About Hugo Greenhalgh

Hugo is co-founder and editor of The False Nine and a contributor to When Saturday Comes, In Bed With Maradona, Late Tackle and the Arsenal Collective. He can be found following his favourite clubs: Arsenal and Dulwich Hamlet.

Matteo Guendouzi’s imperious derby display shows why he is undroppable at Arsenal

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TFN Editor Hugo Greenhalgh on Matteo Guendouzi’s brilliant performance against Tottenham Hotspur…

Sunday gave the world another thrilling North London Derby. In what is fast becoming one of the most entertaining fixtures in world football, it was hard to think of a player at the Emirates yesterday who for reasons good or bad, did not have some sort of an impact on the final result.

It was the 20-year-old with curly hair and the infectious smile who was perhaps the most influential of all. Matteo Guendouzi continues to ooze an impressive combination of quality and maturity beyond his years, and his assist for Arsenal’s equaliser was no less than his performance deserved.

While Granit Xhaka, supposedly a figure of authority and the man entrusted with armband by Unai Emery, looked like a fish out of water and a calamity waiting to happen, Guendouzi showed poise and purpose in the midfield. Xhaka gave away seven fouls, including the rash challenge on Son for Spurs’ penalty which allowed them to affirm their stake in the game. Meanwhile Guendouzi rarely ever went to ground; it’s more his style to make a standing challenge, win back the ball and look to play the pass.

Dressing rooms at any level are often divided along boundaries of experience. Elder statesman command respect and will not always be inclined to fraternise with younger players. Guendouzi’s confidence and attitude means he can cross those barriers. Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, two players at the top of the pile at Arsenal, who can count scores of career appearances and goals to their names, both see Guendouzi as an equal rather than just a junior member of the squad.

They are Emery’s lieutenants and their opinions count for a lot. When you watch Guendouzi put in a performance like he did yesterday, working alongside seasoned players and delivering the kind of service he did, it speaks of a deeper trust and of teammates acting on the same wavelength.

Still so fresh into his senior playing career, former coaches speak of Guendouzi’s hunger and his desire for self-improvement. “He loves football, he eats football, drinks football sleeps football,” Sylvain Ripoll, his manager at Lorient, said last year. For Emery, who preaches the importance of the training ground and of players who do their homework, he must be a dream to work with. “This year he’s starting to give us one step more tactically with the ball. He gives us a lot of control”, the Spaniard said after yesterday’s game.

There is something reassuring about watching a precocious, young French footballer breaking through at Arsenal that – inevitably – harks back to the Wenger era and there are obvious parallels with past players. Lucas Torreira may have been the recipient of Patrick Vieira’s chant, but it is Guendouzi who is now carrying the mantle of being Arsenal’s most effective midfielder. He is undroppable.

Guendouzi plays with a touch of class and a passing range reminiscent of Vieira in his pomp, but he also shares his leadership qualities. Remember his debut against Manchester City on the opening day of last season, when Emery decided to throw him in at the deep end? It was a baptism of fire against the Champions – both for player and manager – but Guendouzi’s confidence shone through.

He was never afraid to ask for the ball, or to attempt something ambitious because of his faith in his own ability. He seems to tackle every game with unfazed determination, as if he does not care whether he is playing against Ligue 2 relegation fodder or Pep Guardiola’s City. 50 odd appearances on for Arsenal and that same drive has remained a constant feature of his displays.

That’s why we shouldn’t call this a “coming of age” performance. The most exciting thing about Guendouzi is that this wasn’t unexpected. Anyone who watched the young Frenchman last season – or even just in Arsenal’s other games so far this year – will have known he had this level of tenacity up his sleeve. He is already so far along in development, it’s almost irrelevant to talk about age.

With the regrettable exit of Aaron Ramsey this summer and the ongoing angst around what Granit Xhaka actually brings to the table, Arsenal are crying out for a man to marshall their midfield. For the time being, no one looks more capable than Matteo Guendouzi.

@HugoGreenhalgh@The_False_Nine

 

Hector Bellerin and football’s tolerance problem

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TFN Editor Hugo Greenhalgh tackles one of football’s uncomfortable home truths…

There was a depressing air of familiarity in some of the responses to Hector Bellerin’s recent appearance at London Fashion Week. The Arsenal defender was photographed in the front row of the event, wearing something that looked a little like a dressing gown, with a pair of Gucci slippers. Rather than simply acknowledging a young footballer might want to do something interesting in the capital on a rare evening out, some publications cut a more vicious tone.

Commenting on Bellerin’s outfit, The Sportsman tweeted, “Get him in the bin, shocking that”. Scottish site Talking Baws wrote, “his latest outing saw him arrive in WOMEN’S pyjamas” (the emphasis is theirs). Others tweeted “She’s lost the fucking plot” and “What a twat”.

What is it that the football community finds so offensive about a confident, cosmopolitan young man enjoying himself? The insinuation here is pretty obvious. In wearing clothes that are a little ostentatious and more flamboyant than the average footballer or fan’s, Bellerin is seen to have crossed the threshold of what is considered acceptable masculinity. Between the lines, they’re saying: it’s not straight, ergo he’s gay. Continue reading

British footballer Robin Shroot making strides in Norway

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This interview was originally published in April 2015 for Moresport

Robin Shroot’s career in England was stalling, and he knew it. In any profession, it’s important to keep testing yourself and improving your skills, even if that means a change in direction. Shroot was earning a comfortable salary at Stevenage but internal politics and managerial changes left him out of the side and in search of a new challenge. He found it in the most unlikely of locations: western Norway.

“I was deemed surplus to requirements at Stevenage. I think I just obviously wasn’t the manager’s cup of tea which was fair enough”, Shroot reflects. “I trained with the kids for six months”. At 26 years-old, he felt he’d reached a crossroads in his career and was desperate to play for a club with a more technical approach to the game.

Faced with several unappealing loan moves, Shroot decided instead to cancel his contract and go it alone. Having made one brave decision, he took another and cast his eye further afield in an attempt to fulfil a lifelong ambition of playing abroad. “The opportunity came up to go to Sarpsborg, Brian Deane’s club. I went there for a week and it was great”, he recalls of his first experience in Norway. Deane and his assistant Ian Burchnall, who is now at Viking Stavanger, were a huge help and he took to his new environment immediately. “It was really refreshing to experience a new football culture and I really enjoyed it.” Continue reading

On not watching football and (un)following Arsenal

TFN Editor Hugo Greenhalgh discusses his relationship with football since moving to America and (un)following Arsenal…

A humorous tweet was doing the rounds this week on Arsenal Twitter. The official account tweeted that it was only one week until domestic football resumed to which one fan responded, “Can you make it 2 I’m quite enjoying myself at the moment”.

A few days later, I found myself saying something similar. Catching up with a friend back in England, we started to talk about what we were looking forward to this summer. I replied, “the football season being over.”

Following Arsenal from any corner of the globe in 2017 has quickly turned into an abject misery. The season peaked in September with a 3-0 victory over Chelsea. The losers that day responded by changing their system and look set to clinch the title in emphatic manner; Arsenal, the winners, find themselves in familiar surroundings – out of the Champions League and clamouring to get back into the top four. The love affair with Alexis Sanchez is over; the closest I’ll likely get to a Chilean red next season will come in a glass bottle. Continue reading

Claudio Ranieri and the sunk cost fallacy

TFN Editor Hugo Greenhalgh on the sad reality of Claudio Ranieri’s sacking…

A few weeks, a group of friends and I were discussing the “sunk cost fallacy”. The theory is as follows: once a cost is “sunk” (ie. it cannot be recovered), we should never make a decision based on what has already been invested. For example, there is no point persevering with a bad film if you aren’t enjoying it – better to forget the time you’ve already wasted and watch something else. This kind of thinking can also apply to our personal lives; if a relationship is no longer enjoyable and run its course, we shouldn’t let the emotions we put in in the past affect the future. Continue reading

Kylian Mbappe and the ‘Wonder of Youth’

TFN Editor Hugo Greenhalgh marvels at a prodigious striker and explains why young footballers are one of the game’s greatest charms…

Watching Wednesday night’s game between Manchester City and Monaco – a sure contender for one of the best of the season – it was hard not to enjoy a breakout performance from 18-year-old striker Kylian Mbappe. Within the first 10 minutes, the young Frenchman was already terrorizing the City defence and he capped off a great first half display with a goal, a cool half-volley past Willy Caballero.

This was Mbappe’s first Champions League start and there is something very special about watching a young player rise to the occasion so capably. Putting partisanship aside, the emergence of any youngster who is ready to perform on Europe’s grand stage is a sight to be reveled in. Mbappe has already had a remarkable season, becoming the youngest player to score a hat-trick in Ligue 1 earlier this month. Continue reading

‘Do I Not Like That’ – Remembering Graham Taylor

To celebrate the life of the late Graham Taylor, TFN editor Hugo Greenhalgh reflects on the documentary that cemented his legacy as a genuine and honest football man…

In the early 1990s, Channel 4 began filming a ‘fly-on-the-wall’ documentary about the England football team’s qualifying campaign for the 1994 World Cup.

The film was unique, offering unprecedented access inside the England camp that would be almost unimaginable today. Yet it also left a comedy legacy seen in characters like David Brent, Alan Partridge and most potently, Mike Bassett. This is the story of Do I Not Like That and it is one of the most understatedly brilliant in sport.

The tragic protagonist of the film is England manager Graham Taylor. After successful spells at the helm of Watford and Aston Villa, Taylor took the job in 1990, after Sir Bobby Robson had taken the Three Lions to the semi-finals. However, England’s early exit at Euro 1992 saw press criticism mount, particularly from The Sun who gave Taylor the flattering nickname of ‘Turnip’. Continue reading