How Thomas Partey’s fitness boosts Arsenal’s title aspirations

In a league where having a good defensive midfielder is almost proportional to a good finisher, Arsenal’s medical team have been sweating over the fitness of Thomas Partey – especially in the last two seasons.

However, with Partey anchoring the midfield from the off in Saturday’s 2-0 triumph over Wolverhampton Wanderers, Arsenal will need an element of good fortune to ensure the 31-year-old Ghanaian goes through the season unscathed.

Mikel Arteta took the reins at Arsenal on December 20, 2019, after Unai Emery’s underwhelming stint with the Gunners, and Freddie Ljungberg’s brief interim spell.

The Spaniard was quick to accentuate players shirking responsibilities, amidst the club losing its sense of direction: “I want people to take responsibility for their jobs and I want people who deliver passion and energy in the football club. Anyone who doesn’t buy into this, or that has a negative effect or whatever, is not good enough for this environment or this culture”

The tone was clear, the vision was spelt out, and the onus was on Arteta to transform Arsenal into Wenger’s perennial title and top four contenders.

With the appointment came the mandate to shape a team after his vision. The arrivals of the first five players ( Pablo Mari, Cedric Soares, Alex Runarsson, Willian and Gabriel Maghalhes) sent a strong message across England about Arteta’s intent.

The 2020 Coronavirus pandemic, which significantly altered the lives of many, left its impact on football – with numerous changes taking place, including playing in empty stadiums, to the extension of the transfer window from its usual closure in August to October.

With the extension came the second wave of Arsenal signings as Arteta looked to lay down a marker.

Thomas Partey was scooped on deadline day ( October 5, 2020) from Atletico Madrid, after his £45m release clause was triggered, with Lucas Torreira going in the opposite direction on a season-long loan at Atletico Madrid.

“That’s the objective of the club and myself. We have to get back to where we belong,” Partey shared in the vision of manager Arteta and told the media after completing his move to north London. He made his Premier League bow after replacing Granit Xhaka after 83 minutes against Manchester City, with his late-bright cameo leaving Arsenal fans swooning over his potential.

He has since gone on to make 96 appearances for the Gunners in 4 seasons, missing 80 games for club and country in that period as a result of injuries, while he had missed a mere 7 games prior to his big-money move from Atletico Madrid.

But beyond his injuries, Thomas Partey is seen and described as the lynchpin that keeps Arsenal ticking.

No Partey, no party

Arsenal were on course, in the last two seasons, to clinch the Premier League until loads of mishaps in the second halves of the 2022-23 season and the 2023-24 season – which included Partey suffering injury setbacks – occurred.

In the latter of the two seasons (2023-24), Arsenal’s loss to former manager Unai Emery’s Aston Villa took the wind out of their sails.

An unlikely 2-0 loss in April against Villa was all Manchester City needed in the end, to be crowned champions by a two point margin.

However, prior to the defeat, Thomas Partey’s injury, somewhat, derailed the Gunners’ campaign. Partey missed 34 games in all competitions after picking up groin and hamstring injuries throughout the season, which culminated in 143 days on the sidelines.

Arsenal would then go on to really (to use common English colloquialism for succumbing to nerves), bottle the league. With an unblemished record against the traditional big six (including 6 wins and 4 draws across 10 games), Arsenal still managed to fall short; failing to put together a flawless streak in the run-in.

The 2023/24 “bottle job” was preceded by a woeful capitulation in the 2022-23 season — after spending 248 days at the summit of the Premier League, including being at the top as late as January 28.

Despite this, the Gunners saw the title slip out of their grasp; losing hold of an eight point title lead on Manchester City, albeit City constantly having a game or two in hand on them. Manchester City’s ever lurking presence saw them make up lost grounds on Arsenal to win their third successive Premier league trophy — same number as Arsenal since the Premier League’s inception in 1992.

City finished the 2022/23 season with 89 points, 5 ahead of Arsenal and 14 ahead of third-placed Manchester United; equalling the Red Devils’ feat of winning the title thrice on the trot.

The £105m move for Declan Rice from West Ham ahead of the 2023-24 season, together with Jurrien Timber leaving the Dutch capital (Amsterdam) for the English capital (London), and moving for cross city rivals (Chelsea) out of place forward, Havertz, was not enough to land Arsenal’s first league title since 2004.

The need for a calming and assured presence in midfield (what Partey brings) was lacking, although Jorginho deputized in Partey’s absence.

Partey’s key passes per game (0.8) in the 2022-23 season amongst Arsenal players, was only topped by Martin Ødegaard’s (2.1), and Granit Xhaka’s (1.3), which meant it would always be an enormous task for Jorginho (0.4) at Chelsea, to fill in and have the same impact in the 2023-24 season.

Additionally, his (2.1) tackles per game in the 2023-24 season, was the best amongst all Arsenal players and was only equalled by Rice’s impressive haul (2.1) for West Ham before joining Arsenal.

Therefore, Partey’s inability to get a consistent run under his belt, which saw him feature 14 times in the 2023-24 Premier League season, was indicative there were lots of questions to be answered (particularly in Arsenal’s midfield) than solutions provided with the incomings, as Granit Xhaka’s departure to Bayer Leverkusen further dented their title aspirations.

Partey fitness gives reinvigorated hope at title quest

Mikel Arteta, time without number, has had to pick his squad up after being beset by obstacles — Champions League Quarter-final elimination, and two runners up league finishes.

However, there’s a sanguine believe and hope at Arsenal that this might just be their year; twice coming close, twice falling short. Arsenal, this time around, are expected not to be within touching distance of securing the league, but making it theirs.

The Emirates hasn’t been bustling with transfer activities, which is in contrast to other top four rivals, and direct Premier League rivals Manchester City.

However, the permanent acquisition of David Raya, after a season long loan from Brentford, securing the services of Riccardo Calafiori, and having a fit Partey from the onset, should augur well for the future.

Arteta singled-out dynamism as a major priority for signing Partey 4 years ago, and has thus been deployed as a right back on numerous occasions in the past seasons.

Partey’s versatility means he should nail a starting berth in Arteta’s side, irrespective of the projected managerial tweak in system. If the first outing against Wolves is the blue print for subsequent games, then Arsenal are expected to set up in their much accustomed 4-3-3 formation.

Not much is expected to change in the middle of the park, with Partey being the defensive screen and Declan Rice operating as a box-to-box midfielder, while Martin Ødegaard takes up the attacking positions.

Partey’s injury woes is a real concern — spending ample time (405 days) in the treatment room since signing — and justifies Arsenal’s pursuit for Real Sociedad’s Mikel Merino.

The new season, based on the previous two, gives a new sense of belief and hope to Arsenal fans, which their medical team will play a huge part of. Arsenal’s fitness team and medics have sought to manage Partey’s recurring injuries carefully, with his gradual integration into the team from last season through till now.

The Ghanaian has scarcely reached the 30 appearance mark for the Gunners in a single Premier League campaign, with his 33 outings in the 2022-23 season the exception. Nonetheless, he is expected to hit those heights this season.

His ability to read the game, break up opposing attacks, coupled with his long passing range, as well as his tactical profiencies, could see a change in the dynasty of English football — first since the 2019-20 season.

By: Andrews Sefa Bamfo