In early December 2021, Thomas Partey in an interview with Sky Sports rated his season as a 4/10 at that point explaining how his inconsistency has caused him to struggle a bit with him needing to contribute more to the team. If there is any characteristic I appreciate in a human being, it’s self-awareness. Thomas telling the media and fans around the world that he has been shit compared to his world class standards lets us all know that we can be more honest in the way we live everyday. For example, I can admit that I care too much about this dumb sport and it is almost to the point of pathetic how I let this team’s performance affect, but credit to me for admitting that. Anyways, ever since Thomas gave the honest assessment of his season to that point, he has been close to flawless for us. His performances have had everything Arsenal fans expected from our £45 million mediocentro from Atlético Madrid. Since he made those comments to Sky Sports in early December, the only time Arsenal lost in the league was to Man City who we outplayed on the day with Partey putting in a MOTM performance and had me in tears how good he was on that day.
Thomas Partey at his absolute best is our calm, composed, regista in the center of the park. Turning away from pressure, pinging diagonal balls out wide, winning tackles, and breaking the lines with his passing or dribbling etc. are all skillsets that Thomas possess that makes me happy and not want to gauge my eyeballs out when watching Arsenal. This in-form Thomas Partey can all simply be summed up with one word: CONFIDENCE. Nothing more and nothing less. I’m a simple man, a center midfielder who can turn away from pressure to start attacks is a kink of mine. Thomas at his best for these past few months has helped us beat the press through body feints and a sense of poise we haven’t had in the center of the park in years as shown below:
Besides alleviating pressure from the opponent’s press, Thomas doesn’t get enough credit switching plays through his passing whether it be diagonal balls to switch play or breaking the lines, our inexperience up top makes it imperative Thomas is able to spring us forward in a creative manner as shown below:
As vital it is to create some creativity from the midfield offensively, Thomas this season has served as a formidable shield in front of the back 4. Granit Xhaka is a fine player on his day but is rather unathletic and immobile when compared to the best attacks in the Premier League which requires Thomas to be mindful to not shirk his defensive duties as shown below:
My favorite part of Thomas’ game is when he breaks the line through his passing or dribbling. Over the years when you think about past Arsenal center midfielders, we have not had one where they frequently are looking to break lines instead of the monotonous tempo or side to side passing. For example, Mikel Arteta and Thomas played similar roles for Arsenal and were admittedly had different athletic and skill profiles. However, Mikel was built of the Jorginho ilk which is fine for tempo and keeping us organized in possession but for me, Thomas’ ability to complete reverse break-the-line passes as well as beating men off the dribble is something I appreciate from an Arsenal center midfielder. One could argue that these forward break-the-line actions open up opportunities to Arsenal to lose possession but I simply do not give a fuck. What makes Pep’s team so dangerous over the years is their fearlessness in losing the ball when going forward. The reason for this is because when they lose the ball, the press the fuck out of you immediately to get the ball back and then try again to score. When Arsenal/Thomas lose the ball when trying to go forward, all I say to myself is “just get the ball back.” I’ll never get too bothered when Arsenal lose the ball going forward through risk taking if they subsequently work their asses off to get the ball back. Too many times in football, you’ll see teams afraid to lose the ball which stems wasteful side to side passing or unnecessary back passes.
In my previous post, I emphasized the importance of Nico Pépé in this run for Top 4 but you can argue the one player we absolutely can’t lose on this run and is irreplaceable as presently constructed is Thomas Partey. You could argue when we struggled in January, a the sole reason for our struggles can all be attributed to losing Thomas to AFCON and that red card in the 2nd leg against Liverpool in the League Cup as explained below:
- Arsenal (1) – Man City (2): Thomas put in a MOTM performance with Stuart Atwell absolutely fucking us with a Gabriel red card and a soft penalty on Xhaka.
- Arsenal (0) – Nottingham (1): Thomas in AFCON
- Arsenal (0) – Liverpool (0): Thomas in AFCON
- Arsenal (0) – Liverpool (2): Thomas arrived late from AFCON and came on as a sub in the 2nd half before Martin Atkinson got bored and fucked us. The idiot gave Thomas a rash red card which caused him to miss the next match.
- Arsenal (0) – Burnley (0): Thomas suspended
Just an absolutely vital player for us with no like for like or replacement for that matter. Mikel and Arsenal need to do their best to make sure Thomas stays fit and in-form in this final few months as our season most likely hinges on how Thomas performs. Next season, I’d like us to buy a proper 8 as Xhaka isn’t a natural fit in that role as you can see Mikel is trying to push him up the field in possession. Xhaka is fine but to get to where we want as a club, Arsenal need to go all in on a 8 that can be paired with Thomas such as Renato Sanches from Lille. We cam talk about center midfield transfers later. Regardless, we go as Thomas go, and if he continues his sublime form in the center of the park, there’s no way you won’t see me screaming the Champions League theme next season. Lettuce pray for 3 points tomorrow against Watford.
🎶 THE CHAMPIONNNSSSSSS 🎶
Featured Image credits: Premier League
GIF Credits: footxytal, opele bongo
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