Thomas Partey: Body Falling Apartey

[Geofranco]

100% agree.

This is also why we need someone to replace/compete with Xhaka. At the moment no one is close to replacing him in the first XI.

I'm also a little skeptical about Turner pushing Ramsdale, but atleast he's way more of a competitor to Ramsdale than Elneny is to Partey.

Tbh I still view Ramsdale as more of a second option quality keeper, but he is still young. Our defensive potential looks immense though, probably the most talented defense we have had in 15 years. Xhaka at this point should be more of a squad option. I felt like if we got raphinha, a CM better than Xhaka, a CDM to challenge Partey and a Giroud style CF, but a bit more agile, we would be a complete team with no major weaknesses. A big CF would give us a different look from Nketiah and Jesus. Our forward options in that 07/08 season was prob the most talented and complete we have had in years. Too bad injuries, ego and mismanagement ruined their potential.

 

[Fewtch]

Mitch was right. He's the weak link in midfield, needs binning asap

 

[Barry]

Carry on, I'm just here to watch

 

[Tell.]

Never know what you'll get from this guy, big season for him. Overall been very average.

Edit: Actually I'm out of this thread.

 

[Paperino]

mod edit: though I share your sentiment, no, you can't. Baits too many people into the convo.

Stick to his performances, please.

 

[Paperino]

Carry on, I'm just here to watch

Your tagline fits well in this thread according to different sources.

 

[A_G]

Your tagline fits well in this thread according to different sources.

How long have you been waiting to make that joke?

 

[Paperino]

How long have you been waiting to make that joke?

 

[14Henry]

100% agree.

This is also why we need someone to replace/compete with Xhaka. At the moment no one is close to replacing him in the first XI.

I'm also a little skeptical about Turner pushing Ramsdale, but atleast he's way more of a competitor to Ramsdale than Elneny is to Partey.

How can you say Turner is way more of a competitor to Ramsdale than Elneny is to Partey when Turner has never played in a decent league?

Mo has his limitations and we should have someone better. But he did OK at the end of last season in the toughest league in the world. Hes proven he can be anywhere between a 4-9 out of 10 in England. Turner hasn't shown anything so its hard to give any kind of judgement on him.

 

[blrgooner]

We need another CDM to challenge him. Just like we need another RW to challenge Saka. He can get sloppy at times and he has been injury prone since he got here, but when he is in form, he is a top 5 CDM in the world.

Agree that he is very good when on form. But he is also very sloppy very often. Which is why i don't understand how he is irreplaceable for us. He was quite poor for the first half yesterday and we went 4-0 up. I am quite sure Elneny or even Xhaka there would not have made any difference in there first half.
I agree with the general impression here that we need another midfielder, but frankly i would be happy if we bought someone like Tielemans who doesn't directly replace Partey.
What was very interesting yesterday was that Zinchenko was occupying positions next to Partey which was interesting and leads me to believe the we are looking for someone more attacking to replace Xhaka in his position yesterday and gave Xhaka competing with Partey in there midfield.

 

[MikeVinna]

Agree that he is very good when on form. But he is also very sloppy very often. Which is why i don't understand how he is irreplaceable for us. He was quite poor for the first half yesterday and we went 4-0 up. I am quite sure Elneny or even Xhaka there would not have made any difference in there first half.
I agree with the general impression here that we need another midfielder, but frankly i would be happy if we bought someone like Tielemans who doesn't directly replace Partey.
What was very interesting yesterday was that Zinchenko was occupying positions next to Partey which was interesting and leads me to believe the we are looking for someone more attacking to replace Xhaka in his position yesterday and gave Xhaka competing with Partey in there midfield.

I think we’re gambling on Partey’s fitness this season with Elneny as backup. Not ideal but I see a Xhaka replacement coming in first. Like you say Xhaka is moved up the pitch in possession and that’s simply not ideal because he doesn’t have the attacking skillset (regardless of what he’s shown in pre-season).

Edit: Or we use Fabio instead of Xhaka but that leaves us dangerously frail when required to defend.

 

[samspade]

Which is why i don't understand how he is irreplaceable for us.

Even though he’s sloppy at times, I think it’s just difficult finding people who can play the loan 6 role convincingly. You have to be good at a lot of different things and you really need a fully mature game in terms of off-the-ball-movement and anticipation.

So that’s vision, passing technique, ability to switch up tempo, press resistance, dribbling ability, defensive awareness/anticipation, tackling technique, off the ball movement, mobility. Definitely a high demand role.

 

[Tir Na Nog]

Yeah there's no profile in the squad that can do a fraction of what Partey does which is an incredibly difficult job at lone 6.

 

[2Smokeyy]

I think we’re gambling on Partey’s fitness this season with Elneny as backup. Not ideal but I see a Xhaka replacement coming in first. Like you say Xhaka is moved up the pitch in possession and that’s simply not ideal because he doesn’t have the attacking skillset (regardless of what he’s shown in pre-season).

Edit: Or we use Fabio instead of Xhaka but that leaves us dangerously frail when required to defend.

Xhaka’s role has changed nowadays, he doesn’t have much defensive responsibility as he used to do. It’s more pressing higher up the pitch to stop any momentum. This slight tweak in his responsibilities is why I’m pretty certain Fabio Vieira will most likely phase him out. My gut feeling is Vieira was bought to play with Ødegaard, Saka and Raphinha (had we signed him)/Martinelli.

I was reading this the other day:

Vieira’s role out of possession shouldn’t be underestimated as well. While most of his actions are focused on providing attacking opportunities, his defensive awareness helps the team off the ball too.

He averaged 4.46 recoveries per 90 last season (71.6% in the opposition half) and was often able to break the links between the opposing defence and midfield and block their build-up play. His contribution to pressing was more so a requirement for him to fit Porto’s high press intensity, but his commitment to gaining back possession and quickly transforming that into goalscoring chances is highly valued.

The team lost the ball in attack but his awareness helped him to quickly recover the ball and pass it to the attacker to create a goalscoring opportunity.​

His positional awareness helps in blocking the passing lanes and troubling the oppositions’ attacking efforts. He is more beneficial through his positioning and tactical intelligence, rather than his involvement in direct duels, which he does rarely compared to the other players in his position.

Our biggest concern at the current time is finding a TP replacement as over the course of the season with this situation + his injury record since he’s been at the club, it’s slightly worrying if we have to rely on Elneny/Lokonga for large parts of the season.

 

[Mrs Bergkamp]

I hope this guy can stay fit. There was a moment in the match when White gave a short pass to Saliba who was surrounded by three Sevilla players. Wonderful calm skill by Saliba and it was Partey who was there to collect his pass and start an attack. Guendouzi was the last deep midfielder who collected the ball from the defence and advanced without back passing. Partey has to stay fit or Lokonga has to step up or we have to buy. He's irreplaceable atm.

 

[Big Poppa]

With the players we have in the squad, he is not replacable.

He is upgradeable though.
Still has one too many casual sloppy moments in possession for a player in such a key role.
When he’s on it, he’s a monster.

 

[Jury]

Did a few things in the match which were jaw-dropping. The effortlessness with which he does stuff is scary. Mans had a torrid 12 months physically and now he’s got other stuff to deal with. I hope he gets the support he needs and better luck with injuries because he’s s special player of elite capability.

 

[BergMan]

Partey looked so nervous yesterday, as seen in that line up video @Riou shared. I worry for him. Hope he can overcome it and emerge more confident than ever.

 

[Tir Na Nog]

Press resistance is vital for a 6 in our team, they're gonna be targeted so it's vital they can get away from danger without panicking. I'm not convinced Elneny can replicate a fraction of what Partey does, so what we can do this season probably depends on Partey playing the vast majority of game.s

 

[blrgooner]

Even though he’s sloppy at times, I think it’s just difficult finding people who can play the loan 6 role convincingly. You have to be good at a lot of different things and you really need a fully mature game in terms of off-the-ball-movement and anticipation.

So that’s vision, passing technique, ability to switch up tempo, press resistance, dribbling ability, defensive awareness/anticipation, tackling technique, off the ball movement, mobility. Definitely a high demand role.

Definitely a very tough role. That is why people come up with their own subset of those set of skillset and think that that particular subset is "most important" for a no 6. its because its almost impossible to get an ideal player there.