Arsenal keep top of the Premier League thanks to Trossard’s ‘creative spark’

During the first lockdown, in 2020, Leandro Trossard was looking for an affordable way to pass the time. Something to challenge the brain and sharpen focus. He had a large Lego building set delivered to the door. One for the experts: the Taj Mahal, from the series of architectural monuments that the toy manufacturer launched in 2016. With 5,923 blocks, Trossard will finally be busy for a week.

Trossard was not the first choice in January. With him, Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta seems to have found the last missing piece for his team, in its rush to win its first league title in nineteen years. A cluster that fits anywhere in its sphere.

Zaterda at Leicester, Trossard excelled in the role of false 9, a position in which he had played regularly at Brighton earlier in the season. Wout Faes and Timothy Castagne, two fiends in Leicester’s backline, have been working for Trossard.

Cleverly collapsed. Dictate the pace. Despite his stature, he won two duels out of three. He kept 80 percent of the balls passed to him. He called four fouls. He scored a beautiful goal that was disallowed by the video assistant referee for a previous foul by one of his teammates. And with a crafty ball through Harry Souttar’s legs, he was the basis for Gabriel Martinelli’s only goal. His first pass for Arsenal.

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Trossard usually balances out with Martinelli for the left striker spot. Now, however, he has been preferred at striker over Eddie Nketiah, who has been drying up for seven matches.

“Troussard fits well with our way of playing,” said Arteta. “He and Martinelli have a lot of intelligence of the game. They understand what we expect of them and play football with personality. The Trossard was very good. He was involved in a lot of dangerous situations. He’s very strong in the small space. He has that creative spark to crack the game open.”

Its versatility is an asset to Trossard. He has already played in six different locations this season; He was also a Brighton deuce. This variety allows the coach to be diverse. Trossard is the combination of the creative players Arsenal have (Martinelli, Saka and Odegaard).

Trossard works best when he is given a space or when he can create it for himself. Like on Saturday, technical skills usually do the rest after that. The winter purchase has kept Arsenal on track.