Arsenal: Matteo Guendouzi should not be starting

Matteo Guendouzi should not be starting for Arsenal. He is a wonderfully gifted footballer with a great future. His time will come. But it is not here just yet.

I could say ‘I like Matteo Guendouzi, but…’ However, I’ve gone that route before with Lucas Torreira. The precedent still stands though. When Guendouzi arrived last summer, I enjoyed watching his enthusiasm and boundless energy during pre-season as he pranced around the pitch with a stylish flamboyance, and of course, I chalked up the inevitable odd mistake to inexperience. ‘This lad’s going to be a keeper’ I thought to myself. And he is.

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I like Guendouzi. He exudes self-confidence, never stops running, and seems to get along well with his teammates. A great signing at whatever paltry sum Arsenal signed him for. And life for Guendouzi at Arsenal couldn’t have begun any better. He kept starting, almost every game. And the media loved him. In fact, everyone seemed to love him!

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But as the season wore on, I would see his name in the starting line-up and cringe a little. He’s just not ready yet. He needs time to learn his position. I mean, this is Arsenal, a team competing for a top-four finish in the Premier League. Financially, according to the recent Forbes list, they are in the top-six in the world. They need a more stable solution in midfield than a hair-raising 19-year-old.

As the season continued, there he was, starting game after game, and although he played well, there were always the inevitable giveaways. And they became predictable. Where did the other midfielders go, I wondered? Where was Aaron Ramsey? Where was Mohamed Elneny? Where was anyone? Give the young Guendouzi a chance to watch from the bench and learn from his more experienced peers.

I began to wonder if I was the only one noticing his errant passes, his bumbling head-down collisions, his drive-thwarting giveaways. And then Arsenal played Everton. Guendouzi started again and played with energy and confidence. And errors! So many errors.

They were highlighted by a comment by my favourite commentator in the game, Jim Beglin, who said something to the effect that Guendouzi played ‘brave but sloppy’. I had to agree. I understand that you have to take the good with the bad, and there is a lot of good in Guendouzi, but I just can’t see him playing as a regular starter for a serious contender like Liverpool or Manchester City.

Giving the ball away cheaply in Manchester City results in some serious glaring from teammates and coaches alike. But this is the notoriously lapse, unchallenging Gunners. The same level of expectation does not seem to reign at the Emirates.

I do like Guendouzi but he should not be starting at this crucial stage of the season. Arsenal need to amass as many points as possible over the next month or so to guarantee a top-four position. Let him come off the bench as a sub late in the game and show fans that youthful exuberance, and help his team close out the game. His time will come, it just isn’t now.