The Gunners have had a positive tour, even though they managed to pick up just one win in their three fixtures on the other side of the pond.
Mikel Arteta would’ve ideally wanted to end the USA tour with a win over Liverpool late on Wednesday night, but unfortunately for him, Arsenal ended up on the losing side.
The Spaniard would’ve been frustrated with the result, just like he was annoyed with one of his players in the first half of the game.
Why Mikel Arteta was not happy with Thomas Partey during Arsenal vs Liverpool
Arsenal started with a midfield trio of Thomas Partey, Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz against Liverpool in Philadelphia.
The Ghanaian was tasked to play the holding role all on his own, which is something he has proved he can do over the years.
However, Partey is on the wrong side of 30 now and after multiple injuries, he seems to have lost a bit of the pace he possessed when he first joined the Gunners.
What was a bit alarming against Liverpool was Partey’s poor attempts to retain the ball. The former Atletico Madrid star is usually so good in that regard, but he had a tough start on Wednesday.
Partey lost possession nine times in the 78 minutes he was on the pitch.
Football London reveal that Arteta was in his ear on several occasions in the first half after being irked by the midfielder’s ‘sloppiness in possession in front of the backline’.
Partey did get better as the game went on, and that helped Arsenal control the game. Sadly, that wasn’t enough to overturn the deficit.
Arsenal are about to replace Partey
Partey is not the same player he once was, but he’s still a top-class midfielder.
Despite having a few sloppy moments in the first half, he got better as the game went on and even pulled off a few brilliant passes between the lines.
That makes him an important player to have in the squad, but if reports are to be believed, Partey is on the verge of being replaced in the starting lineup.
That’s because it has been claimed that Arsenal are close to signing Mikel Merino from Real Sociedad in the coming days.
The Spaniard is expected to play as a left-sided number eight if he arrives, which would then push Declan Rice back to a defensive midfield role.
Partey would then drop out of the side, and with less than a year left on his contract, it’s almost certain that this will be his final season at Arsenal.
0 Comments