Mikel Arteta could be facing somewhat of a dilemma following Arsenal's 1-0 win over Leicester City.
The Spaniard sprung a mini-surprise with his team selection at the King Power Stadium by opting to rest Eddie Nketiah. This was the first time since the season restarted after the World Cup that the academy graduate hadn't led the line for the Gunners across all competitions.
In his place was Arsenal's £21m January transfer window recruit Leandro Trossard and the Belgium international, operating as a 'false 9' certainly made the most of the opportunity by claiming the assist for Gabriel Martinelli's winner whilst also seeing a wonder-strike disallowed after a VAR check.
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Scoring a high mark in football.london's player ratings, the 28-year-old was heavily praised by Arteta for his performance. "Really well. I think he was really good. He got involved in many situations that could have led to many more big chances," the Spaniard said in his post-match press conference.
"He was involved in that incredible goal that he scored that was disallowed. He was involved in the goal of Gabi with the pass that he played to him. He’s so good in tight spaces and small spaces with that creativity to open people up. I’m really happy we have him."
Such was Trossard's impressive audition to operate through the middle - at least until Gabriel Jesus is fit and available for selection - that some supporters on social media are calling for him to retain his place in the starting line-up for Wednesday night's clash against Everton.
And a popular reason for this is due to the feeling that the Belgian is able to link up better with Martinelli than Nketiah.
@danielgooner191 said: "Trossard false 9 unlocks Martinelli he was very good today man", @prettylsb posted: "I said it every time that Trossard playing false 9 will be so good for both Martinelli and himself", @afcolllem said: "Until Jesus is back Trossard must start as a false 9" and @KJftbl said: "Trossard was really good today at false 9, same again on Wednesday."
But will these Arsenal supporters get their wish? Well, Arteta didn't exactly rule out the prospect of repeating the trick moving forward when asked if he plans to deploy Trossard as the central striker again.
"We had the option. We had the option to play Gabi as a nine and Leo on the left," the Arsenal manager said. "We had to see how the game developed and what Leicester wanted to do. I wanted to have that option on the field to make that change if necessary and I think it was great because he was really good."
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