Arsenal: Didier Deschamps is not wrong about Matteo Guendouzi

Matteo Guendouzi is being widely praised for his performances so far this season. But France head coach Didier Deschamps has cast caution over the Arsenal midfielder, and he is not wrong to do so.

Matteo Guendouzi is the talk of the town right now. And after his start to the season, which culminated in a sensational North London Derby performance last weekend, he deserves to be so. The Arsenal midfielder has been sensational and is proving that he can be the present and not just the future of the team.

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As a consequence of his recent individual displays, there has been a growing furore and excitement around just how complete a player he could become. I have written about this possibility over the past few days as well.

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But there is a need to be a little more grounded than airy-fairy presuming that Guendouzi is set to become the next great central midfielder. Plenty enough talented players have fallen by the wayside in the past to serve as warning for crowning the great and glorious too prematurely. And France head Didier Deschamps has expressed caution regarding the 20-year-old, who was called up to the French national team in place of Paul Pogba last week:

"“Do not ask too much, he’s a young player, who is still the Espoirs (under-21) generation, who plays a lot of matches with Arsenal where there is strong competition. He’s the modern midfielder, box to box as they say there, with a lot of power and technical quality too. He’s there. What I expect from young people is that they bring this freshness, this dynamism. He is a very young player but with a very big potential.”"

This may seem like Deschamps being a Debbie Downer when everything is going so smoothly and the hopes for Guendouzi’s future are rising to new levels. But there is a great deal of realism in what he says, and it is advice that should be heeded by Guendouzi, Arsenal and the fans.

Just because he has shown in a few matches that he has the ability to dominate the best in the Premier League does not mean that Guendouzi will develop into the player his potential is hinting at. While his talent is undeniable, and Deschamps concedes much, to blindly believe that he will fulfil that talent is a little naive.

You do not need me to list off the names of talented young prospects who have failed to make the grade at the senior level. There is a whole swathe of examples, some of them failing because of attitute, others because they were unlucky with injuries, others due to falling for their own hype, others still because is just never quite happened for them.

There are a great many pitfalls in becoming a professional footballer. It is no easy progression. Guendouzi has the talent, unquestionably, but he is still very at the start of this process.