We failed to beat Brighton on Saturday evening, drawing 1-1 with the Fabian Hurzeler-led side at the Amex Stadium.
Many of us Gooners feel we were robbed of a simple 1-0 win given the controversial penalty awarded to the Seagulls. William Saliba made contact with the ball before colliding with Joao Pedro, yet Anthony Taylor gave Brighton a penalty, which Pedro converted to equalise. The game ended in a draw, and we know draws at this stage are like losses.
Those arguing that refereeing played a big role in Arsenal dropping points have a valid point, but what about the Thomas Partey factor?
After picking up his 5th yellow card versus Brentford, Jurrien Timber was suspended for the trip to the Amex Stadium.
With Ben White still not back from injury (though speculated to be nearing his return), coach Mikel Arteta had no choice but to play Thomas Partey at right back.
The Ghana international didn’t have his best game at RB on Saturday. In fact, after his masterclass versus Brentford as a lone #6, many felt we missed him in midfield. His ability to play vertically would’ve been perfect against Brighton’s high line.
It’s about time White returned, and as crucial as Jurrien Timber is to Arteta’s game plan, he needs to stop picking up silly yellow cards for time-wasting.
It’s not rocket science—Thomas Partey at RB never works. With him there, we’ve only managed 1 win in 5 Premier League games.
One might say we only point out issues, not solutions. But Arteta needs to be bold—you have the best DM in your squad, Partey, and you play him at RB. Why? It’s time to look at the academy and groom someone for the RB position (to play when Timber and White aren’t available), if not try Declan Rice there. He used to be a central defender at Chelsea.
Daniel O
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I think thar Partey should be kept in midfield instead of this nonsense of playing him at RB.
I don’t get it, you are weakening our midfield and still weakening our RB position with moving Partey there.
Double edged sword. Partye is poor defensively generally so why move him to RB? He is good controlling that central midfield if you put someone like Rice next to him where he is not being relied upon as our main DM.. He is CB Midfielder / Box to Box.
I feel like Arteta is weakening our midfield while at the same time not strengthening our RB position by moving Partey around like this..
“It is time to discuss how Mikel Arteta is MISUSING Thomas Partey” would be a better title….in my humble opinion.
MA long decided not to rely on Partey for his midfield. It’s just that his experiment isn’t working out. Meanwhile, Partey is just worse than worsted in the name of “versatility” when results are showing we miss him in the middle of the park
The facts say, points with Partey in midfield average 2.2, with him at LB under 1.3 and we got 1 at Brighton. It doesn’t work, it weakens our midfield and is just incompetence.
We have had so many injuries this season, that’s why it’s unsurprising players are being used in different roles. This is the exact reason why Arteta likes versatile players.
That said, Partey at RB is the one change I loathe seeing. You take out your best midfielder this season by a country mile, weakening that area, to play him at RB, where he doesn’t have the ideal attributes to play that role e.g. overlapping runs, and recovery runs.
If this where last season, fair enough, because of the form of Rice and Odegaard back then, but they have both been poor this campaign, and Merino is around 2/3 months behind everyone because of his injury and no pre-season.
Given that Rice hasn’t been great, it baffles me as to why Arteta doesn’t instead use him at RB? He has the pace for recovery runs, for overlapping, fantastic engine, and is outstanding at crossing.
We lose too much without Partey in midfield, which also results in a disjointed, hybrid RB role.
The only reason I can think as to why Arteta keeps doing this is that Partey keeps performing very well at RB. However, his excellent individual performances are clearly blinding Arteta from the damage it does to the team on the whole.
Very well said. Agree 110%
If Timber’s available for tonight’s game, then hopefully Partey can play in his best position.
Against that Newcastle midfield, were going to need him and Rice to be at it tonight, or I fear for us to be honest.
It should be said that Partey played at right back for Athletico Madrid on numerous occasions before he moved to Arsenal.He is clearly more effective in midfield, but with the suspension of Timber, and the injuries to White and Tomi,I can appreciate why Arteta considered TP as the best viable option for the RB position.
God bless you@ Grandad,
As much as I would prefer Pathey in midfield 100%, in the absence of Tomi, Ben and Timber what better option does the coach have?
Before we get critical, if you are in Arteta’s shoe wanting result can any fan tell me other player apart from Pathey you can recommend for right back at the moment?. It’s no one’s fault our 3 quality right backs are injured. Let’s hope Timber would be available for tonight match
Sylva,
Simple solution.
Saliba right back.
Gabriel and Calafiori Centre backs.
Tierney or Lewis Skelly at left back.
Simples!.😉👍
@Derek that’s why you are not a football coach bros😁
Three left footed CB would leave the team without balance.
Sylvia they are not right backs but centre halves squeezed into that position.
Watching Partey running near the opposition corner post and his pathetic effort at putting in a cross during the final minutes against Brighton was a painful reminder that he was a square peg in a round hole and simply does not have the required skills or athleticism to play as a wingback. I understand that we were undermanned but again, why have so many centre halves been brought to the club.
The frustrating thing is we had 3 fullbacks on the bench
Kieran Tierney has played RB for Scotland but I feel Arteta would rather play with 10 men than do that. Heaven forbid we play an actual fullback at fullback and whilst the thought of a left-footed player at RB makes me do a sick in my mouth it is no different to Timber or Tomiyasu filling in at LB.
Just another example of MA mis-using the players at his disposal. This, for me, is what I find most irritating. I can forgive the crappy style of play, I can forgive taking a chance on players other managers and fans have written off, but it’s this constant refusal to do basic common sense things have get me screaming at the telly.
For example, we have Tierney, Lewis-Skelly, and Calafiori as pure LBs, plus Timber and Tomiyasu, so there is absolutely no requirement to play Zinchenko there unless all of those other names are unavailable. This would effectively provide us with another left-sided creative midfielder who could play alongside Partey or Rice, further reducing the need to use Jorginho who is now so slow his old self is catching up with him.
I understand the younger Nwaneri brother is a RB…
Using Partey as a QB is abuse of the player. The article claims Arteta had no option but to deploy him there, and that’s not true. There’s MLS and Kiwieor to fill in at the back rather than weakening the whole defence from MF. Much as it’s hard for some to accept, Partey is ireplaceable in his position. His impact on how the team performs is deliberately under played. This article talks about the number of games lost while at RB (4 / 5), but deliberately omits the staggering wins each time he plays No:6, protecting the defence and supplying balls in all directions forward. Neither Merino nor Jorghino can match him there.
At the end of the season PArtey will leave this club and Saliba should leave as well .
MA is too rigid. He has many defenders and can play 343 but he is to afraid to lose.