Arsenal legend David Seaman is the latest to share his confusion about Mikel Arteta’s decision to play Thomas Partey at right-back in recent weeks.
The Gunners boss has made a major tactical tweak in his starting XI, with the major change seeing Gabriel Magalhaes dropped to the bench. This means William Saliba and Ben White have both moved more to the left while holding midfielder Partey has been deployed as an inverted fullback.
Arteta’s side have gathered seven points from a possible nine and remain unbeaten but they haven’t looked quite as fluid as they did last term, with Seaman now voicing his confusion at the tactical change
Arteta told to return Partey to midfield position
While speaking on his podcast, the former England international said: “It just feels awkward for me.
“For me, he’s (Partey) a better player in midfield. I don’t know what’s happened with Gabriel because he played nearly all the games last season when he was fit or when he hadn’t been sent off and now he’s changing it.
“It is a strange one and I’m still trying to work out why.” Manchester United hero Gary Neville echoed Seaman’s sentiment last weekend when discussing the north Londoners’ start to the 2023/24 season.
The Sky Sports pundit admitted that he expects Arteta’s experiment to end on Sunday afternoon when Arsenal host United to the Emirates Stadium. “I would say that for me, looking at Arsenal, there is this element of experimentation,” Neville said on his podcast.
“Thomas Partey is playing half-and-half in a game. Sometimes you need to go back to basics.”
He added: “I’d expect next week (vs United) Mikel Arteta is going to end that experiment and go with a solid back four. Move Partey into midfield with Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard.”
Admittedly, many have raised concerns about Thomas Partey playing at right back, especially because Mikel Arteta is mostly doing it to accommodate new signing Kai Havertz in his starting XI.
The Spanish manager has been adamant that Havertz will flourish under his management but questions are already asked early on and it now remains to be seen if he will stick to his stance.
Arteta now faces a tough decision ahead of Arsenal’s clash with Manchester United on Sunday as a defeat could see the alarm bells ring ahead of the international break.
