Arsenal axe touted for ‘greedy’ star who is ‘better as a sub’ as huge Gabriel injury update emerges

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta is being urged to drop a wasteful star who struggled badly with his end product against Olympiacos, as the myth surrounding him ‘not being a good starter’ continued, while the Gunners boss has also provided a major update on the injury suffered by Gabriel on Wednesday evening.

The north London outfit made it two wins from two in the Champions League as goals from Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka secured a 2-0 win over the Greek side at The Emirates in a strong Arsenal display.

However, there were a couple of factors that were not quite so positive on the night, with Gabriel being forced off just before the hour mark when Gunners stopper David Raya landed heavily on him. Another slight negative was the performance of Leandro Trossard, who has started the last two games but struggled to produce in the key moments against Olympiacos.

The 30-year-old kept finding himself in promising positions, but time and time again he either provided a poor pass or a wayward shot.

Indeed, his stats underlined his struggles. In 63 minutes of action, Trossard amassed a combined expected goal and assists figure of 0.48 but failed to produce either, took 48 touches but completed just 17 passes, lost 50% of his duels, lost the ball 14 times, and was dribbled past twice.

Those stats only served to highlight the myth surrounding the former Brighton man that he is far better making an impact off the bench than he is starting.

And some Arsenal fans are in agreement, with Spiritual-Let-9904 writing on Reddit: “Trossard as a sub and Trossard as a starter has to be the most strange difference I’ve ever seen.”

Another user, revjiggs, also wrote: “I mean he skied three absolutely great chances and in the last few games I’ve noticed he can be a bit greedy at times.”

timeofdepth also added: “It’s borderline factual at this point, if the guy was as good a starter as he was a sub martinelli would be on the bench and we wouldn’t have been crying for a lw.”

It’s right to report, however, that not all Arsenal fans were of that opinion, with plenty praising his performance – although it remains to be seen if he makes it three starts in a row against West Ham on Saturday.

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Arteta delivers positive Gabriel update

Heading into that game against The Hammers, Arsenal have concerns over the fitness of key centre-back Gabriel after he was forced off on Wednesday evening.

After keeper Raya landed on Gabriel awkwardly in the second half, it was thought that was the reason why the Brazilian was taken off.

However, speaking post-game, Arteta offered up a different thought.

“Yeah, I think he’s going to be OK,” Arteta said via arsenal.com. “He felt something, I think it was a kick, I’m not sure, in the first half, and he was a bit uncomfortable, and towards the second half he was there.

“He could carry on, but we decided not to take any risks because he’s played a lot of games, he’s coming from a long-term injury as well, and we need to look after him.”

That news will come as a huge relief, although it will be interesting to see if Gabriel is risked against West Ham or if Cristhian Mosquera gets the nod for the London derby instead.

Latest Arsenal news: Yildiz chase update; shock Arteta sack threat

Arsenal have received bad news in their pursuit of Kenan Yildiz, with reliable journalist Fabrizio Romano revealing Juventus’ plan regarding the Turkish gem, with another source detailing whether the Gunners have the chance to bring him to the Emirates Stadium in 2026.

Elsewhere, Robert Pires thinks Mikel Arteta must deliver one thing for Arsenal this season, otherwise he risks being axed by the club’s board of directors.

And finally, Arsenal are reportedly ready to pull the trigger on another new contract signing, with a top star set to leapfrog the deal just given to William Saliba and potentially hit the heights of top earner Kai Havertz.

VOTE – Which Arsenal signing will have the biggest impact this season?