Arsenal currently have many choices in the central midfield position. Starting from Aaron Ramsey, Mohamed Elneny, Lucas Torreira, and Granit Xhaka. But compared to those experienced names, Matteo Guendouzi is more often trusted. The 19-year-old is being praised.
Guendouzi, who was brought in from Lorient last July, showed a performance that made him worthy of being the main player. Guendouzi has always been trusted by Emery in the opening two matches of the English Premier League 2018/19. Against Manchester City, Guendouzi's character as a proven ball divider midfielder. The tendency is seen by picking the ball into the area of a third of its own defense and distributing the ball.
In that match, Guendouzi was recorded as an outfield player with the highest number of passes, 47 passes. Only one bait less than Petr Cech. Of the 47 feeds, 30 of them were made from the game area itself. Even the number of ball touches made by Guendouzi is the most with 71 touches, far beyond Cech (56), Mustafi (57), and Xhaka (55).
When dealing with Chelsea too, other qualities in reading the match as a defensive midfielder were also seen. Guendouzi made 5 interception, most of them in the match. In the previous match, against City, he had 4 interceptions, the second most in Arsenal after Hector Bellerin (5).
Emery's trust in Guendouzi was rewarded with a slick game.
"He [Guendouzi] has personality and quality, and when he is in the field he learns to be able to learn quickly," Emery said, quoted from Express.
Actually there is no need to be surprised by what is shown by the player who started his professional career at the Lorient club. Her quality as a midfielder with a clear game vision has been seen since she made her Ligue 1 debut against Nantes in 2016.
The first season when Guendouzi was promoted to the first team, he recorded a successful bait percentage of 91.6%. Something he finally showed by being Arsenal's rhythm game manager with the ability to bait.
"The style of play that Lorient has done a lot and is a history for the club is that the game relies on bait. That is what describes him [Guendouzi], "said Loic Fery, president of the Lorient club, quoted by the Independent. "He always makes unpredictable feedback, bait that gives a difference," he continued.
The strength of Guendouzi's own character is something that occurs 'naturally'. Having had experience with the Paris Saint-Germain academy, he was released and finally joined Lorient. With his distinctive hairstyle, Guendouzi showed that character from a young age. Sylvain Rippol, who was one of the coaches who had handled him when playing for Lorient, felt how Guendouzi's strength was both from the technique and the character he possessed.
"Guendouzi has a strong personality, and that personality is rarely owned by young players of his age," Ripoll said, quoted by the Independent. "He loves football, he 'eats' with football, he 'drinks' with football, he 'sleeps' with football," Ripoll added.
Although still young enough to be a starter in the English Premier League, Guendouzi showed that the character shown was mature enough for young players.
These characters are really needed by Arsenal, considering after the death of Patrick Vieira, there is no midfielder who has a strong character like himself.
That character is not owned by Elneny, Xhaka, Torreira, even Ramsey. At least until now, after the emergence of Guendouzi, it caused a glimmer of hope to have a midfielder who had the same quality techniques and character.
"I think he [Guendouzi] was very brave. There are some things that don't work well for him. But he shows energy, he shows that he has the characters needed today, "said Martin Keown, quoted from the Mirror.
Guendouzi, pemain muda berkualitas
The potential of Guendouzi is huge, making him one of the mainstays in the midfield in the Gunners' first two games. The quality he has is enough to be Emery's mainstay. Although not yet able to become a benchmark, the first two matches have shown what Guendouzi can do to be a great midfielder.
But what needs to be considered is that Guendouzi is still young, will still continue to grow. Arsenal certainly do not want to lose this great potential just because of excessive trust in him. Moreover, fared like Denilson or Fran Merida who failed to shine after being labeled as a midfielder who has great potential.
Now, with the character possessed by Guendouzi, he began to show his ability as a reliable midfielder. It's just how Emery's ability to develop the character Guendouzi has to play for Arsenal's success. []
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