What divisive Arsenal man Matteo Guendouzi said to ignite Marseille dressing room
Matteo Guendouzi is starting to “grate” on his Marseille team-mates after the Arsenal loanee sparked an on-pitch altercation with Gerson over the weekend.
The 22-year-old, who joined the Ligue 1 side on a season-long loan in the summer, is already making himself public enemy number one in the south of France.
Guendouzi had started the season in great form with one goal and one assist from seven league games. His driving force from midfield has seen Marseille into third place in the early season standings.
However, things took a turn for the worse over the weekend. The temperamental midfielder, who was recalled by France at the start of the month, clashed with Gerson during their 3-2 defeat by Lens.
Guendouzi was seen dashing over to his team-mate after Lens’ second goal on Sunday.
And, according to French news outlet L’Equipe, Guendouzi asked Gerson “when are you going to start running”.
— L’ÉQUIPE D (@LEQUIPED) September 26, 2021
Dimitri Payet was then seen trying to defuse the situation, which apparently not only angered the Brazilian, but also a number of other players.
According to French journalist Romain Canuti, Guendouzi is starting to “grate” on his new team-mates. A number of OM players are “struggling” with Guendouzi.
He told the Marseille Talk Show for Le Phoceen, as relayed by Foot Radio: “There’s isn’t just Gerson who is fed up with Guendouzi.
“That doesn’t matter, you don’t need to read too much into it. But there are a few players at Marseille who are struggling with Guendouzi.
“His way of working, when he always blames others for things, when he falls to his knees in training to implore God because a touch isn’t good enough, it grates.
“I don’t blame him for this attitude, we know this type of temperament in Marseille, but there are foreign players who aren’t that into it, who have a lot of trouble with that.
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“When you’ve got a guy like that, who always criticises. You might not want to sympathise with him down the line. That being said, Marseille need characters, Guendouzi has some, so that’s good too.”
Sunday’s defeat capped off a run of poor form for OM. They could only draw against 10-man Lokomotiv Moscow in the Europa League. They then drew with Angers, before losing at home on Sunday.
Guendouzi did not have his best game in the defeat. And the cracks are once again starting to appear the player’s character.
Of course he fell foul of Mikel Arteta on a number of occasions at The Emirates.
Guendouzi was loaned to Hertha Berlin in October 2020 after he was involved in a scuffle with Brighton’s Neal Maupay. That was after the Seagulls inflicted a 2-1 defeat on Arsenal on June 20.
The Arsenal man was was overheard taunting Brighton‘s Neal Maupay about his wages – a game in which he was also sent off.
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