Leandro Trossard may be the only Arsenal outfield player to have featured in all 18 Premier League games this season, but the fact seven of those appearances have been as a substitute is likely to have irked the Belgian somewhat.
After all, this is a player who aired his frustration as early as the second game of the season when he pointedly refused to celebrate his goal at Aston Villa – a reaction to starting on the bench.
History suggests the Belgian is no stranger to making his feelings known having arrived at Emirates Stadium after falling out with Roberto De Zerbi at Brighton. Thankfully for the Gunners, Mikel Arteta doesn’t mind the attacker being a ‘moaner’ as he sees it as evidence of his competitive edge.
Facing the media ahead of Arsenal’s trip to Brentford, Arteta said: “Leo, naturally, is a bit of a moaner but I like that because he’s very competitive. When you have training sessions, he’s always busy with the referee’s decision, because he wants to win. That’s what I love.
“He always wants to be the best and when he’s not there, he’s not happy. But that’s what pushes him. That’s where he comes in the pitch, he can make an impact because he’s got that drive, that anger which says: ‘I’m gonna show you.’ I love that about him.”
He added: “He’s a really good character. They all want to play. Always want to play. Leo has shown a lot more consistency in the last 12 months, he’s deserved that. He’s had a lot of competition in his position. That’s it. Raise the level. If he plays at that level then he will play like anyone else.
“He has the capacity to do something special in the final third.”
Given Bukayo Saka’s long-term absence, it’s likely Arsenal will lean on Trossard heavily in the coming months. Having scored 17 goals in 46 appearances last season, he certainly has matchwinning qualities, as well as experience playing in a variety of positions.
“He’s played, and with us he’s played as a left winger, as an attacking midfielder, he’s played as a nine.
“He’s a player that I value a lot, we value a lot because he’s very versatile and very competitive and he’s a massive goal threat for the team. I’m really happy with him.”
While team news ahead of the trip to the Community Stadium is thin on the ground, there was a further hint from Arteta that Raheem Sterling should get back to full fitness quicker than expected. The Chelsea loanee suffered an untimely knee injury in training 24 hours before Saka tore his hamstring but is on the mend.
“He was gutted because he had a good game against [Crystal] Palace [in the Carabao Cup], he could have scored two goals and made an assist and in the end he got injured in a training session.
“That was his opportunity because naturally he would have played in that position. But knowing Raz, I think he will be back quite soon.”
i love moaners
Happy New Year to all you Gooners out there!
Happy New Year, Fatgooner. Happy New Year, Gooners
an unreservedly positive comment from you, what happened did you crack open the cava so early?😉
Happy new year to you too Fats
Not 100% unreservedly positive response.
I feel like it was though? Maybe we have different definitions of positivity.
He calls it as he sees it. Because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it’s negative.
Bunch of moaners. I mean that in the most positive way possible (though maybe you can’t see it).
I don’t even disagree with what he says half the time. By definition being critical is negative. I’m sometimes critical here too. Fats brings that energy more often than most and we love him for it, even if we don’t always show it 😇 happy new year to you too Alan 🎉
Arseblog news commenters love the spirit of ‘moaner’ fats
Happy new years one and all. Happy to see the back of 2024, looking at 2025 with trepidation though.
Always agree with….your wishes!
Happy new year fats! Keep speaking the truth brother!
Yes, well said FG.
Happy new year all! I know I piss some of you off sometimes. I think it’s because I’m quite a placid, people-pleaser in RL that I do enjoy a bit of rough and tumble on here.
But it’s all love to all the gooners out there.
Have a great new year and maybe, just maybe, 2025 might become a historic year for the mighty Arsenal!!
❤️♡❤️♡❤️
If you don’t have any haters it’s just because you haven’t gotten out that much. Happy New Year!
Here’s to less people pleasing in 2025 (working on that part too – learning to enjoy the down votes here lol) and more rough and tumble… wink wink nudge nudge SAY NO MORE
Happy new year fats and everyone that the supports The Arsenal.
Yeah, Happy New Year to all you Gooners out there, the next 5 months are going to be memorable, I’ve seen some terrible Arsenal teams and some great Arsenal teams and believe me this is a great Arsenal team.
Happy New Year Fats, all the best
Ps really nice of you, mate
….and a happy new year to the whole Arsenal fam!
Wishing you all great health and heaps of happiness.
Happy New Year, Fatgooner and to all Arse fans.
Not the most consistent player we’ve ever had, Tross, but one who can make an impact on any given day against any given opposition and, most importantly, can do it even when he’s not getting consistent minutes, which is a rare quality. I feel like his pressing and defensive workrate has improved recently too. If it were me I’d give him a chance in Saka’s position too, he can finish and cross with both feet and that keeps Martinelli in his natural position so why not?
Bring him off the bench, his record is a lot better when a sub. I guess it’s what Mikel says above, he wants to show how good he is and the pent up anger helps.
This is where I moan on his behalf. He was very crucial in out good run at the back end of last season and ended up starting games ahead of Martinelli. Then you get this lazy notion he only impacts games as a sub and it could be true for anyone in any squad with end product. It’s not like his competition does it from the start or the bench anyway. Unpopular opinion I brought up at the start of the season but back then I thought we needed to upgrade our lefts side with at least 70% of what… Read more »
I loved when Trossard called Arteta on his blatant favoritism at Villa. Total Maximus Gladiator moment “Are you not entertained Mikel!” 😂 The “super sub” moniker has to be the single laziest analysis in Arsenal circles. I hope in 2025 Leo starts banging them in like he’s capable of.
I don’t like the Martinelli vs Trossard debate. To me there is no debate. We have two good players with very different skill sets who are both valuable. Alternating them in the same position is not ideal because their stylistic differences change the dynamics and relationships more broadly from game to game. But some games are better suited to one vs the other and this is one area of the pitch where Mikel can choose the best horse for the course.
I agree with all of this, yet to me the most important thing about Saka’s absence is the philosophy of the team without him. When a great player is missing from your team, in my opinion it’s folly to ask another player to try to do what he does. It’s not going to work. You have to identify a different way of playing and lean into the strenghts of the players you do have. For my money Trossard is best used as a roaming inside forward, much like Foden. I want him on the end of things, not necessarily starting… Read more »
Absolutely.
Happy 2025 to all
Agree with all of this. On the left Leo hasn’t had a playmaking true L8 to play with consistently and develop proper chemistry. I would love to see a run of games with Leo on the right paired with Ode. 2 incredibly high IQ technical players could create some beauty together.
Arteta still expecting the razz mattaz but we’ve had Raz matado so far.
He’s so much better when he thinks he’s got a point to prove.
Hahaha sounds like Josh is trying to sell, now that Edu isn’t there to backup Mikel.
Barcelona have failed to register Dani Olmo with La Liga for the second half of this season, meaning they owe him his wages through 2030 and his 48 million transfer fee to RBL, but he is free to sign with another club as a free agent. It’s a wide, wild world out there. Happy New Year!
For real? Get him over here in a flash.
For real. He can’t play for them this season. He could sit the season out and hope they can register him in the summer. He could go “on loan” by signing a 6 month contract somewhere and then go back to Barcelona (assuming they’ve sorted their issues) which seems the most likely outcome. Or he could say sod it, sign a long term deal elsewhere and make two salaries for the next 5 years!
Even though he’s technically available for free, I think the smart move is to Barcelona’s problem for them and guarantee the full fee they paid in summer. He’d be great value at £60m and would be able to play anywhere across the front 3.
Another 60mil down the drain?
23/24 may be 17 goals in 46 appearances, but more specifically 12 goals & an assist in 1646 EPL minutes (or the equivalent of 18 games) or a goal contribution every 1.3 games! 👀
Which is why I felt he had every right to be furious at not starting on the opening day. He scored BIG goals too – we’d have been knocked out by Porto if it weren’t for him.
It’s been a big miss by Mikel to continue to flip flop between Leo and Martinelli and a new left 8 every other week. Nwaneri should have cut his teeth there with Leo early in the season and we’d be in a better position for it. If anyone needs to be a “super sub” it’s Martinelli who rightfully lost his place last year and has done little to nothing to earn it back this year.