alexandre, ‘We need you on the field now’ and he’d score the goals until we were winning and then go back in goal!”
Parsi coached the youngster for five years and remembered how Lacazette would become red-faced if he scored too many. He said: “His ability was extreme, he could do anything.
“He’d literally be able to dribble half the pitch and score eight, nine or ten goals in a match.
“The boy would be so embarrassed he would then stop scoring and focus on creating chances so his team-mates could score, too.
“He was always thinking about the others and definitely has always subscribed to the view that the group is stronger than the individual.”
Lacazette was such a perfectionist, if he missed a scoring chance he would deem it as a failure.
Parsi said: “When Alexandre failed to score, he used to cry. He felt he had let his team down.
“I used to tell him, ‘It’s OK. Watch the top strikers on TV, they’re missing all the time’.”
Lacazette’s age group would often beat the city’s top club, Olympique Lyon, and they soon spotted him.
And he rapidly rose through the ranks to play for every level for France since the Under-16s.
His crowning moment for the junior Les Bleus was scoring a late winner against Spain to win the 2010 European Under-19s Championship.
Former Rangers defender Sebastien Faure went to the same Lycee Frederic Fays school as Lacazette and played with him at the Lyon academy and for France.
Now playing for Chasselay in the third tier of French football, he is still friends with the Arsenal star.
Faure said: “Sometimes we didn’t go to class, preferring to play football or sometimes chasing girls.
“Alexandre used to skip English lessons so it took him longer than most to learn the language.
“With France we had so many great moments. I remember him scoring the winner against England and Jack Wilshere once — that was a special moment.”
In the Under-19s he played alongside Atletico Madrid striker Antoine Griezmann and Gunners team-mate Francis Coquelin.
Faure said: “Griezmann was always the joker of that team, while Alexandre was very quiet. But him and Alexandre were close. That tournament elevated him. It made Lyon offer him a professional deal.”
Faure’s brother Anthony is the Lyon journalist for newspaper Le Parisien and has followed him closely.
He said: “Alexandre has never been showy. He keeps himself to himself, even in his neighbourhood.
“He has lived in a Lyon bubble all his life and his agent, who has been with him since he was 17, and three brothers have been trying to get him to move abroad for years.
“When he played his last match against Nice, he scored two goals.
“It was such an emotional moment because in his heart he didn’t want to leave but, in his head, it was necessary for his career.
“Arsenal is ideal for him because Arsene Wenger is French, their style is the closest in England to Barcelona, who he has always loved, and there are plenty of other French players, so he won’t be homesick.”
Sebastian Faure has no doubt he will not only adapt to the Premier League, he will quickly work out how to deal with English defending.
He added: “Arsenal have always been accused of not being able to match teams like Stoke and West Brom physically. Alexandre certainly will — he is very powerful.
“He went out and got a personal trainer and did lots of gym work. That work paid off because he has just got better and better.
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“It will take him a bit of time to adapt to Premier League defenders but Alexandre will quickly work them out. He is great at that.
“He will have no problems making a big impact in England.
“Trust me, he is a far more complete player than Olivier Giroud.”
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