Arsenal: 3 vital tasks for Thomas Partey after injury return

How many times have supporters been in this position? It feels like a monthly occurrence in which the fate of Arsenal suddenly rests in the palms of Thomas Partey as he returns from some newly discovered injury.

Last season was filled with such instances: ‘judge us when Partey is backp’, ‘Arteta can’t do anything without his best midfielder’.

Ahead of facing Norwich on Saturday, the same narrative has been rewritten. After looking annoyingly sharp and fit throughout pre-season, Ruben [insert word of choice] Loftus-Cheek decided to put a dampener on all of that.

After a stop-start campaign in which the Ghanaian was only able to hit his full stride on a handful of occasions, him being in north London for a full pre-season was hoped to be the platform for him to explode onto the Premier League.

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Arsenal: 3 vital tasks for Thomas Partey to fulfill when he returns from injury – hopefully in time for Norwich in the Premier League

Instead he’s missed four games with an ankle problem and the three of those that were league clashes were all fairly horrendous.

Seeing him back in training in the week building up to the clash with the Canaries offer huge reassurance, although given it will have been six weeks since he had any match practice the game may come too soon for him.

How he gets on during the week will determine that and whether it’s Saturday or the following clash with Burnley when he’s back in action, a lot rests on his shoulders.

Arsenal need a big season from the 28-year-old and his new recruits. He’s in the supposed ‘prime’ of his career and also being one of the senior members of this squad it’s up to him to step up to the plate.

1. Add Verticality With Martin Odegaard

Such was the state of last season that we look back on that ‘second half against West Ham’ as one of the more enjoyable periods across the entire campaign.

Eventually drawing the game 3-3, the 45 minutes after the break were, in fairness, great to watch. Looking for reasons as to why it was to fluid, aggressive and penetrative, there are two names to remember: Odegaard and Partey.

Partey made multiple ball recoveries during the game but what stood out most of all was how often he found Odegaard in between the lines with a series of splitting through passes.

This verticality brought variance to how Arsenal attacked and, most importantly of all, got the team from one end of the pitch to the next with a tempo that has abandoned the Emirates Stadium turf for far too long – unless, that is, when it comes from someone not in red and white.

What partnership Partey and Odegaard can forge will be crucial to the pace of Arsenal’s build-up and the quality of their chance creation. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is someone who wants the ball fed in behind and playing through the thirds in fewer passes will open up more inviting angles for him.

How quickly Partey clicks with the Norwegian will depend on his fitness but the sooner these two start adding penetration through central areas the sooner Arsenal can get their forwards into positions of actual threat.