After being shipped out on loan by Arsenal in the summer, this season is a massive one for Mattéo Guendouzi.
The Frenchman doesn’t appear to have a future at the Emirates, so he needs to impress with Hertha Berlin this season if he is to get himself the move that wasn’t available this year.
Things have gotten off to a rough start for him in Germany, with the midfielder recently being forced to miss two weeks after testing positive for Coronavirus following the international break.
That, though, is now in the past and this weekend saw him finally make his debut for the Bundesliga club in their 1-1 draw with Wolfsburg.
Kicker cover that game today, and it’s full of positivity about the Arsenal loanee. They say Guendouzi ‘impressed’ after coming off the bench before he ‘stepped on the gas’ in training on Monday.
First the game, though.
The newspaper say that the midfielder ‘took on the role of an intrepid driver’ who personified Hertha’s game with ‘presence, cunning and temperament’.
They also describe his debut as ‘encouraging’, saying Guendouzi was ‘ball-safe’, ‘fearless’ and a player who ‘shows up in headwinds’. All of this was a sign that he could end up being the ‘hoped for emergency aid’ that the club need.
Kicker weren’t the only ones impressed either, with coach Bruno Labbadia praising his performance too.
“Mattéo did it very well. He put another mark in the game by repeatedly demanding and dragging balls, passing opponents briefly and then playing the easy pass,” he said.
“That gave us a little more stability, which was definitely good. Our consideration was that he might be able to help us more than if he had to wear himself out in duels.
“I think that worked well. We always were dominant. That is exactly his game. That’s why it worked.”
A positive start for Gunedouzi, then, who Arsenal will be hoping can build on this game and establish himself as a regular for Hertha moving forward.
To do so, he’ll need to get up to speed as quickly as he can, although on this evidence it won’t take long for that to happen.
