the new dimension of Mattéo Guendouzi, Jorge Sampaoli’s handyman

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Mattéo Guendouzi celebrated his 23rd birthday on Thursday April 14, the day of the quarter-final second leg of the Europa League conference for his club Marseille against PAOK Salonika. The architect of the success of the Olympians (1-0), he offered himself the greatest reward by joining the last four of the new European competition.

As since the beginning of the season, it was he who offered the gifts. In the 34th minute, he comes out to press the Greek recovery and allows Cédric Bakambu to regain possession of the ball. Not stingy with effort, the native of Poissy plans to offer a solution to the Congolese striker. Served in depth, he only needs a touch of the ball to perfectly find Dimitri Payet who only has to finish against the goalkeeper.

A world-class action for the French international, who had his first selection for the France team in November after several rallies without playing. Mattéo Guendouzi seems to have entered a new dimension, being the centerpiece of Jorge Sampaoli’s system, which has not put him to rest once this season. The young Phocaean played his 47th game of the season this evening with the Marseille jersey. A total that rises to fifty meetings if we add the three selections for the France team.

The efforts of the young midfielder are not spared, despite the various system changes of his coach. Mattéo Guendouzi is a constant in the Marseille midfield. It perfectly meets the requirements of Sampaoli. He was sometimes aligned on the right flank of the defense in the waiting phase to reposition himself in midfield as soon as the ball was recovered. A role shared with Valentin Rongier, another cornerstone of the Olympian community.

In his box-to-box role which suits him perfectly, the Yvelinois is the second best passer in his team, behind boss Dimitri Payet. His ball grips, often forward, allow his team to break lines and quickly find shifts in transition. His passing quality does the rest of the work.

In addition to these technical qualities, Guendouzi has become, at only 23 years old, a real vocal leader on the green rectangle, haranguing and encouraging his teammates. Sometimes to excess by not hesitating to clash with his opponents. The former Lorientais has not yet received a red card since September 2017 with the Merlus in Ligue 2, the only one of his professional career.

Building on this successful season in which he still has at least nine games to play, Mattéo Guendouzi can claim the World Cup in Qatar in November. Especially since the Marseillais has been in sight during the last two friendly matches of the Blues with an assist from a corner and a goal. Before that, he will have the opportunity to prove himself again in Ligue 1 to help OM retain their second place in the standings. An objective which begins on Sunday with a Classic at the top against the Parisian leaders, necessarily ticked by this player trained in the capital.


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