Petr Cech says Matteo Guendouzi deserved to make his Premier League debut against Manchester City having made a big impact in pre-season.
The 19-year-old midfielder arrived in London as an unknown quantity when he signed from French second-tier side Lorient for €8 million a month ago but has been quick to win over new coach Unai Emery.
On Sunday, he was selected ahead of fellow new boy Lucas Torreira and was charged with anchoring the Gunners midfield against Manchester City.
While his performance was far from perfect – a couple of mistakes led to hair-raising moments – the general vibe from the Emirates crowd was that the club have unearthed a real talent. He even outlasted senior players Aaron Ramsey and Granit Xhaka who were both given the hook in the second period.
“He’s a very talented player and he had an unbelievable pre-season for a boy who comes from the second division [in France],” noted Cech after the game.
“It’s a big difference and throughout the pre-season I think he deserved his spot in the starting XI for his work and the quality that he put on the pitch.
“He had a difficult task but I thought that he did really well.”
Against a side that specialise in high pressing tactics and surrounded by teammates getting used to playing out from the back, Guendouzi’s task versus City was doubly difficult.
“They [City] pressed really well and obviously when you make one pass slower than it should be the player doesn’t have the time to use the ball quickly.
“Obviously you can be under pressure but at times we managed to get out pretty well.
“We didn’t want them to feel comfortable and have the ball always at their feet so that they could control the game.”
He added: “They’re a team that’s full of confidence and last year’s champions, so obviously it will always be difficult.
“I have to say that we came to the game with our objectives to grow up as a team, to learn our way, how we want to play and obviously we had the task of doing it against one of the best teams, so it was difficult.
“But at times we did really well, and we put them under some pressure as well. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t find that final pass to finish the opportunities off.”
It’s quite depressing to hear our most senior player saying stuff like we are learning as a team. I get we have just had a massive change with the manager, but we arent Cardiff City learning the league. Shows just how far we have dropped down the ranks of the top flight, when we were meant to be competing with Bayern and Barcelona after our move to the Emirates.
Still plenty left to go in the season, but it could be a long one if we don’t get a result at Chelsea.
You’ve contradicted yourself in one sentence.. get a grip, learning isn’t a bad thing so I don’t know how you find that “depressing” – we won’t be challenging for the prem, any knowledgeable Arsenal fan knows this – This is the season where we find our new identity and see how it fares out before Emery can really have an opportunity to get his team into place for next season.
The year Chelsea got Mourinho in and spent big’ they won the league. Sir Alex and Wenger said it wasn’t going to translate into success on the pitch but it did. It is about being ambitious in transfers. I am not encouraged by the new rhetoric of “we are only a mouse in front of these elephants”. Even Everton showed big ambitions this transfer window. Guendouzi did very good as a young player but don’t you think Arsenal needs a player with the quality and experience of Xavi Alonso ? Bakayoko didn’t work, Chelsea got Jorginho even though they already… Read more »
When Mourinho joined, Chelsea had just come 2nd in the league and got to the semi-finals of the Champions League. They were not far off. Arsenal fell further down under Wenger, which is why he was forced out. Had a new manager come in for Wenger 2 seasons ago, after we’d fluffed our lines and come 2nd behind Leicester, it would have been an easier transition as we still had CL to allure top class players.
I agree with everything except Chelsea having youngsters with the same quality as Guendouzi , it’s not true , Guendouzi is on another level compared to players in his age range .
Well, I guess the grass is always greener. They have the handsome and ineffective Morata as their first-choice striker instead of the ugly but very good Diego Costa (though, I suspect, they will soon have to start Giroud, both even better-looking and more effective). We have Aubameyang. And Lacazette. Okay looks, good at football.
I can’t remember any youngster at chelsea with same quality as guen.. educate me mate!
I agree ?
He means learning a new system, not that we’ve never seen the league before, obviously. For him in particular, passing out the back is a new challenge.
I hope Unai uses these first few matches a little like Conte did in 2016. This squad has certain strengths – strikers and box-to-box midfielders, and certain weaknesses – wide players and central defense.
There’s very little point in forcing these guys into a 442, 4231, 433. I much preferred the shape at the end of the game.
442 diamond midfield
Makes sense with our squad but did you see how City exposed our lack of width for maximum damage? I can’t see how such a formation would help us. Would leave our fullbacks exposed to the type of tactics City used.
You must have forgotten how (relatively) mediocre Liverpool were those first couple seasons with Klopp. Even Pep’s first with City was a bore. Now look at those teams. Relax.
Some people even remember that Alex Ferguson took eight years, I think, to win a title at Man United (which hadn’t won since just before the Napoleonic Wars). Whereas Wenger won the double before he had finished unpacking his furniture. None of which proves anything whatsoever.
except that you have a great memory. That was proven 🙂
Exactly! Liverpool were world bearers one game and losing to rubbish teams the next. It’s a new tactical approach, a few new players and the manager hasn’t settled on a preferred formation. Despite all that we gave a better account of ourselves than we did against City last season.
Answer me this: How did Guardiola go in his first season at City?
Alright, now shut up.
If we concentrate on defending without improving our transition and attack too then we will have a painful season. We may end up with an improved defence by the end of the season but lots of draws and losses. We’ve always created chances and scored goals and need to keep that up.
Ozil. Mkhit and Ramsey need to be able to play together well to provide the forward(s). They are all similar in many ways to me, unfortunately, so better with only two of them at a time. Let’s hope we spend enough time on attacking, and training for it.
Sorry I don’t think Ramsey deserves a spot. He tries of course but he has an identity crisis, he should not be the furthest forward. Definitely not beyond Auba. He thinks his main responsibility is to score goals, it’s not! if he didn’t charge forward leaving spaces behind him we would look much more solid defensively and we could wait for the odd counter chance and pounce. He’s just impatient and overconfident.
It’s likely he was instructed by Emery to play upfield to initiate the press. He wasnt furthest forward when we had possession of the ball
And if he wasn’t supposed to be up there I would imagine Emery would quickly correct him. Emery specifically mentioned Aaron’s engine and how valuable he would be for pressing, and he really was until it was time for a tactical change.
Our biggest problem is the following :
We have too many players who do not show their quality regularly: Mikhi had to leave Man U for this reason and hasn’t proved otherwise at Arsenal yet, Ozil, Bellerin, Mustafi, Xhaka. It is just impossible to win the league or even reach the top four in such situation.
Guendouzi and Torreria in my opinion. The kid will only get better
Agreed, they have to both start in the next game, preferably with Ozil in front of them as he’ll be much more effective that way.
Away at stamford bridge is one of those games in which I would sit Özil on the bench, as I would have for a game against City. As good as he can be offensively against such opponents, with the style Emery wants to play, he’s really weakening the team with his inability to defend. Have big hopes for him this season as after everything what happened to him during the summer you would have thought that he’s very keen to show up now but if yesterday was a teaser of what we’re going to get from him this season, this… Read more »
I certainly don’t think you can go to Stamford Bridge and play both Ozil and Mkhitaryan. Out of the two, I’d rather Ozil. While he may not have been good yesterday, at least he wasn’t completely absent, unlike Mkhitaryan.
Mkhitaryan was weak going forward as was Özil, but at least he put in a defensive shift and won back quite a few balls. Özil was non existent offensively and defensively.
What game were you watching?
I am surprised to hear you say that. I have not looked at the statistics, but it seemed to me that Ozil was often defending in our own penalty area and on the flank–much more than in the past and, in my opinion, much more than he should have been. Obviously this was under instruction, just as Ramsey as our most forward player was; because this was Emery’s first match, and against one of the best sides in the world, I am optimistic that there was a good reason for these decisions that I will eventually understand.
Did you watch the match yesterday, Ozil was not found wanting defensively and he pressed as well as anyone else.
His passing was awful though.
Benching Ozil would be sacrificing our best counter-attack playmaker. To me that makes no sense whatsoever. At that rate we might as well park the bus and be Roy’s Two Banks of Four. Ozil’s touch was rusty, that was all. He was where he needed to be, he was pressing, defending, drawing defenders, trying to make plays, and this was against one of the top 4 teams in the world, who walked away with the title at a half stroll last season. I think another week in we can take it to Chelsea. They’re not up to speed either, and… Read more »
You can’t have the man who’s created and assisted the most goals in the league, than anybody over such a long period of time and paid 350k p/w on the bench in the big matches. You have to set the team up to allow him to play to his strengths. That’s why managers earn millions.
Agree. Blogs pointed out a great observation in today’s recap — Guendouzi came over to the touchline during the Maitland-Niles injury, and spoke with Emery for a few minutes. Not only did we make an adjustment on the pitch during a stoppage, but a player willingly, eagerly took instruction from our manager. I cannot remember the last time I saw that from our side. We may have lost, and we may lose to Chelsea, but I’m super excited for what Emery can do if he’s given a couple of seasons.
Henry tried getting instructions (the ones he wanted) from Wenger during our CL final but Wenger kept telling him to just play.
Where’s the player ratings ? It’s one of the best segments to this website why does it seem like you don’t enjoy doing it?
Player ratings are here, posted last night: https://arseblog.news/2018/08/arsenal-0-2-man-city-player-ratings/ – not that difficult to find!
Not trying to be rude but I couldn’t find it maybe it’s the Facebook app
It’s definitely Facebook’s fault. You’re best bet is to just come visit the site and you’ll find the ratings soon after each game.
You might not have been trying, but you were nonetheless.
Torriera, ramsey and ozil should be our starting mids. Torriera has the passing range of xhaka plus defencive astuteness. Ramsey can be box to box and ozil master lockpick. Xhaka makes too many mistakes and isn’t switched on so leaves gaps good teams/players will exploit. Guendouzi is backup for me at the moment but soon I think him and torriera will work their way as our starting mf pair. Ozil and ramsey can’t get complacent with these 2 waiting.
That’s asking too much of Torreira for me. Ramsey runs off to the opposing box and Ozil shrugs his shoulder and looks at the ref and suddenly you have Torreira trying to tackle three opposition midfielders at the same time… please let’s not have that.
I think Guendouzi did really well overall especially considering he is just 19 years old and not only jumping right into a new league that is miles better than the league he was playing in, but also against one of the top teams in the world. Yes he did have a few mistakes, but who didn’t? Adding to the challenge he was paired with Xhaka who did him no favors with some really bad turnovers and poor defensive work. I think a pairing of Elneny and Guendouzi or better yet Torreira and Guendouzi would have been so much better for… Read more »
I like Guendouzi and saw tremendous promise in his tenacity, his ability to win the ball from skilled attackers, even much of his passing. But his failure to stay with Sterling was responsible for the first goal, and his glaring mistake misjudging a high ball when he was last defender (very similar to a couple of his errors in the friendlies) should have led to a second, but for Cech. I say this not to criticise him but to point something out: if someone else had made these mistakes last year (Bellerin say, or–God forbid, Mustafi), there would not be… Read more »
Mustafi did not make any mistakes yesterday.
Turned around by Sterling first half but other than that solid all game intercepting the ball early and some important blocks.
The clarity of thinking by certain Arsenal fans always amuses me.
Maybe the generosity comes from the fact that he seems to already be “one of our own” so to speak. He plays with heart and passion that is missing from some established players who certainly last season were just going through the motions.
Granit only made one poor pass which did lead to their free kick on edge of box.
Guendouzi also made a mistake which led to the heart stopping moment with Aguero.
Xhaka is unique, he doesn’t defend or attack. I see no purpose for him in the team
If we play a 4-3-3, then Torreira – Ramsey – Ozil should be our first choice midfield with Auba – Laca – Iwobi/Mkhitaryan as front 3.
Guendouzi did well. Let’s not go overboard with his performance.
Our defence is what will always let us down
That lineup against the top teams and even the mid table teams would get overrun and take us back to the not so distant days of humiliating drubbings
I’d be more than happy to see Guendouzi get more game time. He looked decent yesterday. Made some mistakes here and there but you can see the potential. Did very well considering Ramsey, Ozil and Mkhitaryan weren’t exactly busting a gut to defend, and Xhaka was putting in an all too familiar performance.
He passed the test. This was reality. Forget pre-season.
And we won’t play any better than City in the league.
What I like about Guendouzi is he is always looking to drive us forward. Playing at high tempo is not only about moving the ball sideways at high speed which we did a lot against wenger. It’s also about dribbling into spaces when there is an opening. Jack in his prime did that well. Rosicky was good at it and Santi didn’t even need to move as he just invited pressure and dribbled his way out of it. This kid Guendouzis confidence on the ball is infectious. We should sell Xhaka and El Neny and replace them with guys like… Read more »
Sell Elneny.
Keep Granit. you want only two options in those areas in Torreira and Guendouzi. That would be short sighted considering injuries.
I’d even consider just holding on Elneny considering how we can rack up injuries so quickly (see left back)
On that note, thought AMN was growing in influence into the game but Lichsteiner came on and put in a combative shift for us, never mind the offsides.
The number of times he covered for bad passes from senior members of the defence and midfield showed that he has something to him.
But we honestly don’t have a good pivot in midfield to play out from the back. Santi Cazorla was the only guy we had who could turn with the ball in a tight situation. So unless the team has enough movement up front and in the midfield we will be terrible with transitions
He made some mistakes as well but he recovered some of them. A couple of rough edges still. But yes the speed of our transition is the issue. I said this last season. We have players who are pass and move types, Ramsey, Ozil to some extent the aging Mhki. We don’t have players we can hit the ball to (taking advantage of Torreira, Guendouzi and Granit’s ability to hit long accurate balls) that can beat players individually like Alexis did. The closest to that is Iwobi and (with less experience relatively) Nelson. You look at Chelsea they have Hazard… Read more »
Salah looked is the best of the lot at going past people, so wouldn’t leave that off the list. Ox can too. It seems to be a Klopp requirement, which is something I would love to see here
Xhaka adds nothing to the midfield. Guendouzi and Torreira to start against Chelski
Exaggerated.
He was OK.
I didn’t think he was the right player to start, I felt we should have just started Torreira.
BUT Granit made a number of decent passes out from the back, blocked a couple of shots.
One loss of the ball in midfield which led to their free kick on the edge but hey, Guendouzi also lost the ball which led to Aguero’s chance.
Agreed Guendouzi made mistakes (as a number of players did), but showed a great deal of passion, commitment and desire and also in my opinion passed the test against an exceptional side.
If Granit is better against less mobile opposition (as you say), who would you start in midfield against Willian, Jorginho, Pedro and Hazard?
Forget pre-season. This was the real test and Guendouzi passed it. A couple of rough moments including the hair raising one with Aguero in on goal. BUT he recovered some of his mistakes and he (along with Mhki and Ramsey, later Lacazette) managed to turn over a couple of balls high up the pitch for us. Personally, I felt we should have gone for Torrreira at the base yesterday. Had we had him patrolling closer to central area in front of the D, maybe we could have avoided at least one of those goals. This is not to fault Granit… Read more »
Would like to see him & Torreira start against Chelsea, obviously with Xhaka being dropped. Also don’t think we can afford to have Ozil, Mkhitaryan & Ramsey all starting. Lacazette looked hungry & willing to fight when he came on, more than can be said of Mkhi & Ozil.
I like Guendouzi. He looks promising.
In other news the Sp*rs toilet seems to be out of order before it’s even been shat in. Probably won’t be able to handle all those white shirts floating around in there like soiled loo roll if it’s failing like this already. Class Sp*rs.
Why did Ainsley not start in centre-midfield and Lichtsteiner not start at left back?. I think people got carried away with guendouzi because he was marginally less poor than Xhaka. If Aguero squares to De Bruyne – after his fatal control on the half way line – then the knives would have been fully out. I am not saying he is not a good prospect but AMN deserves his chance in the middle and not to get roasted by Walker et al at left back.
Can we imagine! Upon the shortcomings of Guen. against City, he was by far our best player. He practically shouldered Xhaka’s errors all by himself. When you look at Guen and Ozil on the pitch, you are forced to ask, ‘ who is it between these two costs 350k?’ Guen. was ubiquitous. He compensated on his errors by being everywhere. He tried to back and guard the balls against City players all by himself. He wasn’t afraid of City; Torreira also showed that fearlessness when he came in. Ozil, Xhaka, Ramsy, Mustafi, Bellerin, etc are all relics of Wenger’s horrendous… Read more »