Garth Crooks believes Arsenal forward Leandro Trossard has been ‘very unlucky’ not to be a regular starter this season.
Crooks has named Trossard in his Team of the Week for the BBC after the 28-year-old scored the winning goal at Goodison Park yesterday.
Trossard came off the bench in the first half after Gabriel Martinelli picked up an injury following a disallowed goal.
The Belgian forward has started just one game in the Premier League this season as he’s found himself behind Martinelli in the pecking order.
And Crooks believes he has been very unfortunate in terms of his playing time at Arsenal this season.
Crooks on Trossard
Writing in his latest column for BBC Sport, Crooks labelled Trossard a ‘top-class’ player and says Arteta’s selection issues are becoming ‘problematic’.
“There can’t be many teams with the ability to lose a top-class player through injury and replace him with another,” the pundit said. “Arsenal had to take off Gabriel Martinelli after just 22 minutes at Goodison Park but had the luxury of bringing on Trossard.
“The Belgium international made an immediate impact and slotted in past Jordan Pickford as part of the most exquisite move I’ve seen from Arsenal for some time.
“Trossard is very unlucky not to be in the Gunners’ starting line-up, as the selection process for Mikel Arteta is starting to get a little problematic.”
Trossard is likely to get a run in the side after his display against Everton yesterday, especially as it remains unclear how serious Martinelli’s injury is.
The former Brighton man has become an important part of Arteta’s squad over the past nine months.
While Trossard will undoubtedly be keen to start from the off more regularly, he was likely fully aware he would be signed as a squad option back in January.
If Arsenal are to go one better this season in the Premier League, it’s vital that Arteta has quality options from the bench. And Trossard certainly provides that for the Gunners.