Arsenal and Matteo Guendouzi: A tale of two Manchester Cities

Arsenal saw a stinker from a lot of their players, but Matteo Guendouzi may have been the stinkiest. What a contrast from another performance he had against City.

It wasn’t all that long ago that Matteo Guendouzi had to face Manchester City in much different circumstances. He had just arrived at the club, Lucas Torreira wasn’t yet recovered from the World Cup, and Arsenal had hopes of getting a season started on the right foot for once, but they would have to go through Manchester City and Chelsea in weeks one and two to do so.

They failed in both matches, but while the Fab Four was a complete and utter disappointment, Matteo Guendouzi rose from the pile and showcased himself as a true gem. Fresh from Ligue 2 with nothing but youthful optimism, he started his Premier League campaign as the best defensive midfielder in the country.

That has largely carried on in the right direction, but fast forward two years to another match-up against Manchester City, the one we were forced to bear yesterday, and you’ll see a different story.

Guendouzi was one of the many awful individual performances against Manchester City, but his shone worst than most because he is usually better than most. As he was in that match two years ago.

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Guendouzi’s defensive capabilities were exposed like never before. Granted, it was Kevin De Bruyne doing the exposing for the most part, but you still hate to see the complete lapse in quality between the two players. Sure, De Bruyne is one of the best players in the world, but Guendouzi hopes to be as well, and early signs are that he can be.

Not with performances like this, though. He was playing in De Bruyne’s shadow all match, racing after him after being spun or just run past.

At the end of the day, Guendouzi had zero presence in the midfield, he left his defense completely exposed, and had this been anyone except the talented young Frenchman, I’d be raising a fit for him to be benched. But given that it is in fact Guendouzi that we’re talking about, all I can say is let’s see him back out there, because he needs a chance to recover.

It’s the oddball out, rest assured. Guendouzi hasn’t gotten worse since his arrival. He’s just stuck in the mud of a piss poor club with little support to speak of. He will bounce back. He will do better.