Arsenal: Finding the best way forward for Matteo Guendouzi

Matteo Guendouzi shot out of the box for Arsenal, but since then, has taken a nosedive. Time for the club to assess the best way forward for the young Frenchman.

Ever since Arsenal have been subbing off Matteo Guendouzi instead of Granit Xhaka, they’ve been winning. Three games in a row in which the Lucas Torreira/Granit Xhaka partnership has looked sparkly and dynamic. They may finally be the duo that we’ve craved for.

But that leaves Guendouzi in a fit of trouble. The young Frenchman got off the blocks in a hurry against Manchester City and Chelsea, using this stage to jump out to the Premier League lead in ball-winning plays.

Since then, he has fallen off a cliff, and has had to be subbed off at the hour mark or earlier (two times in a row now right at half) in order to facilitate a comeback or at least a bit of a firmer foundation.

We might have seen this coming though. Even early on, for as individually spectacular as Guendouzi was, he wasn’t doing the team around him a lot of favors. He was leaving Xhaka to fend for himself in the center of the pitch while he went gallivanting wherever he saw fit.

Yes, he was winning back the ball and making some fantastic individual plays, but in the meantime, the team around him was struggling to make up for the ground he was forfeiting.

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That is all catching up with Guendouzi now. His positional awareness is literally atrocious, and without the right partner, that can’t be overlooked. Xhaka is not the right partner. While Xhaka’s own positional awareness is decent enough, his defensive abilities aren’t.

The best solution for Guenouzi is to teach him what it means to stay at home. To not feel the need to rip out to the right wing to slaughter an opposing player in possession, only to be stuck there, leaving Xhaka to stumble all over the pieces in the center.

The only other solution is to give him a better partner, but Torreira had time with Guendouzi, and it didn’t exactly pop quite like the Torreira/Xhaka combination is. Best to stick with what is working, with the players that you trust, and let the others learn in the meantime.

Guendouzi is a talented dude, and we’re all looking forward to what he can become. But despite how fantastic he looked early on, it was a bit of a misinterpretation. His individual skills was helping fans cope with the consecutive losses.

Again, the future is bright. But the future is not now. At least not for Guendouzi. It’s past time to start Torreira.