Ian Wright questions if Arsenal man cared enough during Brighton defeat

Arsenal legend Ian Wright has questioned the integrity of winger Leandro Trossard after the Gunners lost 3-0 at home to the Belgian's former side Brighton on Sunday. The defeat effectively ended their hopes of winning the Premier League at the end of the season.

Second half goals from Julio Enciso, Dennis Undav and Pervis Estupinan secured another famous victory for the Seagulls at the Emirates Stadium with Mikel Arteta's men outclassed in every department.

The entire team performance was well below par but Wright, who scored 185 goals in 288 appearances, highlighted the January signing who lost the ball in a crucial area, leading to Roberto De Zerbi's side's second goal which put the result beyond doubt.

Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale's pass out from the back was received deep by Trossard who looked to release the ball first time without looking. Instead, the ball was intercepted and fed into the path of Undav who chipped Ramsdale to double the visitors' advantage.

“That is a difficult thing he’s trying, to play the ball round the corner into his teammate with the outside of his left foot,” Wright said working as a pundit on Premier League Productions. “Trossard has to read the situation, he’s got enough space to turn to his right and maybe play it to Kieran Tierney.

“That was somebody who’s come off the bench and I don’t know if he’s up to speed with the game or whether he cares enough at that particular moment, because the way he flicked his left foot out at that was not right at that stage of the game.

“You can’t give the ball away, you can’t lose the ball. Especially in the manner he did it there, it’s almost flippant. You’re not getting away with that.”

The 28-year-old has largely impressed since swapping the south coast for north London, scoring once and providing eight assists in 20 appearances.

Leandro Trossard in action for Arsenal (PA Images)

However, in the first half of the season with Brighton, the Belgium international netted seven Premier League goals and provided three assists in 18 appearances.

The Gunners are now four points behind leaders Manchester City with two games to go whilst City also boast a game in hand and a significantly superior goal difference.

Although, on a positive note, second place has been secured and Arteta's men will play Champions League football next season for the first time since the 2016/17 campaign.

Topics: Ian Wright, Arsenal, Brighton And Hove Albion, Premier League

Dan Hargraves

Dan is a freelance sports journalist currently in his final year studying Football Journalism at the University of Derby. Currently working for SPORTBible and Reach PLC, he has also worked for Snack Media amongst others. His proudest work thus far came at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games where he was a live blogger for the Commonwealth Games Federation, providing sports coverage on the tournament's official website to over a billion people.

@danjhargraves