Arsenal star Leandro Trossard played just 45 minutes as Belgium beat Wales 4-3 in a World Cup qualifier in Brussels.
Trossard ended the domestic season in encouraging form, although this form didn’t appear to continue with his nation on Monday night.
Romelu Lukaku gave the Red Devils the lead from the spot, before goals from Youri Tielemans and Jeremy Doku tripled the home side’s advantage.
Wales miraculously turned the game around via strikes from Harry Wilson, Sorba Thomas and Brennan Johnson, before Kevin De Bruyne won it for Belgium with two minutes left on the clock.
The result sees the Belgians move up to third in the World Cup qualifying group.
Belgian media slam Arsenal star Leandro Trossard
Deployed in a front three with Lukaku and Doku, Trossard was very below par on Monday night.
The Arsenal winger was heavily involved in a lot of Belgium’s build-up, but his only notable contribution was playing full-back Maxim De Cuyper in on the overlap to cut the ball back for Tielemans for the game’s second goal.
Booked for a cynical foul shortly before half-time, new Belgium boss Rudi Garcia made the ruthless decision to hook Trossard at the break, bringing on defender Arthur Theate in his place.
Unsurprisingly, Belgian media was not pleased with the former Brighton man’s outing.
Voetbalkrant awarded Trossard with a 5/10 in their player ratings, writing: “He did touch a few balls on his side and in combinations, but systematically made the wrong decision afterwards. Substituted without too much surprise at half-time, also because of the yellow card he already had behind his name.”
Meanwhile, Walfoot were generally critical of Garcia’s approach, feeling the manager tried to shoehorn Trossard into the side by moving Doku away from his favoured left-wing position.
Trossard is expected to sign a new contract at Arsenal, but after this nightmarish display for his country, likely on-watching Mikel Arteta may have second thoughts.
Leandro Trossard’s statistics vs Wales
Arsenal fans weren’t excited about the Trossard contract extension news, and based on ineffective performances like his showing against Wales on Thursday, it’s not hard to see why.
Trossard is becoming less and less influential in the final third, and the Gunners really ought to try to move him on this summer.
| Leandro Trossard’s statistics vs Wales | |
| Minutes Played | 45 |
| Goals | 0 |
| Expected Goals | 0.04 |
| Shots | 1 |
| Accurate Passes | 16/21 (76%) |
| Chances Created | 1 |
| Expected Assists | 0.05 |
| Tackles Won | 0/0 (0%) |
As shown by the data above, Trossard was dire against the Dragons, making minimal offensive impact, creating one chance and taking one shot, totalling an xG of just 0.09.
If you’re going to offer this little from an attacking standpoint, you’d hope for great defensive output or security in possession.
Trossard produced neither, making no tackles and completing just 76% of his passes in his 45 minutes on the pitch.
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