Thomas Partey’s first two games in the Premier League haven’t gone as well as he would have wanted. The Ghanaian made his debut off the bench in Arsenal’s defeat against Manchester City after the international break.
His first start in the league came at the Emirates against Leicester City on Sunday, and sadly for him, that ended in defeat as well. Partey was tipped by many to fill the void that Arsenal have had in midfield since Patrick Vieira’s departure.
The former Atletico Madrid man is a complete midfielder. He can shield the backline, receive possession under pressure and can also start attacks from a deeper position. Arsenal fans were hoping that his addition would make them a more attacking side, but it wasn’t the case on Sunday.
The Gunners looked flat against the Foxes in the second half. Their build up from the back was slow and the way they recycled possession made them predictable and easy for Leicester to defend.
A video of Arsenal recycling possession has now emerged on social media. Shkodran Mustafi received the ball near the halfway line and the German ignored a simple pass to Partey.
He moved the ball onto Gabriel and the Brazilian also ignored a pass to the Ghanaian which left the new Gunners midfielder extremely frustrated.
This wasn’t the only time that happened. Arsenal’s defenders made it a point to pass the ball to Xhaka instead of Partey. That made the Gunners extremely predictable, and they created next to nothing as a result.
According to Opta’s Orbinho, Xhaka made 98 passes compared to Partey’s 54. The Swiss midfielder passed the ball to Gabriel 35 times and received the ball from the Brazilian on 24 occasions. But, the duo passed the ball to the Ghanaian just eight times each throughout the game.
This could well have been a part of Arteta’s plan, but it clearly didn’t work. Arsenal fans were left frustrated by Partey not receiving the ball enough. Some of them took to Twitter to have their say on the situation.
Here’s how a few of them reacted to the video
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