Emery wants high-pressing possession game: Lacazette
Possession play and high-pressing football.
That's what fans can expect from Unai Emery's Arsenal, said French forward Alexandre Lacazette ahead of tonight's International Champions Cup (ICC) opener against Atletico Madrid at the National Stadium.
The 27-year-old, who joined the Gunners last summer from Ligue 1 side Lyon for a then club record fee of £46.5 million (S$83.4m), said: "I think(we will play) high pressure, as well as possession; we want to keep the ball."
While the Gunners were renowned for prioritising slick possession football under former manager Arsene Wenger, new boss Emery has sought to introduce tactical changes, including a high press.
And such changes have been embraced by Lacazette.
He said: "It can be good because if the pressing is good, we can win the ball higher (up the pitch), so maybe we can create more chances than last season."
Lacazette was speaking at the #RaceToTheEmirates Arsenal fan event yesterday, which saw close to 200 Gunners fans take part in a foot race to win flights and tickets to watch an Arsenal match at the Emirates Stadium in London.
Lacazette was joined by teammates Aaron Ramsey, Shkodran Mustafi and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
As part of their pre-season preparations, the Gunners are in town for the Singapore leg of the ICC, where they will also play French giants Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday.
The ICC will give fans a first glimpse of a new-look Arsenal under Emery, who has taken the reins after Arsene Wenger's 22-year tenure ended in May.
While winning the competition would go some way towards reassuring fans about the coming season, Mustafi believes that it is not the club's priority.
He said: "For me and the team, the most important thing is to prepare for the coming season, to try to bring onto the pitch what we have been working on and see where we can do a better job.
"Obviously, there's always pressure because you want to win, but it's not like if we come here and don't win, everything is negative." - JONAH FOONG
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