Former Arsenal player reveals the reason Mikel Arteta excluded Matteo Guendouzi from his plans
Good managers always do their best to unlock their players’ potential, but it does not help when the players’ attitude is one of reluctance. Matteo Guendouzi suffered a similar kind of fate with his then manager Mikel Arteta, as he was dropped out of the pecking order and his overall plans completely.
The midfielder was one of the best young prospects by the time he joined the Gunners in 2018, and under coach Unai Emery, he deservedly got plenty of starts and playing time, as he played 33 league games and 15 cup competitions in his debut season only.
But the Frenchman’s luck changed when Mikel Arteta arrived as head coach in late 2019, as the likes of Granit Xhaka and Lucas Torreira were chosen ahead of him in the Spainard’s game plans. Guendouzi was the victim of loan transfers, as he moved to Hertha Berlin and Marseille, the latter is where he started playing permanently starting 2022.
According to former Arsenal player Jeremie Aliadiere (spent six years with the club starting age 16), who played with Guendouzi back in his Lorient days, Guendouzi suffered this mainly because of attitude issues.
“Frankly, from the point of view of talent and purely football, if I’m just talking about that, there is no surprise. After, during my last season in Lorient, when he started to train with us and to play, I had a little question about his attitude. I said to myself: He’ll have to change a bit.” said Aliadiere (via Le Telegramme).
“He’s in Lorient, so it’s understandable, it’s a small family club, that’s it. But if he wants to climb the ladder and go play in a big club, his attitude will have to change. I think he understood that right away when he arrived [at Arsenal].”
Guendouzi admits that his relationship with Mikel Arteta was ‘not the best’
The Frenchman has shown some signs of aggressiveness to validate this theory, as in 2020, he saw himself excluded from the Spainard’s training and match day plans following a post-match altercation with Brighton’s Neal Maupay. This ultimately led to his loan move to Hertha Berlin.
But, Guendouzi revealed two years later that this moment was not the reason for his exit from the North London club, and that journalists and media outlets have falsely pinpointed this moment as an excuse.
“Journalists used this excuse to say that we had a bad relationship and that’s why I stopped playing and left Arsenal.” said Matteo Guenduozi
“Not at all. It’s a gesture like many on the pitch. There’s a lot of tension sometimes, a lot of problems on the pitch. In any case, it has nothing to do with all that.” the Frenchman added.
Although, the Lazio midfielder did admit that his relationship with Mikel Arteta in general was not good, regardless of this spat.
“It’s true that I didn’t have the best relationship with him. Beyond that, I always tried to work, always gave the maximum of myself in training and in matches. I still play a few matches with him, I still did great performances. He preferred other players and I respect that decision. That’s why, afterwards, I also decided to leave because I was still young, I needed playing time to continue to progress. The most important when you’re young is to play.” the 25-year-old explained.
Matteo Guendouzi now plays his football in Italy under Lazio, where he has started all 12 games for the Serie A side, contributing a goal and an assist. He is also currently with the France national team as part of the Nations League squad, but was an unused substitute in their recent draw against Israel.
