Thomas Partey says his Arsenal performances to date are only worthy of a four out of 10 rating but he’s backed himself to improve.
The Ghanaian has made 44 appearances for the Gunners since signing from Atletico Madrid 14 months ago but has struggled to become a midfield “boss” in a side that has matched him for inconsistency.
It’s a situation that both the player and his manager have touched on regularly in recent weeks and one that supporters seem increasingly perplexed by.
One thing’s for sure, Partey isn’t shying away from his critics and, earnest to the last, repeatedly fronts up to questions from the media.
Asked to rate his form by Sky Sports, he said: “Personally, I would say five or six [out of 10] but with the marks of the people outside, I’d give myself a four, because there are moments in the game where I can be really hurting the other team but there are also moments, because I’m not yet adapted to the Premier League, where maybe I allow myself to lose focus and that’s when everything goes down.
He added: “From the start [of the 3-2 defeat to Manchester United on Thursday] I had a couple of moments where I gave two balls away and someone watching on TV from home or in the stadium, it is normal that they see this.
“At the end, I have to be happy with some moments, I have to learn from the bad parts and try to do better. I think they demanded more and personally I know I can give more. I have to keep working and at the end I will get the results.”
He doesn’t sound overly confident that he’ll turn things around immediately, but, with a bit of patience and a run of games, he’s hoping to start making an impact.
“From the defence to the attack, I can help the team a lot,” he said.
“I have to read more of the game. Now I am having a lot of continuous games, it is normal that some games, or some moments in the games, I will be down.
“With more games, with more confidence, I will be able to get to where I want to be.”
Apparently he is reading the arseblog ratings 🙄
Next to Blog’s ratings, let’s ask players after the game how they’d rate themselves! ))
He’s a senior player on huge wages who’s been completely underwhelming. There’s nothing exciting about his attacking play and there’s nothing reliable about his defending. He loses concentration, he’s clumsy (he pushed the player into Granit that caused the injury) and he’s always injured or coming back from an injury. He’s a “meh” player and if he can’t step up he should be replaced in the summer.
Easy peasy cheasy.
He’s in pretty dire for but blaming him for that Xhaka injury? Come on… things happen in the pitch at a fast pace. Him being near Xhaka doesn’t make the injury his fault. Ridiculous take.
Go watch it, it was stupid.
Completely agree.
Unless he turns things around this campaign and in a STUNNING way, he’s been a gigantic waste of resources.
And whoever wanted/sanctioned buying this player should answer for it.
Did you berate the signing when we signed Partey? All of us were overwhelmed when we pulled it off on deadline day.
Don’t have to be a prick mate, sometimes some players take time, not everyone is like a duck to water.
He will come good and if we can sort out our attack, we will be quite formidable. Let’s get those three points tonight.
I bet you were overjoyed when he was signed
He’s been decent but not lived up to v high expectations. Who are we going to buy easily once we’ve easily sold him? I think there’s plenty of upside and we should stick with him, rather than sell at a loss and take a new risk with someone else. No easy fixes.
he played his best football alongside xhaka. Saul can’t get a game at chelski, maybe we could pinch him in january
…and he came from Atletico Madr8id.
We are grappling with one already.
He’s had great games alonside Lokonga. That duo needs to play. He has been really good at times, but he’s also been not good at times (like Manure). He needs to be consistent. That is the issue. His quality is comfortably the highest of our midfield right now, but he just needs to get consistent. He’s acknowledged that – let’s see if he responds. But it bloody well better be Sambi and Partey in midfield tonight.
I’m still trying to get me head around Lokonga not starting at old Trafford. He was superb against Newcastle alongside partey. Arteta got it badly wrong last week.
Atleast he’s honest!
Let’s get a 10 tonight
When he is focused, he is brilliant at showing for, accepting, and quickly advancing the ball (either by turning and running or by a quick forward pass) even in tight spaces. At those times, with players like Saka, Smith Rowe, and Odegaard ahead of him, we play the way–I think–Arteta intends. If opponents congregate in the centre to stop him (as they have recently), it should leave the other midfielder and one or both fullbacks with lots of space. But it only works if he is at his best.
This is spot on. Teams are trying to lock him up. That is EXACTLY why it was such a mistake to play Elneny against Manure. Everything was forced through Elneny (85 passes to Partey’s 60). Thus, we played a doughnut game again so much side-to-side. Lokonga has shown the ability to unlock teams that overload on Partey. That has never been Elneny’s strength. It was a bad tactical error that could have been addressed at half-time or even after 60mins, but wasn’t.
If he hasn’t adapted to the Premier League yet, I’m worried he never will. He’s been here long enough for a “world class “ player to have adjusted.
I’m sorry, maybe I’m thick, but does anybody understand what he’s saying here?
So HE would give himself a 5 or a 6, but if he were to count the marks OTHERS would give him, HE’D give himself a four?
So would he give himself a 5-6 or a 4?
Is the four outside perception? Peer pressure? Is he admitting to overrating his performances?
No wonder this guy isn’t vocal during games, he can’t communicate for shit.
I’m sure you can speak fluent Twi. Otherwise you wouldn’t be slagging his slightly imperfect English.
To be fair, he only got a 4 in the Arseblog news ratings too.
Partey is not suited to Arteta-ball. This ponderous, slow-motion, build up is part of his problem.
He needs runners ahead of him. A counter attacking team like AM is ideal for Partey.
He has been better going forward but the worrying aspects have been passing out from deep and snail-like covering of runners and lack of awareness.
His recent performances have been very irritating if that is not too harsh but the times when he has been good, he had been fucking excellent.
I just listened to the Handbrakes off podcast and one of the Podcasters said something very interesting; Partey has not been performing very well because there is no Simeone shouting into his ears from the sideline. Does Partey need more instructions from the sidelines?
Is he one of those players who needs to restrained for his own good?
How about we also rate the manager after each game out of 10. On Tactics, game plan, lineup, subs, and other things Arteta is expected to do. Auba and Partey are good players, maybe they just don’t sync well with the system or tactics. Last few games almost felt like Auba is not really in the game. We need a bigger contribution from our CF.
Been saying about a manager rating for years, blogs isn’t interested. Thumbs up if you would appreciate a manager rating.
I’d like to see a team selection rating and a substitutions rating
The guy hasn’t looked anywhere near top draw since we signed him, slow to react, doesn’t handle being pressured well, gets caught in possession and gives the ball away a lot, if he’s not adapted yet (by his own admission) then he’s gotta go. He’s not good enough to play in the Premier League at all and I’ve been saying this for months.
I hope you’re wrong, but fear you are right.
Didn’t he have a great game against United when he first joined? One off or has injury curtailed form?
I’m starting to agree, he is very hit and miss.
The issue isn’t quality, it’s consistency. He’s played games at a worldclass level and then he’d played absolute duds. He needs to find that. I don’t think chopping and changing his midfield partners has helped him (bad decision to start Elneny over Lokonga), but that’s not the only excuse. He just needs to be better and more consistently at the quality he has shown he can be.
Away from the untied game I can’t recall any “world class” performances.
Was excellent against Sp**s and Villa for example (8.5 rating in both games – the former based off fans rating as blogs gave everyone a 10). I fully agree he needs to be better – completely agree – we need to see those top-class games way more often, but saying he lacks the quality is ridiculous. He was a driving force behind arguably the best team outside “El Classico” in La Liga in the last 2 decades.
Fair enough – I hope you’re right.!
Doesn’t fill me with hope, he should be giving blood, sweat,and tears for the jersey. We desperately need to win today.
Let’s get the Partey started.
A bit worrying that he says he’s still adapting after 44 games. At this rate, he won’t be up to speed until he’s reached the age of 35.
Partey should play as a 4 not a double pivot, he is struggling moving forward with the ball and having to track back to defend. The EPL is too fast for him, let’s him build up his confidence as Rodri is did in Man city. Stay in the dm position and don’t move forward. Protect the CBs
Got much wrong there AA – not that I blame you as team selection was a shock to all of us I reckon.
His signing was one of the most exciting of the last decade for me. Rivaled the excitement I felt when Ozil first joined the club. But it’s been an absolute slog. He gives himself the accurate rating of four, then to drive the point home, he goes out and delivers another four performance tonight at Everton. What’s happened to this guy? I watched him in Spain and I was not deluded, he was without doubt a world class midfielder with Atletico. He’s been a shadow of that player since joining us.