Leandro Trossard rubbishes Arsenal talk as star gears up for Chelsea clash

Arsenal’s Leandro Trossard has emphatically dismissed talk that the Gunners have ditched their adventurous play for a more monotonous style.

Amid a patchy run of form, with three losses out of six matches and failing to score in four of them, critics have accused Arsenal of abandoning their dynamic attacking flair for a cautious, defensive approach this season.

However, the Belgian international insists this isn’t the case. The Arsenal forward stresses that these developments are not a result of a strategic overhaul by Mikel Arteta, but rather because of a change in circumstances during matches.

On the eve of an important clash with Chelsea, the 29-year-old has made it clear: “No, we don’t have that mindset going into games but every game has a different outcome.

“If you go down to ten men, or you’re at a tough place and only 1-0 up, then you have to manage games. We’ve been really good at that.

“From the moment Mikel was at Arsenal it showed that he wanted to play out from the back, get in good positions in the box and play football. There’s no instruction to play cautious. It all depends on the game state. Sometimes you have to do that.

“We need more goals. We know that. Everyone is working hard. At one point it will click. We will do everything in our power to make that time this Sunday.”

Arsenal suffered a goal drought last Christmas, losing three consecutive matches and scoring only once. However, despite the mounting criticism, the North London team bounced back by winning eight straight league games and scoring a remarkable 33 goals.

Trossard remains optimistic that history can repeat itself. He said: “It was a similar path last year. People were doubting us scoring but in January we had a spell where we were putting five past opponents.

“Every season you have a rough period and it’s down to us to get going again. The belief in the team is still really high. We have such great players. We can turn it around quickly.”

There’s no better place for a statement victory than at Stamford Bridge – with Enzo Maresca’s hosts currently above Arsenal in the table on goal difference.

Trossard admitted: “Yes, definitely, because that’s what winning games does.”

Arsenal, who finally have captain Martin Odegaard fit, managed 20 shots in their midweek 1-0 Champions League defeat at Inter Milan, but only four hit the target. In contrast, Chelsea’s second string scored eight against Armenian minnows Noah in the Europa Conference League.

However, Trossard isn’t reading too much into these results.

“It’s hard to compare Inter and the team they played – and we were away,” commented the former Brighton star. “Inter were Champions League finalists. They’re one of the best teams in Europe, especially defensively. We limited them to one shot on target and had 20. It’s up to us to put the ball in the net.”

Regarding concerns about falling behind in the title race after this weekend, Trossard remains unfazed, pointing out it’s too soon for such worries.

He said: “We don’t busy ourselves with that. We don’t need to look at others, we need to look at ourselves. It’s too early to do mathematics. There’s so many games left.”