Declan Rice & Thomas Partey give Arsenal what Arsene Wenger tried for years to recreate

Arsenal finally have the powerful midfield partnership Arsene Wenger chased in vain for years.

There's a reason Declan Rice was visibly furious with his midfield mate Thomas Partey for picking up a needless booking against Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League. The yellow card ruled Partey out of the semi-final first leg against Paris Saint-Germain, depriving Arsenal of the twin engine in the middle of the park key to the success of the team on the continent this season.

It's taken roughly 20 years, but the Gunners finally have the sort of midfield duo that defined their dominance during the glory days of Arsene Wenger's reign. All Mikel Arteta needed was £150m in transfer fees and five seasons' worth of patience, but he's erected something Wenger tried in vain to rebuild.

One of the great contradictions about Wenger was how for all his footballing purity, for all the free-flowing, free-form jazz played on the pitch by astute technicians and artful improvisors, his biggest triumphs were built on power in midfield.

Think Patrick Vieira and Emmanuel Petit. Vieria and Parlour, PV4 and Edu, the skipper and Gilberto Silva. Wenger's best teams travelled with two-man terriers able to scrap for the ball and control the flow of possession.

When that dynamic broke up, not at all coincidentally (honest) when Vieira was sold to Juventus in 2005, Wenger's empire showed the first cracks in its foundation. Try as he might, the great man simply couldn't replicate the same strength in the key area of subsequent squads.

Wenger never rebuilt the old foundations

Attempts to find the new Vieira died on the vine when the player who most closely resembled the powerhouse, Abou Diaby, was cut down by the kind of horror tackle referees seemed to think was an acceptable way to stop Wenger's footballing artisans.

Diaby was never the same after a brutal trip to Sunderland in 2006, while Denilson flattered to deceive as another Gilberto in the making. The younger Brazilian had the technique and positional nous to be the 'invisible wall' Wenger sought, but Denilson lacked the discipline and professionalism to turn potential into something more.

Wenger eventually tired of Denilson's half-hearted turns, just as he did with Song. The latter was as physical as any enforcer would need to be, but his footballing temperament was better served in forward areas.

Like Denilson and so many others from the ill-fated days of 'Project Youth', Song was also afflicted with a sense of stardom he hardly merited. Reality bit when he got his move to Barcelona in 2012 and promptly sank, almost without a trace.

Wenger tried to rebuild, this time with the trusty qualities of experience and some scrappy hustle. Arteta and Mathieu Flamini provided those things, but neither were imposing enough athletically to track pace or compete muscle for muscle with stronger opponents.

He couldn't recreate the old magic, but Wenger knew his best teams could go anywhere in the world with the right strengh in the middle. It's a fact Arteta has embraced.

Declan Rice and Thomas Partey powering Arteta's team

News Arsenal want to hand Partey a new contract would have read like an extraordinary act of self-sabotage mere months ago. Now, the 31-year-old has made himself payable because of how well he's dovetailing with Rice.

The duo hit the high mark across the 5-1 aggregate thumping of Real. Partey (21/21) and Rice (25/26) "misplaced just one pass between them" during the 2-1 win in the second leg, according to OptaJoe's Harvey Downes.

Those numbers show the importance of the men in the middle to the controlled game Arteta wants his team to play. Aside from keeping the ball away from the opposition and supplying attacking talisman Bukayo Saka, Rice and Partey are midfield minders for skipper Martin Odegaard, the lone flair player in central areas for Arteta's iteration of The Arsenal.

Odegaard is free to hover in the grey areas between midfield and the forward line, simply waiting for his chance to thread passes between defenders. He doesn't need to scrap to get on the ball because it's usually already been won by one of the Gunners' premium water-carriers.

Rice and Partey work so well because of how they complement one another. Just as Wenger's best partnerships once did.

It's a misnoma Vieira was a defensive midfielder. He could play that game, but the towering engine-driver of 'The Invincibles' was at his best when getting on the ball, running with it or generally breaking from deep.

Vieira needed freedom to put his long strides to good use. Freedom more defensive-minded midfield partners like Petit and Gilberto afforded him.

Partey offers Rice the same licence to roam. It's an invitation the England man gleefully accepts, and Rice's running power has provided a man over in attacking areas at key moments this season. His ability to press high, knowing Partey is around on the cover, also ensures Arteta's men are rarely waiting long for a turnover in possession.

Rice is the main man, but Partey's more functional work is hardly less valuable. That value is why Arsenal would be wise to lean on newly-minted sporting director Andrea Berta to secure Partey's future:

"'According to well-placed sources, Berta's arrival as sporting director has provided an alternative outlook as to whether Partey could have a future beyond the end of the season.
Berta and Partey have a long-standing relationship having worked together at Atletico Madrid and it was Berta who sanctioned Partey's move to Arsenal for £45m in 2020.'"

BBC Sport's Sami Mokbel

There's still the looming spectre of Martin Zubimendi arriving from Real Sociedad in the summer, but when it comes to strength in midfield, Arteta seems to think Arsenal can't have too much of a good thing.

History indicates he has a point.

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