Arsenal star Thomas Partey has been absent for the majority of the season, and Mikel Arteta has now revealed that his specific tactical plans for him have been derailed.
Partey will now miss the African Cup Of Nations with injury, and has made just five appearances all season.
After starting in midfield against Manchester City in the Community Shield, Arteta sprung a surprise as Partey played as an inverted right-back in the opening few games of the Premier League season.
The Ghanaian then picked up an injury, before briefly returning to help beat Man City off the bench in October, but has not been seen since.
Mikel Arteta laments Thomas Partey injury
Speaking via The Telegraph ahead of an FA Cup weekend which will see Arsenal take on Liverpool at the Emirates, Arteta claimed that he had plans to evolve Arsenal as a team with Partey playing a big part.
“It was a huge blow, as well, losing Thomas,” he stated.
“We had other plans as well with him, to become very versatile and unpredictable in our way of playing. We have not had them [Partey and Jurrien Timber] and that is difficult.”
Arsenal could have evolved tactically with Thomas Partey
Arsenal’s struggles in recent weeks have partly come as a result of their attack becoming too predictable, with just one goal in the last two games.
Oleksandr Zinchenko was poor against West Ham, then was absent against Fulham with injury, and having Partey in the lineup could have made a big difference in both games.
The role he played at the start of the season saw him replicate Zinchenko’s full-back role, which sees him tuck into midfield when in possession, and with the Ukrainian absent, this was a role he could have played against Fulham.
Arteta’s comments indicate that he wanted to make Arsenal’s lineups and tactical style more unpredictable, which could have seen Partey line up in several different positions to assist both the defence and midfield, and to make Arsenal harder to defend against.
Partey’s injury issues have meant that Juventus are no longer interested in signing him in the January window, and Arsenal have also been linked with midfielders including Douglas Luiz and Martin Zubimendi as they may no longer be keen to rely on such an injury-prone player.
Arsenal have clearly missed Partey for both his quality and his ability to make Arsenal more tactically versatile, and Arteta will now have to find an internal solution to help fix their poor recent run of performances.
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