Arsenal manager Unai Emery has singled out the performances of young midfield duo Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi as a positive from the 3-1 defeat to Manchester City on Sunday.
The Gunners were all over the place at the back in a disappointing performance, having initially made a decent start and posed problems for City, who were also not at their best after just losing 2-1 to Newcastle a few days earlier.
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Still, Arsenal have not lost their grip on a top four spot as Emery faces missing out on a key target for his first season at the Emirates Stadium since replacing Arsene Wenger last summer.
The Spanish tactician was, however, keen to praise the performance of Torreira and Guendouzi in the middle of the park, with the pair truly proving revelations since joining the club.
Neither arrived as particularly big names, but can now genuinely claim to be among Arsenal’s most consistent performers this season and among the finest young players in the world in that position.
It will likely take time for Emery to fix this Arsenal squad after inheriting a tough job from Wenger, but with those two, he has two extremely bright prospects to build around for the future.
If Sven Mislintat was indeed responsible for recruiting Guendouzi and Torreira, what a great shame that he’s going
— Alan Smith (@9smudge) February 3, 2019
‘I’m very happy with Matteo Guendouzi and Lucas Torreira’s performances today,’ Emery said after the game, as quoted by the Metro.
‘But they also need time to improve and to take confidence, to take experience for their future here.
‘With the result, it’s not easy to say that, but there are some positives that we can look at from our players today.’