3 reasons why Mikel Arteta must make use of Kieran Tierney
- Tierney now available to play
- Left footed left back needed
- Too many playing out of position
2. Puts Partey back in natural position
With Timber moving over to left back and Ben White out with an injury, Thomas Partey has been switched to right back by Mikel Arteta. This has stopped the Ghanaian playing his best football.
He has done a good job in defence but it is clear to see his best position is in midfield. Partey is so good at finding space and playing passes that can completely break apart opponents. However, his move to right back has thwarted him from doing this.
When playing in central midfield, Partey has completed 479 passes out of an attempted 540 (88.7% accuracy) with 46 of those being progressive. At right back, the Ghanaian has made 395 accurate passes out of 452 (87.38% accuracy). Again, the differences are small but it's clear that Partey works best when playing in midfield.
Restrained to a defensive role, Partey has been allowed very little chance to help out in attack other than making his occasional run on the overlap. With Jorginho being the much slower alternative in the midfield, Tierney coming into the side would allow Partey to return to his natural position and be back to his best.
Continued on next slide...