In a surprising tactical adjustment during Arsenal’s match against Nottingham Forest yesterday, Mikel Arteta positioned Thomas Partey as a right-back.
Recognised as one of the Premier League’s premier defensive midfielders, Partey has consistently excelled in that capacity since his arrival at Arsenal.
Nonetheless, Arteta’s decision saw Partey tasked with the right-back role, a departure from the norm, as Ben White held central defensive duties and Jurrien Timber assumed the left-back position.
Throughout the match, Partey frequently migrated into the midfield, prompting scepticism from Micah Richards about his aptitude for that particular role.
He said on the BBC:
“For me, it just didn’t work how they wanted.
“16 touches [in the first 13 minutes] on the right, but for the rest of the game, he’s in midfield. And one concern I do have is defensively, if you’re going to play in that position, you’re going to get isolated in these areas. One versus one. And has he got the capability to deal with that situation? We know that in midfield, but against better teams, they’re going to get punished.
“On the ball, Partey was fantastic. But in terms of the fluidity of the team, I’m not sure it worked today.”
Just Arsenal Opinion
Partey is one of the best midfielders in our squad and, strangely, Arteta used him as a right-back in that game.
However, Arteta will likely have trialled him and some other players in that position in training before arriving at the decision.
We trust the manager to make the right choice for as long as possible because he has shown we have nothing to worry about.
I agree.
He does not have the pace to play there and Forest, who are not the paciest of teams took advantage of that for their undeserved goal.
I do like the concept of a full back moving up and occupying the midfield area as it allows us to dominate the midfield.
Timber could take that position with Zinchenko occupying the same position on the left.
Last season, it was Zinchenko-Xhaka Inverted leftback Logjam which cost us the Title. 😕
This is because both Can’t defend, got confused with their Roles, went up High in the Field and we were Punished on the Counter against West Ham, S’ton and Man City. 😒
This season, it is now a Inverted Right back Conundrum.
Can’t understand This Arteta Dude,as a coach.😌🤦
Disaster in the making if this inverted business continues this coming season.
I don’t understand why Arteta can’t stick with the tried and tested.
Its tough to understand the vision behind it all. He should be carefull, teams will look to exploit this crazy idea. He should keep it simple and stop trying to do too much. He will have no one to blame but himself if it goes wrong.
Stop P1££1ng around play Partey and Rice like Vierra and Petit. Stop wasting talent when you have it.