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Matteo Guendouzi: Lad of Luscious Locks

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Red London

Anti-Simp Culture
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Looked terrible recently but what do you expect from a 19-20year old player who was in Ligue2 last season playing next to Elneny in the BPL? Its just a terrible combination I said it was the reason we lost vs Everton to friends and the biggest worry for me going into this game was the prospect of these two being paired again.
 

Sniper Mik

Not a Closet Sp**s Fan
Still one of our better performers this afternoon and one of the best midfielders we have at the club. He's 19/20? We can't achieve what we want to if we keep getting rid of players because we have unrealistic expectations for them. If we don't give him time to grow, we will be here in 2 or 3 years saying how good he is and how we should have kept him.
I don't care how talented he is. You play for Arsenal you're expected to have some semblance of class about you. This isn't Sp**s, where the manager encourages such behavior on the pitch. His diving antics aren't just a one off thing. It's his first instinct when anyone challenges him for the ball. I hope we can coach it out of him while he's still young. But if he keeps on doing it then he can f*ck off.
 

lamby22

It's Not Lupus

Country: Scotland
I don't care how talented he is. You play for Arsenal you're expected to have some semblance of class about you. This isn't Sp**s, where the manager encourages such behavior on the pitch. His diving antics aren't just a one off thing. It's his first instinct when anyone challenges him for the ball. I hope we can coach it out of him while he's still young. But if he keeps on doing it then he can f*ck off.

He lacks maturity in certain situations and is a bit petulant at times. He's only 19 though and I'm not giving up on him yet. It's not his fault Emery keeps picking him.
 

NieThePiet

Loves Overhyping Our Rivals
He really needs so much to learn.
I still think there is a lot of potential inside him, but he shouldn't be the first replacement for one of our most important players with Xhaka.
 

A_G

Rice Rice Baby 🎼🎵
A-M CL Draft Campeón 🏆
Shocking. I can't stand how he throws himself to the ground every time instead of releasing the ball quicker. Had the audacity to stop playing and complain to the ref instead of tracking back. If he doesn't sort it out I would be glad to see the back of him next season. Hate divers
There was something interesting in the Telegraph suggesting that playing for fouls in that situation is actually a tactic of Emery's, as Xhaka and Torreira are among some of the most fouled players in the league:
Drawing fouls to relieve pressure and manage the game
Arsenal are the most fouled team in the league, with central midfielders Torreira, Guendouzi and Xhaka ranking among the 15 most fouled individuals (Torreira is fourth behind only Richarlison, Wilfried Zaha and Eden Hazard).

Those prone to conspiracy might say Arsenal have been unfairly targeted, but the foul count could be seen as a positive and something they have added to their game.

New arrivals Torreira and Guendouzi are comfortable receiving the ball under pressure and taking it into contact. Even the slightly flat-footed Xhaka has followed their example, dribbling past Paul Pogba and drawing a yellow card in the recent league meeting with Man Utd.

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Arsenal have sometimes wilted when pressed in central midfield in past campaigns, as some miserable trips to Anfield and White Hart Lane attest. While there is still room for improvement, Arsenal look to be keeping their heads when pressurised and making smarter decisions, aided of course by their more methodical and structured build-up play that starts with Leno.

Drawing fouls also slows the game down, and Emery's Arsenal have proved quite canny at managing games when they get their nose in front. The closing stages of home wins against Chelsea and United were perfectly uneventful from Arsenal's perspective. The next step in their progression is to take the sting out of away games in similar fashion.
 

Sniper Mik

Not a Closet Sp**s Fan
There was something interesting in the Telegraph suggesting that playing for fouls in that situation is actually a tactic of Emery's, as Xhaka and Torreira are among some of the most fouled players in the league:
Not sure if this is true or not but Guendouzi certainly takes this to the absolute extreme. Don't even know what he was trying to do pushing into Palace defenders and then throwing himself to the ground in the box. It's stuff like this that causes the refs to wave away genuine penalties
 

Maybe

You're wrong, no?
I'm actually happy with everything with Douzi, he made mistakes, had some good games and he will have a better understanding next season what he needs to do here.
We are stuck between transition and getting immediate results, but didn't do anything on both fronts. Douzi and Torreira are the only positives for me from this season as we integrated 2 quality midfielders into that broken midfield from last season.

As for the player, I think his brain is more developed than his body which fails to execute everything that is in his head. If he improves his fitness levels, he will protect the ball better and will be able to help more in defence. His understanding of football is very good, too good in many cases considering some players around him who have no idea what he want's from them.
 
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al-Ustaadh

👳‍♂️ Figuring out how to delete my account 👳‍♂️
There was something interesting in the Telegraph suggesting that playing for fouls in that situation is actually a tactic of Emery's, as Xhaka and Torreira are among some of the most fouled players in the league:
Zaha would fit right in then.
 
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MkhiMagic

Active Member
I know people will bring up his age but I can’t remember ever seeing such a brain dead player (mustafi withstanding). It’s not a recent thing either it’s been going on all season. Found it really strange how he kept getting praised on here when he’s been largely awful all season. Always has those 2-3 moments every game where he practically gifts the opposition a big chance at our goal. Don’t think he’ll ever be good enough, just lacks any footballing IQ.
 

field442

Hates Journalists Named James
Trusted ⭐
I know people will bring up his age but I can’t remember ever seeing such a brain dead player (mustafi withstanding). It’s not a recent thing either it’s been going on all season. Found it really strange how he kept getting praised on here when he’s been largely awful all season. Always has those 2-3 moments every game where he practically gifts the opposition a big chance at our goal. Don’t think he’ll ever be good enough, just lacks any footballing IQ.

As usual a few good games leads to massive hype. It happened when AMN had a few good games in midfield (Utd away springs to mind). Guendouzi obviously has potential but that’s all it is at the minute. My worry with him is there doesn’t appear to be that much upside. I don’t see him adding goals to his game or the ability to drive forward with the ball. If you were to compare him to Willock or even AMN (who I think would’ve been used more often in midfield were it not for the RB situation) i’d use the analogy they often use when comparing NFL draft prospects. Guendouzi has a higher floor and lower ceiling, Willock/AMN have a lower floor and higher ceiling.

I don’t think he’ll get to the standard where he has to be one of the first names in the team sheet.
 

Aevi

Hale End FC
Moderator
Because he's younger, people often see the player he could be rather than the player he is. It happens, I do it all the time. But I think it's clear that there are some important deficiencies in his game, most notably his ball dwelling, that need to be sorted out if he wants to start games for us. Moving the ball efficiently is very, very important at the top level.

I think he's perfect as midfield depth for now. Basically, we should look to bring in a Ramsey replacement that can play as first choice in midfield and give Douzi Elneny's current "backup" role.
 

HomeSteak

Established Member
Acted like an entitled little prick yesterday. The potential is there but he really should not be starting for us.
 

The_Playmaker

Established Member
Trusted ⭐
Because he's younger, people often see the player he could be rather than the player he is. It happens, I do it all the time. But I think it's clear that there are some important deficiencies in his game, most notably his ball dwelling, that need to be sorted out if he wants to start games for us. Moving the ball efficiently is very, very important at the top level.

I think he's perfect as midfield depth for now. Basically, we should look to bring in a Ramsey replacement that can play as first choice in midfield and give Douzi Elneny's current "backup" role.

He takes too many touches on the ball. He falls asleep off the ball, he can't win headers, he gets caught in possession, he can't recover and he lacks pace and power. Tactically he vacates the centre and drifts to the flank to collect the ball. That is a major distance issue.

Positives are his immense personality, eye for a pass and range of pass as well as ability to drive on occasion.

All of the flaws can be coached out of him. He can develop more power but he won't get much quicker. He needs to take the physical trajectory of Rabiot who went from skinny to muscular in the space of two years. We have to remember that he is 19 and when he is 22 his physical profile will be very different. but he needs to cut his hair short, chisel his upper body and fix his running style. He can't prance around the pitch trying to buy fouls. He needs to get strong enough to hold people off in possession.

That aside, we already have someone who if we gave him the same amount of game time that we gave Douzi this season, he probably would have established himself as a starter.

I'm telling you that AMN needs to be trusted in the centre of the pitch. At right back he displays recovery speed, aerial ability, positional awareness, strength on and off the ball, speed with the ball, excellent 1v1 defending and stand up tackling. One major aspect that has been undervalued is that he was known to be too relaxed. Are we not noticing him making repeated goal saving challenges every game now? He made one vs Watford, he did the same vs Palace. His recovery is insane. Imagine putting that in the middle of the pitch. He takes very little time on the ball. He has developed this season and needs to be moved infield into a midfield 3 asap next season.

Torreira doesn't have the pace or physicality to compete for 90 minutes every game being a box to box. He needs to be at the base of a 3, reading the game and putting out fires.

The third and final spot needs to go to a midfielder who can shoot, create and dribble but has the physicality to press and recover. In certain games you can have someone like Guendouzi playing a different role but we need to buy that player. Not a slow weak player who can't dribble. ESR may be ready for that role in a years time. However someone like Nkunku can do the job.

Midfield is never about having one player who has all the attributes to succeed. Vieria is the only player who has ever managed to do that. You need to have a combination of talent but recovery and physical power has to be present in modern football.

---------Nkunku------AMN
-------------------Torreira

On paper people will moan about the lack of names or star quality. That is a midfield that you cannot run through. That makes you run. That moves the ball quickly. That can dribble and turn with agility. It discourages you from playing as they can press and win the ball. Every one of them.

Put 3 players in front of them who can do 4 things. Receive the ball under pressure, run in behind and dribble, pass with intelligence. You would literally be laughing.

That is basically how Ajax set up.
 
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