Arsenal journalist Charles Watts has been sharing his thoughts on Gunners midfielder Thomas Partey and his recent run of form for Mikel Arteta’s side.
This comes after Watts uploaded a video onto his YouTube channel where he spoke about a variety of topics concerning the north London club, including their recent 1-1 draw against Slavia Prague in the Europa League.
On the subject of Partey, his performance in midweek and his recent run of form for Arsenal, Watts had this to say on the matter.
He said: “He’s struggling a little bit, Thomas Partey.
“I did think he was alright against Liverpool, I thought he was the best of a bad bunch in that game and was left hopelessly exposed without [Granit] Xhaka by his side, but Xhaka was back [against Slavia Prague] and it just didn’t work for Thomas Partey.
“He looked rusty, he looked nervy, lost possession a lot.
“You could kind of sense there was a nervousness about him whenever he got on the ball there was a couple of opportunities in the second half when he got the ball, started driving forward and he just didn’t really know what to do with it.
“The confidence seemed to have drained out of him he didn’t know if he should pass or what he should do.”
Arsenal signed Partey back in the previous summer transfer window from Spanish side Atletico Madrid for £45 million.
Since his arrival in England, the 27-year-old, who is currently valued at £40.5 million, has made 22 appearances for Arteta’s side across all competitions in which he has provided two assists for his teammates but is yet to score a goal for himself in an Arsenal shirt (per Transfermarkt).
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TIF Thoughts on Charles Watts’ comments on Partey…
Despite this criticism from Watts about his performance in midweek, Partey still managed to earn himself a solid match rating of 7.08/10 on the night, making him Arsenal’s second-highest-rated player in the game (per WhoScored).
In our view, given how this is still Partey’s debut season at Arsenal and how he has been in and out of the team due to previous injury issues, perhaps he can be forgiven for not being at the top of his game for periods this season.
Moving forward, if Partey can keep fit for the rest of the season and start to get his groove back, as Watts thinks is becoming an issue for Arsenal, this would surely put him in a good place heading into next season with the north London club.
In other news: Charles Watts issues Arsenal transfer update on Emi Buendia