Arsenal: 3 important jobs for Thomas Partey this season

What do Arsenal have to cling onto this season? The acknowledgement of the work done by Mikel Arteta and his coaching staff in September potentially signalling a change in fortunes? The same two academy stars who carried the team last season?

At present it is the current five game unbeaten run in all competitions that is where the hopes lies. There has been an improvement in performances – in the sense that they haven’t been defeats, most of all – and with further ‘winnable’ fixtures to come there is some optimism.

Crystal Palace, Aston Villa, Leeds (Carabao Cup), Leicester City, and Watford are next up on the calendar with four of those five matches on home soil. That’s a seriously inviting opportunity to continue putting points on the board to keep in touch with, if not overtake, fellow top six rivals.

Of course, it won’t be easy. Watching the Brighton performance was the timely reminder needed after beating Tottenham that everything wasn’t suddenly rosy. Brighton were missing their two primary central midfielders, among others. Arsenal just didn’t have Granit Xhaka.

3 important jobs for Thomas Partey this season as the Ghanaian midfielder takes centre stage for Arsenal under Arteta following Xhaka’s injury

And they were comfortably second best.

What they did have in the centre of the park was Thomas Partey. Someone who firmly features as one of the hooks for supporters to hang their hats on. He is frighteningly important to this team. Especially with Xhaka out.

So him producing a bizarrely out of character performance on the south coast after a stirring display against Spurs was slightly concerning. Arsenal need him to be brilliant every week. He certainly was not last time out.

But the season is long and as Arsenal look to the closest person they’ve come to replacing a ‘certain someone’ that they have not, and likely never will, replace, what are the tasks laid out before Partey for this season?

Three spring to mind.

1. Be a Leader On and Off the Pitch

The team that started in the 0-0 draw with Brighton had an average age of 24.1. Without Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang it was considerably lower.

That’s very young. There were only three players on the pitch over the age of 24: Partey, Kieran Tierney, and the skipper.

With Granit Xhaka not in the frame for the rest of 2021, other members of this squad need to step up and show leadership on and off the pitch. Looking at a Champions League level 28-year-old midfielder, he’s got to be one of them.

He’s surrounded by young players and with Aubameyang not the archetypal ‘leader’ he now must shoulder much of the burden both on the pitch and at the training ground. He has Martin Odegaard alongside him who has demonstrated such qualities but being the calibre of player he is and operating in a crucial area of the pitch, it’s time he stepped up.

It’s not fully known what he’s like at London Colney, whether he is shy or outgoing. In any case, for a member of the starting lineup who is paramount to how Arsenal build their play and protect their backline, now is the time to see Partey be less Gilberto Silva and more Patrick Vieira.

Continued…

2. Stay Fit for as Long as Feasibly Possible

Thomas Partey can’t get injured. He simply can not repeat what has happened multiple times and seen him miss 21 matches for Arsenal since joining just over a year ago.

With Xhaka out for three months all it takes is one Partey injury to make this team look a whole lot different. Worryingly weakened.

Does he manage his body well? For someone who spent many years under Diego Simeone and is widely regarded as a consummate professional, you certainly think so. Unfortunately that hasn’t paid dividends with the array of knocks and setback he’s suffered in north London.

Nobody wants him to take his foot off the gas, either. Generally speaking, operating in that way is how more injuries occur. Hesitation is never beneficial in football. Partey just hasn’t had the rub of the green.

In asking to play 60 minutes as he did against AFC Wimbledon it has shown that he working hard to get the minutes his body needs to be at his highest level. Proactive steps like that go a long way. As a player at the peak of his powers without European football to play in there is no reason he shouldn’t be featuring in near enough every Premier League fixture this season.

Heavens knows that Arsenal need him to. A player imperative to this team as him has to be fit. There is no suitable Plan B if not. As encouraging as the signs are for Albert Sambi Lokonga are, he just is not Partey.

Manage the workload, manage your body and do every additional regime possible to keep fitness at a premium. Then, maybe, Arsenal can talk about having a successful season.

Partey missed 14 league games last term and Arsenal missed out on the top four by six points (possible hint included).

Continued…

3. Stop Shooting From Miles Out

Or, alternatively, stop being so **** at it and score a few goals.

The stats make for gloriously atrocious viewing: Partey has the highest shot usage rate for Arsenal players while he is on the pitch, taking 26% of the shots. With that 26% he has produced just 8% of the team’s expected goals. He averages 0.04 xG per shot.

Having a player take a high volume of long shots is totally fine. For years Arsenal fans bemoaned the unwillingness of the team to do exactly that.

However, preferably those efforts at goal come from someone with a track record of making them count. At least hitting the target would be nice.

Partey does not do this.

What is obvious is that he’s desperate for his first goal. So are (were) the fans. Whatever millisecond of thought comes into his head just as the trigger is about to be pulled must be putting him off. But is it coming anytime soon? You’d argue not having seen his track record.

So either spend hours with Steve Round and Mohamed Elneny after training or just stop shooting from miles out. One or the other. Please, Thomas.

Check out some bonus content right here, where Ross Kennerley talks to Sporticos Editor-in-Chief Craig Hanson about all things Arsenal, the glory days, AFTV, social media fandom and much more!