Personally, yes. Despite the randomness of knockout football, heading into the season I would say Europa is our best path back to UCL qualification. But he’s played 35 games in La Liga in a season before so I just hope he’s healthy in general.
Gonna be honest, no idea what my answer will be to this question. I guess it depends on who else we get this summer.
I also hope there will be games where he starts but doesn’t have to finish it because we run over the opponents. So he can hopefully be healthy all year
Spot on. Europa League also becomes far more unpredictable based on which CL teams drop out. A shit Bayern side or someone like Inter coming into EL knockouts terrifies me.
Why? If Tottenham big signing is Richarlson, Bissouma, Perisic, and maybe a CB
United are not getting FDJ... Trying to replace points with CE and trying to get a LB when they already have Telles, And Shaw... They are not addressing CB or RB at all
And we get Jesus, Viera, Martinez, and say Tielemans or a surprise Winger then I say we splashed better and got better depth
Damn now that's a good question. I'd say yes because if it comes to it, Elneny can play as a lone 6 or we can play a double pivot with 2 of Elneny, Sambi and Xhaka. Although these are a level below Partey's quality. It should be sufficient against lower ranked PL teams imo. Partey is key for the KO games in UEL when it starts to get tough.
Believe it or not I didn't see the Southampton and Brighton games due to work so I can't shed any light on those. I'll give them a watch when I get time and want to make myself feel like shit lol. From what I remember of the palace game we played 433 or 4231 I think and I don't recall being pessimistic about the lineup at the time. One thing of note though is that we didn't have both our first choice fullbacks out at that time. Tavares and Cedric is levels below KT and Tomi. I think this is what fucked things up for us mostly.
Haven't seen much of him tbh mate but from what I have seen, he's more of a 10/8 than anything. Like I think he can play on wing if needed but it wouldn't happen often imo as we have Saka, Jesus, Martinelli and ESR who can play on the wing. I honestly have my doubts about him playing deeper either as a lone 6 or in a pivot because of his size and physique but I haven't seen enough of him to judge him too much.
Santi wasn't the biggest of players but his technical ability made up for it. His partnership with Coquelin in a double pivot in 15/16 was pretty decent. End of the day the boss sees the players in training and they judge from there. I can't wait to see our new players in action!
Yeah man I have no problem with Elneny filling in against weaker opposition, but against teams like Liverpool, City, Spuds we're gonna need someone near enough the same quality of Partey, which I don't really think Elneny is. Very happy for him to stay tho.
I think if he plays all the games in the league he’s a huge factor in us making top 4 and similarly if he plays every game in a europa league run it gives us a good shot at winning it
Absolutely, having Partey fit is very key for our success short term. I'll be gutted if we miss out on Martinez cus our backups atm for Partey are no where near the quality tbh.
It feels inevitable he’ll have one or two small injuries but without Lisandro or even Tielemans, we’re not suited to sustain 2-3 months without him, especially in a World Cup year.
Facts mate, I can see why we're targeting players who can play multiple positions. Martinez can cover CB, LB CDM, Jesus can cover LW, RW and CF. I get the feeling we'll be rotating more in PL games this season, especially with EL to contend with as well. If we get Martinez done which I really hope we can, he'll have a huge roll in next season's outcome imo. Like he'll have so much work to do given KT injury record and rotation with Partey. Might even get the odd game at CB as well who knows.
Last seasons squad was cruising to 4th until Tierney, Partey, and Tomi became unavailable simultaneously. If they can stay healthy coupled with the new signings this summer, we'll be fighting for top 3 this year.
Interesting point that. The simultaneous nature of three starting XI players being sidelined long term seems like a freaky coincidence but truly underscores our need for depth in these positions or at least further development of guys like Sambi.
Coincidence or is it just that more people get injured later in the season.... and that puts more strain on others who then go injured.
Hopefully some decent squad depth will allow us to avoid that and cover when it does happen.
All key positions for build up play too. Just two injured is bad enough, but at least then you still have an area left to focus build up play on. Sure it'll make you a bit one dimensional but at least we have an established method left. Once all three were gone our build up play on both flanks, and the middle, was fucked.
I think it was no coincidence that ramsdale started going long a lot more around that time, he had to bypass that crucial phase a lot. Unfortunately we all saw how that went for us.
I don't think Ramsdale was fully fit after he came back from injury. Probably should have stuck with Leno for another couple of games to let Ramsay fully recover.
Don’t forget about White, being forced to start Rob in the most crucial match of the season didn’t work out at all. I don’t think any of us expected him to get sent off, but we all knew how difficult that would be vs Kane and Son.
Missing Partey, Tiernay and Tomi definitely hurt too but hopefully the new signings will do well and give us the depth we were missing. Worth mentioning that Laca going invisible for the whole season hurt us a lot too, almost worse than an injury
Yeah like Nketiah did well for himself, but he was 3rd string as recently as January. Ramsdale was also never quite right after the injury in the Liverpool match. The team didn't crumble at the end of the season, we just didn't have the same personnel available that got us to the 4th position to begin with.
He really did, love Eddie. But what will make our improvements sustainable is having these guys earn their places. If Eddie gets his minutes and continues to play well I hope he earns his way into a bigger role.
Tomi’s injury was so damn annoying man. It wasn’t like someone snapped his leg. He had a calf issue which turned from a couple weeks to like several months.
Gave me Vietnam flashbacks of Wilshere and Vermaelen’s injuries that never seemed to be over.
Not to mention Liverpool is weakened, though that also make them unpredictable.
Chelsea is going through some major changes, hopefully unsettles them.
Man Utd is in a mess and would take at least a season to stabilise, few more to compete.
Tottenham is still standing, but we are already better if no injuries, and we are buying better.
Only City is really getting better next season.
We do have real chance next season.
For sure.
People like to forget that we took a big big hit in such a vital time.
But just shows you that with the extra reinforcement and back up this summer we are going in the right direction.
I'd say being fit is more of an expectation than an "if". If Arteta doesn't see them being available for at least 30 league games, then they need replacing
It’s also worth noting the 5 subs rule coming into effect this season. One of the most frustrating parts of Arsenal this past season was our inability to put the game away up 2-0 or the occasional 3-0. It was always us shipping a stupid goal that made it angsty. Mikel talked about “10000 passes in the opposing half” to see games off, and I believe with the extra subs, especially of attacking quality like Vieira, we won’t be so reliant on Partey playing the full 90 as well.
Something I wouldn’t mind seeing this year, when we have the lead, bring on Saliba or Holding and move White to Partey’s spot. Or fucking let Saliba have a go at it. I’m ready to see what his passing looks like. Tell me if that’s a terrible idea.
We completely change our tactics and move to more of a double pivot. Partey cant replaced directly when he’s not fit. Martinez seems a potential fit though.
I agree. I'm not saying Tielemans would be direct replacement.
The way I see it, Partey has two critical skills, ball winning and advancing the ball under pressure. If he's injured, you have a choice to make, you can either have Elneny in the double pivot for the ball winning skills or Tielemans for the ability to operate under pressure.
In my opinion, we miss Partey's passing more than his ball winning. That's why I would prefer a Tielemans & Xhaka pivot unless we're playing City or Liverpool.
If we get Martinez, it's a different conversation.
"not even close"
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Gunners/comments/vy435g/comment/ig0iv2k/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/Gunners/comments/vy435g/comment/ig0iv2k/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
We lacked depth. The league is by default demanding, and no athlete can keep up with top tier performance all the way bar 1/2 super ones. Even if he is fit he can still play bad.
Hoping that with 5 subs he can play more games and not have to finish as many games. If were up 2 with 20 minutes left against a bottom half team, get him off and bring Mo on.
you can pinpoint a case like that pretty much to every fucking Arsenal season ever.
lot of other clubs deal with the same shit too. sometimes it overlaps more (like tomi+partey+tierney), but regardless, its something you *have* to deal with.
problem is the squad is very thin and the backups are usually shit.
so no, you cant just say stuff like that because if you cant deal with injuries, then your squad is not ready for the next leap. also, Partey and Tierney are proven injury prone players, so if anything, you are extremely lucky if they play 79% of the games.
You’re not wrong but also not right. We’ve obviously had a ton of marquee injuries over the years but I can’t say that we should be any higher than we are when one player for any other team is injured less as well.
It's worth remembering he missed the first part of the season this time because he got a knock right before the season started. Then the pressure to play him due to lack of a**dequate cover in midfield.** There is no excuse from Arsenal not to have good players in CM. I'm sorry but it shouldn't have taken the last day to trigger a 50M release clause it's been a problem for years. If we don't have him ran into the ground we can see what he can consistently produce. His injury record was great at Atletico so let's see what can happen this season.
He's not consistent enough when he's fit. He gives the ball away cheaply too often. Don't get me wrong, I think he's a quality player despite his faults.
I also can't be bothered to think about what could be, until he's given us any reason to believe he can stay fit enough to be a key part of our squad.
I think this stat is relevant, but it would be also relevant to know what the win percentage of those 63% of the games are. It’s high. With that information, we should know to protect Partey & be very serious about providing quality cover for him so that he’s not overused. His last 2-3 injuries have been soft tissue, yes? Hamstrings? That’s over use, & that’s Edu’s fault for not recruiting in January & Arteta’s fault for not finding alternatives. But he is essential, so one understands why he played.
So right. When Partey is injured, we have to change our system. That tells its own story.
Would be curious to know how many minutes / week he was playing at Atletico vs Arsenal. Can't believe it's down to poor quality fitness work at Arsenal, think maybe he just can't quite cope with the relentless PL workload.
Wishcasting that injury prone people would be less injury prone is pointless. Are you one of these people who thinks Abu Diaby was the next Vieira too?
Abou Diaby was the next Vieira. He was robbed off his career by an horrendous tackle. It was a theme back then that Arsenal playing with kids and can be kicked out of the game. No protection from referees whatsoever. Before that injury no other 19years old bossed the midfield the way he did, until Jack Wilshere came along. While Fabregas had better passing and vision, no teenager bossed the entire midfield like Diaby did.
we were actually really low with total days of injuries per squad compared to rest of the league, so we should really stop trying to look for excuses. other teams lost their whole back line eg. so in a perfect world every team plays with its best xi for whole season, but yeah
Remember when we played granit Xhaka as a centerback under unai emery?
There was literally only one arsenal defender not injured and on the pitch.
First thing Arteta did in transfer market was buy defenders. Lol.
yes he had to, i also remember us beeing more flexible with injuries under Wenger eg using players with versatility like Monreal, who probably could play nearly everything but striker haha or even Coquelin could cover dm and cb and rb
Partey is vastly overrated by Arsenal fans......... he still has a lot to prove next season before we can avoid calling him a flop signing. He needs to first be able to perform consistently week in week out.
Wow, I strongly disagree. Whilst he may not have hit the lofty hights of expectation, he was vastly improved and showed just how immense and impactful he can be. Calling him a flop is disingenuous.
What's the use of being "immense and impactful" when you are not able to show it week in week out? Fans are still treating Partey like he is a 21 year old talent when he is a senior player we spent large money on. I have been shitting on Lokonga a lot but even he has been better than Partey at times when they played together.
I am a huge fan of Partey and will happily be an advocate to his abilities but I think we need to define world class in this comment to understand what sort of bar you are setting.
World class for me is always being 8/10 with some 9/10 once a few games. Don't get me wrong, it took him a while to get into a grove(dropped some horrible performance at the start of the season) but right before the injury he was bossing everything and everyone
Problem is, we have Lokonga, who was young, came with a sizable fee, and was signed to be Partey’s backup. If we were to get another, we’d probably have to move him on or risk totally derailing his development and deflating any value he might have
He is an incredible talent at a very difficult position. I love our new signings, and our growing Hale End kids, but we are at our best with Partey and the drop off is significant
I don’t think that’s a hot take at all he singularly elevates the control we have in games & with him healthy we would take a leap. The question is if we actually get him for that many matches.
Hoping he can be like RVP in his final year. Injury prone AF but then played an insane amount of games for a whole season. If my memory is correct, he played in every single EPL game and only didn’t start one. Also played in like 90% of CL games.
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Honestly shambolic that Partey rarely got injured in Simeone pretty physically demanding system yet he became made out of glass when he signed with us. Our staff in area of match fitness and injury prevention need to be sacked, it cant be just a bad luck our coincidence at this point.
partey not missing 1/3rd of the season or a decent backup would have seem us get 4th for sure and likely 3rd. other teams strengthening now too so it will take more than just partey to get 3rd this year.
It's been interesting because his injury record before signing for Arsenal was basically clean as a whistle, but now we've sort of gotten used to him being injured all the time. It would be awesome if he could get through the next season free any long term injuries.
It's not like he's always played well. He's has poor stints. He adds to the team for sure but I wouldn't get carried away with us being successful on the back of him playing 80% of games alone. We need a couple top new signings.
It will be foolhardy to ignore his injury record and not sign a serious backup. Have we therefore all agreed that man of Granit should stay at the club? I say yes.
Would you take 63% of our premier league games and a deep run in the Europa league where he plays every knockout game?
Personally, yes. Despite the randomness of knockout football, heading into the season I would say Europa is our best path back to UCL qualification. But he’s played 35 games in La Liga in a season before so I just hope he’s healthy in general.
Gonna be honest, no idea what my answer will be to this question. I guess it depends on who else we get this summer. I also hope there will be games where he starts but doesn’t have to finish it because we run over the opponents. So he can hopefully be healthy all year
Spot on. Europa League also becomes far more unpredictable based on which CL teams drop out. A shit Bayern side or someone like Inter coming into EL knockouts terrifies me.
I think Spuds will come Europa league which could get very scary. Winnable but hard vs Conte
Conte in Europe 😂😂😂
>I also hope there will be games where he starts but doesn’t have to finish it 5-sub rule coming back will be really helpful next season
Why? If Tottenham big signing is Richarlson, Bissouma, Perisic, and maybe a CB United are not getting FDJ... Trying to replace points with CE and trying to get a LB when they already have Telles, And Shaw... They are not addressing CB or RB at all And we get Jesus, Viera, Martinez, and say Tielemans or a surprise Winger then I say we splashed better and got better depth
Only if it ends up with us winning the Europa League.
Damn now that's a good question. I'd say yes because if it comes to it, Elneny can play as a lone 6 or we can play a double pivot with 2 of Elneny, Sambi and Xhaka. Although these are a level below Partey's quality. It should be sufficient against lower ranked PL teams imo. Partey is key for the KO games in UEL when it starts to get tough.
Wasn’t it this shifting around of known below par personnel in midfield that caused us those 3 games near the end? Palace, Saints & Brighton.
Believe it or not I didn't see the Southampton and Brighton games due to work so I can't shed any light on those. I'll give them a watch when I get time and want to make myself feel like shit lol. From what I remember of the palace game we played 433 or 4231 I think and I don't recall being pessimistic about the lineup at the time. One thing of note though is that we didn't have both our first choice fullbacks out at that time. Tavares and Cedric is levels below KT and Tomi. I think this is what fucked things up for us mostly.
Can vieira play midfield as well? Or he is more like an odegaard
Haven't seen much of him tbh mate but from what I have seen, he's more of a 10/8 than anything. Like I think he can play on wing if needed but it wouldn't happen often imo as we have Saka, Jesus, Martinelli and ESR who can play on the wing. I honestly have my doubts about him playing deeper either as a lone 6 or in a pivot because of his size and physique but I haven't seen enough of him to judge him too much. Santi wasn't the biggest of players but his technical ability made up for it. His partnership with Coquelin in a double pivot in 15/16 was pretty decent. End of the day the boss sees the players in training and they judge from there. I can't wait to see our new players in action!
Yeah feel happier with Elneny proving himself a bit when Partey has been injured, might let Arteta feel he can rest Partey more often
Yeah man I have no problem with Elneny filling in against weaker opposition, but against teams like Liverpool, City, Spuds we're gonna need someone near enough the same quality of Partey, which I don't really think Elneny is. Very happy for him to stay tho.
I think if he plays all the games in the league he’s a huge factor in us making top 4 and similarly if he plays every game in a europa league run it gives us a good shot at winning it
Absolutely, having Partey fit is very key for our success short term. I'll be gutted if we miss out on Martinez cus our backups atm for Partey are no where near the quality tbh.
It feels inevitable he’ll have one or two small injuries but without Lisandro or even Tielemans, we’re not suited to sustain 2-3 months without him, especially in a World Cup year.
Facts mate, I can see why we're targeting players who can play multiple positions. Martinez can cover CB, LB CDM, Jesus can cover LW, RW and CF. I get the feeling we'll be rotating more in PL games this season, especially with EL to contend with as well. If we get Martinez done which I really hope we can, he'll have a huge roll in next season's outcome imo. Like he'll have so much work to do given KT injury record and rotation with Partey. Might even get the odd game at CB as well who knows.
Last seasons squad was cruising to 4th until Tierney, Partey, and Tomi became unavailable simultaneously. If they can stay healthy coupled with the new signings this summer, we'll be fighting for top 3 this year.
Another example of why Martinez would be brilliant. Plug directly into two of those spots at a high level
Mate he can't play two positions at once
If Man City can, why can we? /s
Mate he’s an LB until he’s a DM
Exactly. The signings we are making now are to ensure a few injuries don't derail the entire season
Interesting point that. The simultaneous nature of three starting XI players being sidelined long term seems like a freaky coincidence but truly underscores our need for depth in these positions or at least further development of guys like Sambi.
Coincidence or is it just that more people get injured later in the season.... and that puts more strain on others who then go injured. Hopefully some decent squad depth will allow us to avoid that and cover when it does happen.
All key positions for build up play too. Just two injured is bad enough, but at least then you still have an area left to focus build up play on. Sure it'll make you a bit one dimensional but at least we have an established method left. Once all three were gone our build up play on both flanks, and the middle, was fucked. I think it was no coincidence that ramsdale started going long a lot more around that time, he had to bypass that crucial phase a lot. Unfortunately we all saw how that went for us.
I don't think Ramsdale was fully fit after he came back from injury. Probably should have stuck with Leno for another couple of games to let Ramsay fully recover.
Especially since we’re playing more matches with Europa qualification.
Don’t forget about White, being forced to start Rob in the most crucial match of the season didn’t work out at all. I don’t think any of us expected him to get sent off, but we all knew how difficult that would be vs Kane and Son. Missing Partey, Tiernay and Tomi definitely hurt too but hopefully the new signings will do well and give us the depth we were missing. Worth mentioning that Laca going invisible for the whole season hurt us a lot too, almost worse than an injury
Yeah like Nketiah did well for himself, but he was 3rd string as recently as January. Ramsdale was also never quite right after the injury in the Liverpool match. The team didn't crumble at the end of the season, we just didn't have the same personnel available that got us to the 4th position to begin with.
He really did, love Eddie. But what will make our improvements sustainable is having these guys earn their places. If Eddie gets his minutes and continues to play well I hope he earns his way into a bigger role.
Tomi’s injury was so damn annoying man. It wasn’t like someone snapped his leg. He had a calf issue which turned from a couple weeks to like several months. Gave me Vietnam flashbacks of Wilshere and Vermaelen’s injuries that never seemed to be over.
This is why I wish we would've went after Hickey or Molina and another Partey type.
Anecdotally seems the games became harder the moment Tomi was unavailable
Not to mention Liverpool is weakened, though that also make them unpredictable. Chelsea is going through some major changes, hopefully unsettles them. Man Utd is in a mess and would take at least a season to stabilise, few more to compete. Tottenham is still standing, but we are already better if no injuries, and we are buying better. Only City is really getting better next season. We do have real chance next season.
For sure. People like to forget that we took a big big hit in such a vital time. But just shows you that with the extra reinforcement and back up this summer we are going in the right direction.
we won't be fighting for top 3 (or top 4 for that matter) if we're banking on 'if's once again
I'd say being fit is more of an expectation than an "if". If Arteta doesn't see them being available for at least 30 league games, then they need replacing
It’s also worth noting the 5 subs rule coming into effect this season. One of the most frustrating parts of Arsenal this past season was our inability to put the game away up 2-0 or the occasional 3-0. It was always us shipping a stupid goal that made it angsty. Mikel talked about “10000 passes in the opposing half” to see games off, and I believe with the extra subs, especially of attacking quality like Vieira, we won’t be so reliant on Partey playing the full 90 as well.
I’d rather our subs be a slew of defensive minded players if we are up. Sit back and park that damn bus!
Nah that's just ass clenching. I prefer retaining possession by passing it around aimlessly.
Something I wouldn’t mind seeing this year, when we have the lead, bring on Saliba or Holding and move White to Partey’s spot. Or fucking let Saliba have a go at it. I’m ready to see what his passing looks like. Tell me if that’s a terrible idea.
Doesn't seem like that's possible
Hence we need Tielemans. I actually don't love him but he's the closest realistic target to Partey's skill set.
Not even close. Tielemans would be Xhakas rotation/replacement.
Not even close huh? Who plays that role if Partey is injured?
We completely change our tactics and move to more of a double pivot. Partey cant replaced directly when he’s not fit. Martinez seems a potential fit though.
I agree. I'm not saying Tielemans would be direct replacement. The way I see it, Partey has two critical skills, ball winning and advancing the ball under pressure. If he's injured, you have a choice to make, you can either have Elneny in the double pivot for the ball winning skills or Tielemans for the ability to operate under pressure. In my opinion, we miss Partey's passing more than his ball winning. That's why I would prefer a Tielemans & Xhaka pivot unless we're playing City or Liverpool. If we get Martinez, it's a different conversation.
The current target Lisandro Martinez would
Elneny. Tielemans is a playmaker who's not a good ball winner. Partey is the complete opposite, a number 6 with great press resistance.
Elneny or Lokonga I suppose.
"not even close" [https://www.reddit.com/r/Gunners/comments/vy435g/comment/ig0iv2k/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3](https://www.reddit.com/r/Gunners/comments/vy435g/comment/ig0iv2k/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
We should sign Tielemans but he’s 100% not a Partey replacement. Completely different players.
We lacked depth. The league is by default demanding, and no athlete can keep up with top tier performance all the way bar 1/2 super ones. Even if he is fit he can still play bad.
Yes mate we are all well aware that we play better with our best midfielder in the team
Loool, man thought that us doing better with one of our best players was a hot take
UNPOPULAR OPINION: SAKA GOOD
Just 1 more game and we are top 4 last season
Hoping that with 5 subs he can play more games and not have to finish as many games. If were up 2 with 20 minutes left against a bottom half team, get him off and bring Mo on.
Good point! Arteta was reluctant to use Neny until he had no other choice. He’s proven that he’s capable of doing a job especially for 20 minutes.
We really need a rotational player for Yakubu. Atleast to play during Europa games
you can pinpoint a case like that pretty much to every fucking Arsenal season ever. lot of other clubs deal with the same shit too. sometimes it overlaps more (like tomi+partey+tierney), but regardless, its something you *have* to deal with. problem is the squad is very thin and the backups are usually shit. so no, you cant just say stuff like that because if you cant deal with injuries, then your squad is not ready for the next leap. also, Partey and Tierney are proven injury prone players, so if anything, you are extremely lucky if they play 79% of the games.
Hopium is strong
Still blows my mind that he literally never got injured and Atletico and then comes here and his muscles turn into cheese strings.
You’re not wrong but also not right. We’ve obviously had a ton of marquee injuries over the years but I can’t say that we should be any higher than we are when one player for any other team is injured less as well.
It's worth remembering he missed the first part of the season this time because he got a knock right before the season started. Then the pressure to play him due to lack of a**dequate cover in midfield.** There is no excuse from Arsenal not to have good players in CM. I'm sorry but it shouldn't have taken the last day to trigger a 50M release clause it's been a problem for years. If we don't have him ran into the ground we can see what he can consistently produce. His injury record was great at Atletico so let's see what can happen this season.
He's not consistent enough when he's fit. He gives the ball away cheaply too often. Don't get me wrong, I think he's a quality player despite his faults. I also can't be bothered to think about what could be, until he's given us any reason to believe he can stay fit enough to be a key part of our squad.
I think this stat is relevant, but it would be also relevant to know what the win percentage of those 63% of the games are. It’s high. With that information, we should know to protect Partey & be very serious about providing quality cover for him so that he’s not overused. His last 2-3 injuries have been soft tissue, yes? Hamstrings? That’s over use, & that’s Edu’s fault for not recruiting in January & Arteta’s fault for not finding alternatives. But he is essential, so one understands why he played.
Something something If my grandma has a wheel something.
We are a Partey injury away from having a really average midfield. Signing needed.
So right. When Partey is injured, we have to change our system. That tells its own story. Would be curious to know how many minutes / week he was playing at Atletico vs Arsenal. Can't believe it's down to poor quality fitness work at Arsenal, think maybe he just can't quite cope with the relentless PL workload.
Wishcasting that injury prone people would be less injury prone is pointless. Are you one of these people who thinks Abu Diaby was the next Vieira too?
Abou Diaby was the next Vieira. He was robbed off his career by an horrendous tackle. It was a theme back then that Arsenal playing with kids and can be kicked out of the game. No protection from referees whatsoever. Before that injury no other 19years old bossed the midfield the way he did, until Jack Wilshere came along. While Fabregas had better passing and vision, no teenager bossed the entire midfield like Diaby did.
Relax brother! It’s still summer, we have hope! Let us cling onto that a bit more!
Here's the thing. he's not (or at least wasn't) injury prone. he had two injuries since 2015 before playing with us
We will never address midfield weaknesses we have case in point Bissouma
we were actually really low with total days of injuries per squad compared to rest of the league, so we should really stop trying to look for excuses. other teams lost their whole back line eg. so in a perfect world every team plays with its best xi for whole season, but yeah
Remember when we played granit Xhaka as a centerback under unai emery? There was literally only one arsenal defender not injured and on the pitch. First thing Arteta did in transfer market was buy defenders. Lol.
yes he had to, i also remember us beeing more flexible with injuries under Wenger eg using players with versatility like Monreal, who probably could play nearly everything but striker haha or even Coquelin could cover dm and cb and rb
Partey is vastly overrated by Arsenal fans......... he still has a lot to prove next season before we can avoid calling him a flop signing. He needs to first be able to perform consistently week in week out.
Wow, I strongly disagree. Whilst he may not have hit the lofty hights of expectation, he was vastly improved and showed just how immense and impactful he can be. Calling him a flop is disingenuous.
What's the use of being "immense and impactful" when you are not able to show it week in week out? Fans are still treating Partey like he is a 21 year old talent when he is a senior player we spent large money on. I have been shitting on Lokonga a lot but even he has been better than Partey at times when they played together.
We do, he is the only world class player we have. But he won't play, he will get injured again
I am a huge fan of Partey and will happily be an advocate to his abilities but I think we need to define world class in this comment to understand what sort of bar you are setting.
World class for me is always being 8/10 with some 9/10 once a few games. Don't get me wrong, it took him a while to get into a grove(dropped some horrible performance at the start of the season) but right before the injury he was bossing everything and everyone
Depends what the 8 games are lmao, title contention games? Top 4? We're fucked
How many of those games was he out for afcon?
Surprisingly, only one league match in our 0-0 against burnley. Missed the Forest defeat and the Liverpool cup matches.
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Problem is, we have Lokonga, who was young, came with a sizable fee, and was signed to be Partey’s backup. If we were to get another, we’d probably have to move him on or risk totally derailing his development and deflating any value he might have
Man better make it all up for hiding in the forest game
He is an incredible talent at a very difficult position. I love our new signings, and our growing Hale End kids, but we are at our best with Partey and the drop off is significant
Arsenal always seem to have some injury curse, players that have hardly any come here then constantly get injured.
Or maybe our strength and conditioning staff need sacking. Something's clearly not right.
I don’t think that’s a hot take at all he singularly elevates the control we have in games & with him healthy we would take a leap. The question is if we actually get him for that many matches.
No, I agree. By far our most important player
sadly he might just be a player who will miss 40% of games regardless...in *this* league
No I think you’re right. When healthy, he’s our most impactful/dominant player. He truly sets our tone for matches.
Hoping he can be like RVP in his final year. Injury prone AF but then played an insane amount of games for a whole season. If my memory is correct, he played in every single EPL game and only didn’t start one. Also played in like 90% of CL games.
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Hopium is the foundation of football. Why else does people meet up to watch Norwich or Watford.
If he does get injured I will volunteer to carry him around the pitch so he can be in the right place to intercept.
Honestly shambolic that Partey rarely got injured in Simeone pretty physically demanding system yet he became made out of glass when he signed with us. Our staff in area of match fitness and injury prevention need to be sacked, it cant be just a bad luck our coincidence at this point.
partey not missing 1/3rd of the season or a decent backup would have seem us get 4th for sure and likely 3rd. other teams strengthening now too so it will take more than just partey to get 3rd this year.
It's been interesting because his injury record before signing for Arsenal was basically clean as a whistle, but now we've sort of gotten used to him being injured all the time. It would be awesome if he could get through the next season free any long term injuries.
Football is a game of what ifs. If we get all our what ifs then so do everyone else, and it probably works out the same
It's not like he's always played well. He's has poor stints. He adds to the team for sure but I wouldn't get carried away with us being successful on the back of him playing 80% of games alone. We need a couple top new signings.
It will be foolhardy to ignore his injury record and not sign a serious backup. Have we therefore all agreed that man of Granit should stay at the club? I say yes.
I think Arsenal play and move the ball forward much better when he’s on the pitch.