Arsenal Vs Manchester City: 5 things we learned – Unai Emery got it wrong
2. Matteo Guendouzi is a star
Arsenal fielded a central midfield pairing that consisted of a 22-year-old and a 19-year-old. Both played well, especially in the first half, with the latter, Matteo Guendouzi, looking mightily impressive against two of the best midfield players in the world.
In the first half, Guendouzi recovered possession six times and completed 22 of his 22 pass attempts. The only other player to complete the same number is goalkeeper Bernd Leno, but his accuracy rate was down at 57%. Guendouzi was asked to do a thoroughly thankless and extremely challenging task. He performed it admirably.
It is easy to forget how young he is. The fact that he is playing regularly, in central midfield, as a teenager, is an astounding achievement, a sign of his potential and future stardom. He is an individual around which Unai Emery can build, and that is very positive indeed.