Arsenal had a convincing victory over Burnley in their Match Day 25 Premier League clash at the Turf Moor Stadium on Saturday. They continued their impressive form from the 6-0 win against West Ham, delivering a stellar performance to secure a dominant 5-0 victory over Burnley.
Arsenal’s perfect record since the winter break was maintained with goals from Bukayo Saka (2), Leandro Trossard, Kai Havertz, and Martin Odegaard, seeing them continue to sustain their title challenge.
The Gunners’ attack has really stepped up in the past few games, scoring an impressive 21 goals in their last five matches. Thank you to Arteta and his technical bench for addressing the Gunners’ goal-scoring issues that were holding them back before the winter break. Other than the coaching staff, Leandro Trossard also deserves recognition for his impressive performances, filling in as Arsenal’s false nine while Gabriel Jesus was unavailable.
Trossard has been performing well for Arsenal ever since Gabriel Jesus got injured a few weeks ago. As if we had forgotten, the Belgian international showcased his attacking brilliance as the striker versus Burnley. Against the Clarets, the 29-year-old won a penalty that Saka converted for Arsenal’s second goal of the game. He also scored a fantastic goal to contribute to the team’s convincing win. Additionally, his link-up play with Kai Havertz remains impressive. The ex-Brighton man is very effective both on and off the ball, contributing significantly to the team’s overall performance.
I’m not sure about you, but in my view, Leandro Trossard’s impressive performance for Arsenal could make it tough for Gabriel Jesus to get back in the starting lineup. Even Eddie Nketiah, who is considered the most natural striker at the club, is finding it difficult to demonstrate why he should be starting over him.
Right now, the January 2023 signing seems to be providing Arsenal with the attacking spark that Gabriel Jesus and Nketiah couldn’t quite deliver at the beginning of the season. Some might criticise me for this, but the Belgian international could be considered a more effective goalscorer than Gabriel Jesus, whose playmaking skills sometimes overshadow his ability to score goals.
Leandro has scored four goals in his most recent five matches for Arsenal, which is pretty impressive. Gabriel Jesus could end up warming the bench for Arsenal once he is back from injury because of Trossard’s impressive performances. I’m convinced Arteta would be making a big mistake if he decided to bench the versatile Belgian. Why change it if it is working?
Daniel O
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Jesus should not automatically return to the team. The team seems very well balanced at the moment, and we are scoring goals. He will get his chance but he needs to wait for it.
Jesus should start on the bench and perform to get his place back.
Jesus should have to play his way back into the striker position.
Last season he automatically replaced an in-form Trossard, and the team’s form dipped as a result.
Jesus should rotate with Saka to keep our star boy healthy, and he can play his way back into the striker spot IF HE BEATS OUT TROSSARD.
Currently Trossard should beat out Jesus, if starts are based on form and team productivity. Currently we are purring, and no way I would upset that with starting Jesus if fit.
In fact, I would say the same about Zinchenko. Kiowor is playing great, and Zinchenko should have to outperform Kiowor to earn back his chance to be a starter.
Team comes first, not players automatically walking back into the starting lineup.
Agreed but Kiwior playing great…this seems to be based on one or two exceptional performances. Even having said that, those were games when we’re cruising, had we lost both (and he’d performed the same) would the same general perspective still exist? ( Kiwior>Zinchenko)?
Nothing against the guy though
Yes this same mistake if done to replace trossard wit Gabriel will affect our form ..same major mistake that led to our poor form last season at this same stage …please Gabriel should start from the bench and learn this new link up and free scoring first 11 team players….dnt make that mistake again M.A…
True fellas,hop MA realizes the returns Trossard is giving out,performance should be prioritize over favourism
This mistake happened last season with Jesus replacing the inform Trossard. The results that followed made for grim reading.
Jesus should remain on the bench while the team does what it does best – scoring goals. After all, Jesus can’t score goals, as he has already admitted
If it is working, don’t fix it. So goes the adage. The system is functioning well with Trossard deep into things so he should remain on the pitch.
If it’s not broke don’t try and fix it. Arteta should stay with the starting 11 that beat Liverpool, Westham and Burnley, by sticking with the two false number 9s in the interchanging Trossard and Havertz. Havertz creates the space and Trossard uses that space to bring others into the game. It’s a perfect system for Arsenal that should remain unchanged. Jesus can give Saka or Martinelli a rest at half time if Nelson is not a better ready sub.
The lineup that started against Liverpool was not the same as the one in the other two games.
Also, there have been important tactical changes in the last few games which may have caught our recent opponents off guard.
What the last few games have demonstrated is that there are now a range of options available to the manager when everyone is fit. It will be interesting and probably quite difficult to determine our best starting team and formation.
Trossard is one of the most underrated players in the entire EPL.
With his versatility, he fits very well as a modern footballer in demand.
He can play almost all positions upfront. He can as well play as a wingback, something I didn’t know about! But he played that at Brighton.
Arsenal fans should appreciate him as he deserves.
Do we miss Jesus? With Trossard’s current form, I think the honest answer is “NO”!
Jesus has an excellent record in the CL this season
4 goals and 2 assists in 320 minutes of football
sometimes it horses for courses
but in the PL agree start with Trossard in that forward role
and did like the comment to use Jesus wider to give Saka a rest and throw opponent planning
and/or switch him to other side if Martinelli is double teamed in the low block, Martinelli not very effective in those situations whereas Jesus is good in those tight spaces at finding a ball
A1886, I agree completely.
Jesus for the Champions League and Trossard for the EPL League games (Injuries permitting)
Yes and play the same eleven team.
Havertz has gotten a lot of stick this year, myself included.
However, he is playing his best football the last several matches, along with Trossard and Arteta’s tactics.
Only a foolish tinker man would disrupt what the team currently has in this moment. Trossard is doing what Jesus can’t; SCORE GOALS! Havertz is linking up, driving forward, and scoring.
Why ruin that by forcing in Jesus? Or even Zinchenko for that matter?
Kiowor has been solid the last couple matches, physical at the back, closing down, and dependable defending his side.
This has allowed White to invert on the right side, and Odegaard to operate in space; boy has Martin shined lately!
Good performances, good tactics, good results. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
He’s earning his place in the team so shouldn’t lose it until that changes, unless it’s to give him a rest or something.
I believe that Jesus’s days here are already running down. I say this for several reasons as follows:
Firstly, he is injury prone.
Secondly, he is not a striker, as his inability to keep or even take shots on target show us plainly.
Thirdly, Trossard is a better natural scorer and keeps the game flowing better.
Fourthly, I notice MA becoming more and more ruthless as each season passes by.
He knows we have a tremendous chance of the title next year, but that cannot be done with regularly unfit players who still drain the wages pool.
I very much indeed doubt that Jesus will still be our player, come the season after next. Quite possibly, he will leave far sooner too.
I think you might be right, Jon, but I do take issue with your second point – jesus has always been a striker and not every top level striker scored a lot of goals (boksic for example, or bergkamp for the most part post-ajax, or kanu, or even drogba for most of his Chelsea career), however since his injury last season, I don’t think the other sides to his game have been good enough to justify him being an automatic starter. If jesus was still playing the way he was in the first few months before his injury last year, I don’t think anyone would be complaining, because he was brilliant, but that’s not the case.
Just a minor complaint, but I do agree with your other points and it would be best for arsenal to replace him in the summer.
Drogba wasnt scoring goals at Chelsea??? Give your head a wobble sir
Ashley,Drogba averaged 12 goals per season for Chelsea in the league. I think the fact that he scored in big games masks the fact that he wasn’t as prolific as most people think. He was quite prolific against Arsenal though.
Drogba had a couple of seasons where he scored a lot of goals, but generally he didn’t – still a brilliant player, though.
Drogba had 2 PL golden boots – 2007 (20 PL goals) and 2010 (26 goals).
In all competition Drogba had a total of 157 Chelsea goals in 8 seasons that an average 19.6 goals a season. – Very few strikers match that
His EPL record is 10, 12, 20, 8, 5, 29, 11, 5. He does have 2 golden boots for those two seasons where he did score a lot of goals (20 and 29) but none of his other seasons jump out as a good record for a goalscorer at a top team. He was a top player in each of those seasons when fit, regardless of how many goals he scored.
He did score a lot of goals overall, including other competitions, though, it’s true. His overall record was around 1 in 2 – I was only going on his EPL record as I think it’s most relevant, but I can see your argument and maybe he isn’t the best example.
Davi I agree with your assessment of Jesus. There’s something he’s lost physically since that injury and that has affected even his technical ability to an extent. He can’t glide past players like he used to.If we had the Jesus that we saw pre-injury, I personally wouldn’t care for signing another striker.
👍
DAVI, I make a distinction, which I see you do not you share, between being REGARDED as a striker and BEING one.
To my logical mind, if you do not score any more goals per minutes played, than non strikers, as is the case in general over the last 18 months ( being his time here) then to me at least, a description as a “striker” is based on no more than his most often taken positon when in play, ie central or wide central.
A TRUE striker at top level score goals a plenty.
Jesus is a fine, hard working, talented, and INJURY PRONE attacking player, but in NO TRUE way can he BE a true striker. Plainly, he is not one!
Al that being said, I much want to say how HIGHLY I regard your intellect and level of general debate . You are well among the minority of posters which I always MUCH hope are on any thread debates or even which I only read.
Thank you, Jon – I sincerely enjoy reading your posts as well (and your articles).
I think this is just a difference of opinion; I’ve always seen a striker as one who plays the position well. I find the other aspects to forward play to be potentially as important, or even more important, than simply putting the ball in the net *so long as it helps the team to score*. It really depends on the make-up of the team – drogba was rarely the top scorer for Chelsea, but was always their main striker and one of their best players, but his role in the team allowed others to score plenty.
In the past, it was more common to see two strikers, and it was less common (though certainly not unheard of) for both to score a lot of goals; often one scored a lot and the other didn’t (Quinn-Phillips, shearer-sheringham, heskey-owen, wright/anelka/Henry-bergkamp etc) – but I wouldn’t say the one that scored less wasn’t a striker.
The Quinn, sheringham, heskey, bergkamp partner provided something important in forward play to facilitate the other to score more goals – much like drogba did for his Chelsea team and much like, I think, jesus does for arsenal (though not to a level I’m happy with, currently).
Jon
Well said regarding the fitness of some players. Partey is only a fond memory at this point, and surely on his way out.
Based on injury issues, I would say Jesus and Zinchenko should be on notice also, because they seem to be highly injury prone.
We need dependable players, occasional injuries are part of the game. The only thing dependable about Jesus and Zinchenko are their constant injuries; not goals or defending.
Durand, Profoundly true. AND OBVIOUS too, to SOME on here!
No doubt Trossard is in excellent form and his off the ball movement gives Havertz more freedom and space as seen in the Burnley game. Also Trossard gives Saka and Martinelli more link up play and the 3 jell well together. However, one must not forget Jesus’s overall contribution to the game and Jesus can also play on the wings. I feel Jesus will require time to get back fully fit and till than Trossard can continue to lead the line. Even when Jesus returns, he and Trossard can play together.
I hope for a time when we don’t need injuries for good players to get game time. I hope Mikel learns to balance the squad better. I understand it’s hard, especially for a coach with less experience like him, but his growth has been remarkable, and I hope he improves. His tendency towards favoritism is also becoming less noticeable.
SS Some of us might well conclude that neither of those perceived ” faults” ever even existed!
Seems the unanimous Gooner opinion, at least so far on this thread, that Trosard OUGHT to keep Jesus out, as the article shrewdly suggests.
I am in full agreement too, unsurprisingly!
I admire Jesus a great deal as a man but am becoming less and less impressed with his all round GENERALLY effective play.
His injury proneness is naturally an important part of my overall view of him as a player.
My life long view about serially injured players is to GET RID.
Time and time again the club has not done this soon enough and it is almost always the wrong decision.