Robbie Mustoe has named the Arsenal star he believes is a lot better than many realise, and may even be somewhat underestimated by Mikel Arteta after his performance against West Ham on Sunday.
The Gunners made a real statement with a 6-0 victory at the London Stadium. The pressure was on given the result at the same ground last season, as well as the fact that both Manchester City and Liverpool won on Saturday.
Arsenal squandered a few early chances, with Leandro Trossard amongst those who should have done a lot better. But once they got the first goal, the floodgates opened.
Leandro Trossard lauded after Arsenal blow West Ham away
Leandro Trossard scored the fourth goal just before half-time with a brilliant finish into the top corner. The Belgian had started as a false nine against the Hammers. And his movement seemed to cause the lacklustre West Ham defence all kinds of problems.
There are few doubts that Trossard has been an outstanding signing following his £27 million move in the 2023 January transfer window.
But speaking on The 2 Robbies podcast, Robbie Mustoe insisted that he does not think that the 29-year-old gets all of the credit that he deserves.
“I’m going to continue and go as far as to say Leandro Trossard is my under-appreciated performer this weekend. You know how I feel about him. I think he’s a little diamond,” he said.
“You know last season [when they were struggling for goals] and he came into the side and he made a difference. And I think I said something like, ‘keep him in the side, keep him in the team’. And Mikel Arteta, I get it, went back to his big signing, his difference-maker from Man City in Gabriel Jesus. I would say it again. This is somebody who’s not on the same level as Mikel Arteta. And the next game, Arteta may see it totally differently, like he’s seen the last two games and he might see something different, and Trossard might be on the bench. He might be back in the midfield.
“I just love it when Trossard plays up front, false nine. And I think he’s better than what people think in general. And maybe, just maybe a little under-appreciated by Mikel Arteta, in terms of how he stacks up against your Havertz and your big money guys, Jesus. He’s from Brighton, we’ll use you when we want you. I think he’s better than that.”
Mikel Arteta will argue that he knows exactly how good forward is
It probably has gone a little under the radar that Trossard is now Arsenal’s second highest scorer in the Premier League this season.
And he now has 22 goal contributions in 50 appearances for the Gunners in all competitions. That is hugely impressive when you consider that he has only started 18 league games since his move just over 12 months ago.
Arteta will argue that he has absolutely no doubts over how good Trossard is. It seemed to be a gamble to bring him in when they were challenging for the title last season. But the gamble paid off immediately.
And Trossard has continued to go from strength to strength since.