I don’t know how this may sound, but having unhappy players in the team may not be what Arsenal needs at this moment. We find ourselves in a precarious position due to our poor form this season, and we need every player to be focused and highly motivated for the rest of this season. We need players who will be ready and willing to fight for the fans, fight for the manager and fight for the club. I don’t really know what happened in our training camp in Dubai between Arteta and Guendouzi, but no matter what may have happened, I am appealing to Arteta and the club to find a way of settling the issue and make everybody happy.
You may agree with me or not, but in the early days of this season Guendouzi was our most in form midfielder. He was the one running things from the midfield. There were games we played this season that we found it hard penetrating our opponents’ midfield, and Guendouzi would suddenly make a promising dashing run that would either lead to a goal or a set piece in a delicious spot for Arsenal.
Guendouzi was one of the shining stars we had last season. He may be young and raw in his style of game, but he is surely committed to the Arsenal’s cause, going by his body language. I see passion and determination in his game. I see him as one of the few Arsenal players who are ready to give anything to make Arsenal succeed.
I am not going to ask the club not to punish Guendouzi if he has done any wrong, but I will like to appeal to the club not to turn this case into a player versus manager case. We don’t need all the negative media attention at these trying times in the club.
When Emery was at Arsenal, he had to face the task of always explaining why he and Ozil never saw eye to eye. There was no press conference that took place without reporters asking him why Ozil was been left out of his team. Emery’s major undoing was his lack of a good relationships with his players. He had a fractured relationship with a lot of players, that several months after his sacking almost all his former players are taking turns to say unpleasant things about him.
Emery is long gone and now we have Arteta who is doing a good job. I believe if Arteta wants to build a united team, he should learn how to settle issues in ways that it won’t affect a player’s position in the team. I hopefully want to see Guendouzi in the travelling team to Athens, as this will prove to the world that we are not about to have another player versus manager saga.
Sylvester Kwentua
Yeah, the media will quickly latch on to this now and mikel will be grilled at the press conference this week, and every time he leaves him out there will be more questions instead of concentrating on the positives.
True
If Arteta takes the character of Guardiola when it comes to disciplining player,then arsenal fans are in for more shocks.Thiery Henry once said that Guardiola sent him on the pitch and instructed him to run the ball to the byline and cross.He run to the byline,but instead of crossing,he cut back inside and scored a goal.Guardiola substituted him 3 minutes later for doing things his own way.To Guardiola,the goal was nothing.doing things by his book was everything.And thats the man the Arteta learnt from.Guendouzi needed that reminder,and the rest of the team too
Sounds very much like an arrogant, over-rated and over-hyped teenager believing in his own publicity far too early.This isn’t Emery in charge now. He was far too keen to include Guendouzi in the team in place of Ramsey and Ozil. The boy is not as good as he believes and seems to think he can dictate to a proper manager in Arteta. He won’t ever be a top Premiere League standard player in my opinion so just get rid in the summer and let’s see at what level he ends up at
Totally agree phill
He is 20 and already has precense in midfield. He will be star in the years to come, he is already ahead. Unfortunately one day we will lose him to PSG.
Give the kid a break. We need Torriera as well and we definitely need Sako. Even Granite now that he is played to his strenght
Totally disagree with you. This kid is totally overhyped. Honestly what doe he bring to the team? He is not a goal scoring midfielder and he doesn’t create. He is just a player that passes sideways.
I’m with you, he is a fine prospect, extremely dominant player.
Think Arteta wants more from him and of course he must watch his attitude, can be costly at worst moment.
Last game confirmed that we must play with one DM and not 2, in order to not lean into defending game.
He is the best player we have to play all over that midle in front of defense….Xhaka is not as mobile nor Torreira who is bit light to fight there. Luiz can also be an option there.
Don’t think it is an issue but Arteta readjusting player. If he plays him as supposed to, kid will be in Euro and chased by likes of Bayern, Barca, Real, PSG.
We have a great set of young players all ready to step up!
@ Phill we said mate . The boy is too much for himself . He can’t dectate to the manage . Arteta is a humble guy I think Guendouz said something that showed disrespected . All the players talk good things about Arteta why can he has a problem with the small kid like him . He thinks Arteta is Unai who was playing him and let Ramsey to go and sitting on the bench .
Agree, Phil. You can see his arrogance on the pitch too. Arteta probably told him he isn’t a starter and needs to improve, and he’s absolutely right. He started off the season well, but has been a non-factor since the start. Once he got the France call-up his form went way down.
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You seem to know it all Phil, remind me again was it you who discovered Ronaldo and Messi lol!. Boy is a talent, how many have made it to a world cup winning team at such a young age. He will is star in making n mark my words matter where he ends up he will do well. He is hard working, talented n plays with his heart on sleeve. There is no evidence n neither did management come out in open to criticize his behaviour so this can all be just media bullshit . Some of the naive fans like you always fall for such media theatricals.
Agree, some people jumping to conclusions with gutter snipe reporting, they should know better by now. The kid is arrogant and that is what this club needs, not people who just go on the pitch not caring and just strolling and taking home their big fat wages. This kid is class and the people who cant see it need some new glasses and quick.
@Mohsan-no I quite obviously didn’t discover Ronaldo or Messi.But one thing I did discover this morning PAL is
(ADMIN PAT: Very funny Phil but ultimately mot allowed!)
Ok Pat- a bit close I must admit
True, another player in the Elneny mold. Has not improved at Arsenal, neither have Arsenal improved with him. In fact we play better with Cabellos than him, hence let Cabellos continue for a few more games till we have the right combination. Also players should remember that they are employees and behave well with hierarchy, differences should be sorted behind closed doors with due respect to the club and management. Other than Mkhi and Ox, no other ex Arsenal player is performing well at the moment. would not regret if he moves, cannot afford to have another disgruntled player not behaving well with the coach/coaches.
if we put our trust in a manager, we should also trust his man management. If that isn’t good enough the manager will never succeed.
So unless I see evidence to the contrary, I will assume Arteta has put his foot down on something he can’t accept and personally, I think it is the only way to preserve the authority.
👍 Discipline is required, but it must be enforced fairly and equitably.
We are unlikely to ever find out what has exactly happened to persuade Arteta to “discipline” young Guendouzi, but let’s not over react as these incidents occur on a regular basis in all forms of team games.AndersS summed it up perfectly. It has been dealt with by our Manager who is after all, paid to Manage.
I like that, in football players always win. I really like what Aeteta is doing with the team but he must know better he can’t keep on creating bitterness in the squad. Remember they are both young in their position
We seem to have our fair share of “fragile ego’s”.
Too cosseted for too long.
Challenge Arteta’s authority (without very good cause) and there will only be one winner !
Before condemning manager Aterta let’s get to know what happened then we start to accuse our manager referring him to Unai who didn’t what to do with players. Get to know that guy knew he’s everything to arsenal and yet his style of game still needs a lot to do
Sorry Jude.
Might be me being dopey in reading your reply, but I was supporting Arteta (given we do not know the circumstances of the supposed rift).
M A will bring much needed structure and discipline to the club.
And I believe, given time and backing, silverware also.
Time again to now RESPECT the manager (and I use the term “manager” intentionally).
So to re-cap, I have very high hopes of M.A.
Respected him as a player for us, and definitely as our manager.
First of all we don’t know all the facts but one thing for sure you cannot deny Guendouzy commitment to the team and club,we are talking about a young man,for some reasons he lost his temper which happens more than we think on the training ground in every club,I’d like him to apologize to arteta and coaching staff,teammates,and see a resolution,I understand that Arteta has to have control,respect but also show some good man management and realises he’s dealing with a young lad and give another chance, dragging this situation won’t do anyone any good,time to move on!
I rate guendouzi but his head (mentality) is the one thing he can improve on. His concentration and discipline in games is his achilles heel. This is totally different to emery, emery tried to find scapegoats arteta is just making sure guendouzi knows his place. The other thing is that arteta has the trust of the dressing room and he will find himself in the cold until he aplogises and gets his head down
👍 I like him too, but as you say there is room for improvement…. but age is on his side. There’s a lot of potential there, and he could be our future captain.
Sorry but guendozi is not that good. All he does is run around. 6 shots, 0 goals and 2 assists all season. Sorry just not that great.
Please sell him for 10m and buy doucoure at end of season. I rate willock far more than guendozi.
10 millions,you are joking the guy is valued as 60M and not by arsenal only,and organisations value a player they take into account,qualities, performances,potential,age,resell value…10 millions ridiculous I’m sorry.
Are you joking?!! This kid is pathetic. He cant score and barely assists, how the hell is he worth 60M? He is just a player that passes sideways.
Well I didn’t make this 60M up ,it seems that they take into account many criteria’s age,potential….the markets have gone crazy I just read Norwich have just put a 30 M tag price on one of their youngster so you see!
60m is outrageous for a player like Guendouzi. He is arrogant, contributes nothing but time wasting on the ball. Speed=0/10, Dribble =0/10, Passing=3/10, head=0/10,tackles=1/10, shot power=1/10,shot accuracy=2/10. Who bought this guy? He was Emerys problem. Every coach would bench his butt. Sell him for 8m to lille.
Where do we get some of these people who call themselves fans.
“He was the one running things from the midfield”. Very funny statement. Since emery take over, we still winning & challenge others top 4 team until emery drop ozil & ramsey for this guy. then very hard to see our team win the game. Then emery start play ramsey & ozil again but by that time the team already demoralize. Guendouzi is just keep running and avoid the challenge while the others playes keep challenge for the ball. He just passenger in the team.
Hmmm..
Whatever it is, we dont know the facts yet, Arsenal FC does not need this diversion at this point of time. We are playing well and improving by the game, so the upward trend must continue and not be distracted by off the field events. The parties concerned should patch up asap and focus on the upcoming matches. Nothing is more important than Arsenal winning games. Up the Gunners!
I don’t think he’s good enough anyway in my opinion the club should sell in the summer to reinvest
Totally agree!!!
there are other players much more worthy of selling over a 20 year old, who despite having a poor season, still has potential to improve.
I completely agree that “…running things from midfield….” is an overstatement of Guendouzi’s value to the team. “Headless chicken” was an expression also used to describe him after a particular game, and I cannot fault that analysis. Running all over tjhe place but producing nothing or very little is NOT what we need in midfield. It is also mentioned above that he slows the game down. Again not what we want. Intelligence, vision, quick feet, control, dynamite. That’s what we need in midfield and Guendouzi sadly falls short. He can fill neither the Ceballos nor the Vieira/de Bruyne role.
Ceballos is the Guy that gives Liverpool the League Cup in that Penalty shootOut!!
What does that comment contribute to this discussion about Guendouzi? Every single top player in the world has missed penalties even Ronaldo.
Whatever has happened, MA will, in my opinion, make the right decision.
As far as the player is concerned, if MA continues to get the reaction we saw from Ozil and Cebs, this young man would be wise to watch and learn, while being at a great club.
While i agree with the treatment of Guendouzi by Arteta . I see a lot of hypocrites here .
Footballers are known to have fragile egos .They are known to have differences with their coaches this as normal as day . People here are saying he is an overhyped kid . The fact is he is ahead of Willock . He is one of the most commited players in our squad and he isnt even from our academy .
People here says he runs like a headless chicken,Please how is this different from what Rabiot does . I have seen many atime when Guendouzi makes runs into the attack and gives attractive passes .
The only issues the young man has is he is still learning and is yet a finished article .
He needs to nail down a position because we are yet to know his positon in the midfield ,
He needs to get stronger , He needs to improve his decision making,He needs to improve his discipline and most of all learn how to score a goal . All these can be taught by Arteta who ironically played in the same position .
What is truely disgusting is seeing fans of this club insulting our own players .
Sylvester, Finally, a sensibly written and well thought through article from you. I send congrats and please repeat THIS standard and not your usual standard of article.
Guendouzi is disrespectful. Watch him against opponents and the referee. Saka is not, neither is Willock. I hope he’s kept on the bench for a long time. You said he was important? No! He was Emerys signing, so he must play. He was wasting time on the ball, no goal, 1 assist, what else pls? Making stupid challenges in the box and out. He should not be an arsenal player. Even Ljungbeg kept his ass on the bench! Look at ceballos pls. Always moving forward, connected with Ozil very well in the last game. Guendouzi should feature in the FA cup only and play the last 10mins in the remaining games of the premier league, that’s if Arsenal is leading 5-0.
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We don’t know facts yet but if Arteta deems it fit he has to assert his authority and if anyone in the squad does otherwise then the manager/coach looks on the dicipline measures to be taken. Whatever happened I have enough reason to feel Arteta is jusfied to make the decision all Guendouse needs to do is respond positively and fight for a starting position
I would say its something and nothing, blown up by the gutter press, that really know nothing. It will all be sorted and things will be back to normal. It happens all the time in football, little spats and disagreements. Its just better to reporr it like its a terrible thing.
The kid had a great spell at the start of the season when we were losing but after arteta we have ozil back to form and xhaka has suddenly gained form…we struggle with DRAWS but when he is benched we WIN by margin…he is good but Arteta can replace him at any time…whether he performs somewhere else like PSG is not our problem as long as we do away with a rotten potato…he is great for his age but he needs to be of character and a good servant of the game…
Well I think since we have a manager who is a formal arsenal player and now a coach he will probably handle Guen case appropriately. The boy is not that bad but he needs to be called to order in other for him to be the right player for the club. Without discipline he cant succeed. He hasn’t achieved anything and for him to get there he has to have the right attitude. Hes nothing yet and that’s why he needs to listen and dump his pride. If hes performing under unai this is arteta so he needs to show hes up to the game not just a flash. It’s not about one man but the whole tesm.look at xhaka he made a mistake and ammend his ways he should learn from there or else hes doomed. Discipline makes a great player, if hes not then he will go back to lorient where he comes from. No right thinking manager will take shit from a rookie? Our hope is that he learns his lesson and make adjustment or leaves the the club so that better players can come in. He will make it bc hes got the potential but not without the right attitude.i hope this is resolved on time.
When your favourite player Ozil throws the gloves around just because he was substituted, no one said. Now its Goundouzi, and everyone is talking. Arsenal fans dont treat players equally. I know that he will be punished because the threatens the position of your favourite players which are Ozil and Xhaka