Alexandre Lacazette Won't Confront Arsene Wenger over Manchester City Benching

Arsenal forward Alexandre Lacazette will not complain to manager Arsene Wenger after he started on the bench for Sunday's clash with Manchester City, according to his agent. 

Plenty were left surprised when the team news was released on Sunday for the match at the Etihad Stadium, as Wenger decided not to start the club's record signing and top goalscorer. He was also left on the bench for the 4-0 defeat at Liverpool earlier in the campaign.

Speaking about the decision, the player's representative David Venditelli told SFR Sport (h/t Alex Richards of the Daily Mirror) that there's nothing to worry about:

"When you're outside the club, I can understand the questions. I understand, but I think Alex isn't complaining about his playing time, even if he would prefer to start games like those against City or Liverpool.

"But he talks to the manager, the staff—there's no problem. You can't, every time your player doesn't play, even if it's Lacazette, knock on the door or pick up the phone and talk to the manager. No, no, it's not time yet. Everything is fine."

As noted by Richards, on BBC Sport's Match of the Day, the Premier League's all-time top scorer Alan Shearer advised Lacazette to speak to the manager about being left out of the side:

Arsenal were beaten 3-1 by City in the end in a lopsided contest. By the time Lacazette was introduced into the game the Gunners were trailing by two goals, and while the Frenchman gave the side a lifeline with his goal, for the majority of the match there was a chasm between the two sides.

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While a defensive approach from Wenger would have been understandable in this type of fixture given the incredible form of their opponents, to pay so much money for a tremendous goalscorer and leave him out of a match this massive is a questionable decision.

Lacazette has started his spell in English football well, netting six goals in 11 Premier League appearances. 

As noted by journalist Daniel Harris, not having Lacazette in the side suggests Wenger doesn't have much faith in the rest of his team to defend properly:

Of course, Lacazette is still adapting to English football and there are still areas of his game he needs to improve on.

Perhaps against a rampant Manchester City team the vibrancy of Alexis Sanchez at striker made more sense pre-match for the coach. But Arsenal were dull in attack and lacked the edge that Lacazette can provide.

After coming on and giving Arsenal hope in the contest surely Wenger will include him in all of the team's crunch clashes from now on. Following the international break the Gunners face bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the north London derby; it's a game in which Lacazette will be determined to make his mark.