‘This is amazing’: Arsenal star Partey shares key difference between Arteta and Simeone

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Arsenal star Thomas Partey has revealed the difference he has noticed between Mikel Arteta and his former boss Diego Simeone.

The Ghanaian was one of Atletico Madrid’s most important players during his time there. His role there was very specific, and he thrived doing what he did under Simeone at the Spanish capital.

At Arsenal, Partey’s role is a lot different. Arteta has given him the freedom to express himself in the attacking third, and the midfielder has labelled the Gunners boss’ system as amazing compared to Simeone’s at Atleti.

He told Stadium Astro: “Mikel is helping me a lot. At Atletico, I played in a similar position. The system is not the same back there, you have to be well-positioned to be able to go around your marker, and here Mikel is helping a lot because I remember, he said you don’t have to be in the same line and opposite the defender.

“You have time to be able to do whatever you want and this is amazing. It’s just as important, you need to keep it in mind and whenever your teammates have the ball, you know who you are in line with, who you are not in line with and this is helping me a lot.

“I think both of them have the same mentality, which is winning. Both of them want to be in control, you always have the chance to create in behind and the difference is we don’t give chances, we press high.

“We always do a high press, from the first minute to the last minute, and in Atletico sometimes you have to wait for the opposition to move around you and you hit them on the counter.”

Arteta’s system will bring the best out of Partey

Partey was excellent in his role at Atletico Madrid. He was asked to protect the backline and start counter-attacks from a deeper role. He excelled doing that, but there is a lot more he can offer.

The Ghanaian is excellent with the ball at his feet. He has the ability to drive into the opposition third and have a real impact there. That is an excellent asset for any team, and Arsenal are lucky he can offer us that.

Arteta has shown that he is willing to give Partey all the freedom he needs. That will make him a very dangerous player – more so than he was under Simeone at Atletico Madrid.