Mikel Arteta says Leandro Trossard time has come to start in the line up, no more substitution
The Brazilian is a top talent but his form has nosedived over the past year while his Belgian team-mate continues to step up when called upon.
Just two minutes after coming off the bench at Aston Villa on Saturday, Leandro Trossard scored Arsenal’s crucial opening goal, beating Emiliano Martinez with a first-time finish after the hosts had failed to deal with Bukayo Saka’s cut-back.
It was vintage Trossard. The super-sub with the superhero-inspired celebration had come to his side’s rescue once again. Arsenal had been second best for the majority of the game at Villa Park and would have been behind had it not been for some atrocious finishing from Ollie Watkins and heroics from David Raya.
Trossard’s strike, then, was a veritable game-changer, and yet the 29-year-old clearly wasn’t in the mood to don his ‘goggles’ on his occasion. He had to be talked into doing so by team-mate William Saliba.
Why? Because Trossard was clearly still annoyed that Gabriel Martinelli had been once again selected to start ahead of him – and his frustration was fully justified.
There are those that believe that Trossard’s best role is ‘impact sub’; that he isn’t as effective as a starter. It’s pure rubbish. Whether deployed on the left wing or through the middle, he’s rarely let his team down. On the contrary, he’s usually stepped up to the mark.
When Martinelli’s form fell off a cliff at the tail end of last season, Arteta began picking Trossard on the left flank instead of the Brazilian – who didn’t contribute either a goal or an assist in Arsenal’s final 10 Premier League fixtures – and the Belgium international played a pivotal role in the Gunners’ taking the title race right to the wire.
Trossard scored four times in five games between April 20 and May 12 alone, with his fine form prompting Hollywood star Anne Hathaway to declare her “love” for a player that Arteta described as “a little magician”.
