LOS ANGELES — It’s 3 p.m. at the Four Seasons Hotel in Westlake Village and Leandro Trossard is destroying me at pool.
The Arsenal forward, tasked with facing a handful of reporters ahead of the club’s U.S. tour in July, ran the table, deftly sinking balls into the corner pocket, ricocheting others at unique angles into the side pocket.
Winning is on his mind.
“We need to just be consistent over the whole season to win the Premier League,” Trossard told NBC News. “There are 38 games, and every game is a tough one because every team is developing and building a squad to be competitive."
Arsenal has finished runner-up to powerhouse Manchester City in the Premier League the past two years, and something needs to change soon. Trossard dominated our pool game game with an intensity he’s shown since arriving from Brighton in January 2023 and becoming one of the Gunners' top goal-scorers.
But, as he told us after sinking the final eight ball, individual performances only mean so much.
“It’s up to us,” Trossard said. “We need to improve on the things we didn’t do last season, and the good things we need to keep in mind and get it going from the start.”
That start comes Saturday in a home fixture against the Wolves, a matchup clearly winnable on paper but one manager Mikel Arteta can’t afford to overlook. After all, his team was nearly perfect last season and still fell 2 points shy of the title.
The Gunners finished 28-5-5, setting a club record for league wins and only dropping one match between Jan. 12 and May 24. The team scored 91 goals, second in the league, while conceding just 29 — the best mark of any team by five goals.
Yet, these incredible figures still only added up to second place.
“The outcome of this football club has to be to win major trophies, and we are in the process to achieve that. Very close,” Arteta said from the Los Angeles Rams' practice facility. "The level that we are showing is extremely high. But it’s not been enough to win it."
Arteta said that for his team members to get over the hump, they “need to upgrade in everything that we are doing.” Just a few days later, the club signed Italian defender Riccardo Calafiori from Bologna.
Adding Calafiori — a big, fast and physical left-back who shined at the Euro 2024 this summer — is almost an embarrassment of riches for Arsenal. Remember: On a staggering 18 appearances, they did not surrender a goal.
He’ll join arguably the best defense in the Premier League when he lines up with Gabriel, William Saliba and Ben White. The Gunners also have great depth at the position as Takehiro Tomiyasu, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Jakub Kiwior and Jurrien Timber all could step in throughout the season.
That last one might just be the most compelling player on the roster. Signed from Dutch club Ajax in July 2023, Timber has shone in brief moments but missed nearly the entire season after suffering a cruciate ligament injury on the opening day.
Arteta marveled at Timber’s progress and pointed out his versatility following Arsenal’s 2-1 win against Manchester United at SoFi Stadium on July 27 in a friendly match.
“I’m really happy,” the manager said. “Just look at him. His presence, his leadership, his composure is high quality. So it’s like a new signing for us. He’s a big addition for the team.”
Bigger questions, however, rise further up the line.
Midfield, led by all-league players in Martin Ødegaard and Declan Rice, is strong, as is right wing with young superstar Bukayo Saka. But last season did not produce a 20-goal scorer, and only three times in the last 15 seasons has the Premier League winner not had one.
Trossard, with enough time on the pitch, could be that guy. So could Kai Havertz and Gabriel Martinelli, though both struggled with consistency in 2024. The one to watch is Gabriel Jesus.
The Brazilian appeared to be a perfect addition when he signed from Manchester City in 2022, but multiple injuries kept him off the field for large portions of the past two seasons. When the 27-year-old did return, that production did not come with him.
Jesus had just four goals last year in 27 appearances.
In the recent match against Manchester United, Jesus put home a pass from Ethan Nwaneri to even the score at one apiece and remind fans why he was such a big signing.
That simple moment also had Arteta smiling.
“You can see in the way he looks, his rhythm, the way he’s moving and you can see in his eyes as well that he’s inspired because he’s got now a point to prove, and that’s good,” Arteta said of Jesus. “He’s come in top condition, and when you have that baseline, other things can be built. But without that foundation, you don’t have a player. He needs to be in that condition to get the best out of him. He realized that and I’m really happy.”
Arsenal, with three Premier League titles and the last unbeaten season of any team, is recognized as one of the most storied clubs in the sport. But since that 2003-2004 season, they haven’t held a league trophy and have come up just short twice in a row.
Will that end this season? Will they finally put together enough to overtake the likes of Pep Guardiola, Erling Haaland and Manchester City?
Nobody knows that better than Zinchenko, who won four EPL titles with the now-rival club. When asked what Arsenal can do to become more like City, he immediately shot down that notion.
“I don’t think we need to copy someone like City,” Zinchenko said in Los Angeles. “You always need to look at the best and try to be not like them — you need to try to be on top of them.
“Mikel and his staff are doing an amazing job here … The development of the club inside, you can see the progress. I know people outside the club can see it but from the inside as well. Arsenal are on the right way."
Added Arteta, who was an assistant under Guardiola from three years: “We’re certainly heading in the right direction and we are traveling at a really high speed with the things that we have transformed not only on the football side, but I think as a club as well. And now what is missing is to bring the big titles back home.”
