Arsenal: Matteo Guendouzi started and finished the same, but different

Arsenal youngster Matteo Guendouzi started and ended the season in similar, yet different places, as he now looks more like Granit Xhaka.

It’s amazing what can happen over the course of the season. When Arsenal first bought Matteo Guendouzi, and he featured against Manchester City and Chelsea, we saw the young man jump out into the team lead in ball-winning plays. He was a tackling machine.

Some of us even wondered if he would take the job before Lucas Torreira even had his chance at it. He was the midfield enforcer, the destroyer, the fearless tackler.

But it was all downhill from there on the tackling side of things. He proved not to be what Torreira gradually grew into. He wasn’t here for his tackling or his ball-winning plays. He was doing far bigger picture things with his time on the pitch.

I think the first clue came when he started passing the ball like Granit Xhaka. Cross-pitch sizzlers to stretch play, while not always accurate, showcased a very different set of abilities than we were lead to believe were his forte earlier in the season.

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And then he started taking the ball and dwelling on it, deciding between driving forward and picking out the pass that would greatest benefit the push towards an offensive move.

Still, we saw his defensive play decrease. He ended up finishing the season ninth on the team in tackles won and 11th on interceptions. That’s one hell of a drop from shooting out to the top of the Premier League.

But while he finished the season on the complete opposite end of the spectrum in defensive numbers and ability, he also finished the season just as exciting as he started it, because he’s made these strides in the other direction, playing more of a Granit Xhaka role than a Torreira one. He’s the outlet that his teammates can turn to when needed, he’s always making himself available, he wants the ball.

Factor in some more ball security in his growth, some more composure in possession, and he’ll be well on his way to being the clear heir to the Xhaka role. Which, for all you Xhaka haters out there, should feel good.

With the right enforcer, though, these two could learn to compliment each other massively in the middle of the pitch. We talk a lot about establishing control and, yeah, that’s one way to do it.