Matteo Guendouzi

Matteo Guendouzi
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Matteo Guendouzi





Current Club: Arsenal.

Previous Clubs: Lorient, Paris Saint-Germain.

Loan Clubs: N/A.





International: N/A.

Trophies Won: N/A.





A tall, rangy, athletic, slim midfielder who is extremely comfortable on the ball, even under extreme pressure. He is very happy dropping off to take the ball off his defenders, no matter how high and frantic the press being faced. Guendouzi seems happiest, if anything, when getting the ball in those situations.



Guendouzi has a good first touch, which allows him to deal with a ball received under pressure and turn away to move the ball on quickly. He does move the ball on quickly, usually playing two or three touches at the most before he passes it on.



While his passing is accurate, usually, it lacks incisiveness, most of his passing is just a case of moving the ball on quickly, which is useful enough, like a metronome, pass, pass, pass, but he rarely delivers a pass to open up the opposition. When he does move forward, he shows he can spot and play a dangerous ball into the right areas.



Sometimes it feels like he is too defensively responsible, not using his running ability to get up and down the pitch like he is capable of and so wasting a whole facet of his game. While playing for Arsenal, that is probably a good thing, as they are weak defensively, so having a midfielder willing to sit and drop in to cover gaps when defenders are pulled out of position, is a real bonus.



However, for his country, it is a real waste of his ability to influence the game in the opposing third. He simply does not impose himself enough on the game and look to take charge of it. Guendouzi is just not aggressive enough to take control of the midfield, it is a very passive game he plays.



If a bit more aggression could be dragged out of him, making him use his athleticism to get up and down the pitch more and not always just drop off but look to press opponents and get in their face, he would be a much better player. Right now he is playing within himself, only utilising a portion of his strengths but he has the potential to be an excellent player.





Requested by - DagenhamGooner