Arsenal: The three improvements Matteo Guendouzi must make to become world class

1. Positional discipline

Guendouzi is already a superior midfielder to Granit Xhaka. That much, for some, including Arteta by recent evidence, is debatable. What is not debatable is the pair’s respective ceilings. There are things that Guendouzi can do that Xhaka could not dream of. He simply has a far greater skill set to work than the Swiss international, and thus possesses a far higher potential.

However, the one crucial aspect that Xhaka far outperforms Guendouzi in is his positional discipline, especially out of possession. Xhaka has limitations that he sometimes struggles to overcome, but his sense of danger, his reading of the game, and his positional decision-making is often excellent — and is much-improved for what it was when he first arrived at the club.

Guendouzi, on the other hand, is raw, to say the least. He is a good defender when pressed into particular actions, but in regards to his general reading of play and subsequent decision-making, a lot is left to be desired. He hares after the ball, he runs forward, vacating space. He does not always track runners. He is far too eager to win back possession when tackling, meaning a simple shimmy and shake or one-two leaves him horribly out of position.

Again, the good news is that these are all mental shortcomings that should improve with playing time and practice. But until he harnesses his skill set with aware decision-making, especially without the ball, Guendouzi will never be the world-class central midfielder that he has the talent to one day become.