Leandro Trossard is used to high pressure situations. World Cups, Champions League knockouts, Premier League title deciders, he’s done them all. A game of a pool against a team of five journalists, however, is a new test.
The journalists break, and instantly pot the white… Trossard is calm and measured as he races into an early lead, using his two shots to pot one of the stripes. It is this mindset that has served him well more generally in his time at Arsenal.
He arrived after weeks of speculationk, which ended with the Ukrainian joining Chelsea. For many others this could have added extra pressure to succeed, but Trossard didn’t see it that way.
“I think you always need to prove yourself wherever you go,” he says. “I didn’t think about what was going on before me. They made very clear to me that they wanted me after the thing with Mudryk and yeah, I was happy to join. I had a good chat with Mikel, he gave me the plan about how it would go, and it just started to click straight away.”
In between answers he is focused on the game, but a wayward shot presents a chance for the journalists to pot their first ball of the game. They make no mistake. It’s yet another assist for the man who laid on 10 goals for his teammates in his first half season at Arsenal.
