Fallouts are becoming something of a regular occurrence at Arsenal under Mikel Arteta after his relationship with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang left the player stripped of his captaincy at Arsenal. The Gabonese international then left the club for Barcelona in the January transfer window.
Matteo Guendouzi is another name where there have been tensions with the manager but is currently doing well out on loan at Olympique Marseille. But, do the players have an 'attitude problem' or is Arteta too harsh?
The Arsenal Way's Tom Canton spoke to French football writer Jeremy Smith (JS) about the whole Guendouzi situation, on Monday afternoon's Arsenal Ligue 1 watch.
JS: "As you know I'm a Brighton fan so I feel almost that we're responsible for all of this. I don't think there was ever any disputing that he's a talent. It was always, sort of, about temperament I think. There still have been moments and there was a point where there were a lot of stories about how the Marseille dressing room had enough of his attitude.
"Walking around and passing judgment on other players as if he's a completely different class. That he expects better from them. That kind of thing. Again that's something you can look on the other side and say, well, he's got high standards of his teammates.
"There's nothing wrong with that. But, I guess the bottom line this season is that under the system Sampaoli plays, a lot goes through him. I think the match the other day when they were 2-0 down after 10 minutes. Arguably it was his will to win.
"That sort of changed the match. It might be that Marseille is the perfect fit. Where some of your hot heads like Balotelli's and people like that are either going to sink or swim and he's definitely swimming there. But as long as he does keep his head together.
"Wherever he ends up, £9 million is an absolute steal for him. He's better than a £9 million player. It's just what's between his ears. You know we are seeing it again with Aubameyang. I have no issues personally with Arteta taking a hard line. But, possibly in Guendouzi's case.
"I can't believe it just came down to the Brighton match."
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