Guendouzi’s comments… by Dan Smith
There’s been so much to be disappointed about in the last week, until yesterday’s win, but I don’t think enough attention has been given to what Guendouzi said to Neal Maupay. He essentially gloated about how much money he earns.
I have defended the Frenchman in the past, pointing to the fact he’s had to step up from the lower divisions in France. He started the season as our best performer. Yet bragging about how rich you are?
That’s a horrible mentality to have, and bear in mind he was accused of saying other things throughout the game.
If we had won, I wouldn’t condone his words, but it’s worse that we just lost 2-1 to Brighton and his first thought is, ‘that’s okay, I still get my 40,000 a week’. Just think about that.
He’s part of an Arsenal team about to finish in one of our lowest positions in our history. He should be embarrassed. Yet the first thing that comes to his mind is his salary? I know he young and we all acted immature at that age but that speaks volumes about what’s wrong at our club.
It wouldn’t be a problem if we had a leader in the dressing room who you knew would pull him up on it, yet it won’t get mentioned, and in return he learns nothing.
Tony Adams, Lee Dixon or Martin Keown would never tolerate a 21-year-old who has done nothing to act like that (which is why they should be hired as coaches).
Heck even Ronaldo will tell you stories how Roy Keane and Ryan Giggs wouldn’t stand for certain things, and that’s Ronaldo. Yet Ronaldo says it was a huge part of his development.
Arteta won a lot of gooners over with his first press conference. Was he saying what we wanted to hear, or did he mean it when he said about standards and getting rid of those who refused to follow his ethos?I’m not asking him to sell the midfielder, but I would expect some harsh words, even a public dressing down?
Think how we acted when Ozil sulked in the Europa League Final or Xhaka swearing back at fans. To me this is worse. Ozil and Xakha at least showed they were hurting, their egos bruised. Guendouzi’s first thought wasn’t “we are 10th, we won’t be in Europe next year”, it was .. “I still get my wage.”
I can’t get over the fact that that was his initial reaction. This tells me everything I need to know about our dressing room….
Dan Smith