Deep Dive: Thomas Partey

Arsenal’s steep decline post-Arsène Wenger has been akin to the downfall that rivals Manchester United suffered when their legendary manager departed. The similarities between their respective fall from competitiveness are not just about league positions or silverware. The trifecta of poor managerial choices, issues at the upper management level and inconsistent recruitment were and, in Arsenal’s case, are constant themes behind their struggles. Whilst the Red Devils found stability under Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Arsenal were hoping to see that their ex-player turned manager in Mikel Arteta would come good and steer the sinking ship in the right direction.

So, when the summer transfer window in 2020 approached and both clubs needed midfield reinforcements, it was a massive statement of intent when the Gunners beat out United in signing Thomas Partey from Atlético Madrid. The £45m investment showcased that Arsenal, without Champions League football, could still attract talent of the highest level and that they felt they were ready to charge towards the top four.

Fast forward a year since the transfer and the mood surrounding Arsenal has been very bleak at times, with only some semblance of hope. In Arteta’s first full season, the club finished 8th and were equidistant to the top four as they were to 11th place. Meanwhile, their star signing was hampered by injuries in a side that lacked quality, which ultimately led to Partey delivering a middling debut season in North London. This deep dive will look at the Ghanaian’s skillset, with a focus on the 2020–21 season, as well as reasons and solutions for his issues at Arsenal that includes a quick detour to his time in La Liga.

General Overview

If you have read the first instalment of the deep dive series on Romelu Lukaku, you would know that the scouting profile focuses on three aspects: defence, creation and scoring. Whilst we take a look at match footage later, the general overview paints a statistical picture of those three qualities. The radars below showcase the output that Partey produced for Atlético Madrid and Arsenal in consecutive seasons.

The goal with these radars isn’t to show that Partey has improved or declined following his transfer because data from different teams in different leagues require context. These radars are here to provide a basic outline of the Ghanaian’s play style and his relative output compared to other players in either La Liga or Premier League.

Overall, the numbers above showcase the midfielder’s dynamic skillset quite well. Partey excels in creation, especially in progressing the ball up the pitch with passes or dribbles. However, due to his deeper positioning, his effect on a team’s ability to create chances is limited, hence his lower expected assist (xA) and shot-creating action numbers. His defensive quality is on par with his playmaking too, which is why he was such a sought-after player in the transfer window. The data massively inflates his goalscoring impact though, as the 28-year-old racks up decent non-penalty expected goal (npxG) numbers by launching several shots from outside the box per game.

In terms of his use at Arsenal, Partey has predominantly featured on the right-hand side of a double pivot as shown in the heat map below.

His positioning on the right allows him and his midfield partner Granit Xhaka to have better angles to play the ball forward using their stronger foot. Xhaka also tends to drop into left centre-back to aid progression in the build-up phase so he must play on the left.

Now that an outline has been provided with regards to Partey’s playstyle, let’s take a deep dive into how he provides such great output.

Creation

Partey’s ability in playmaking tends to be a footnote in discussions about his skillset as the perception tends to be that he is a fantastic defensive presence. While that notion is true, I would argue that his on-ball quality is his best attribute and what makes him an elite player. Not only is the Ghanaian international a superb passer, his dribbling and ball control are also top tier. This dual-threat is what makes him such a valuable commodity, few qualities are more in demand than press resistance in a modern midfielder.

Players above 6”0 have a tougher time controlling the ball as they struggle to get the ball out of their feet, yet Partey rarely has these issues despite standing at 6”2. His style of dribbling is very simple, using simple feints or letting the ball run across him to create moments of separation.

His physical gifts are also an asset, with his long legs helping him get touches at the last moment that push the ball away from onrushing opposition. In addition to his large stature, Partey possesses great strength and acceleration, which allow him to shield the ball and burst past players . Therefore, he’s a threat with the ball in short and long distances.

The graph below showcases how effectively Partey converts his dribbling into chance creation.

Despite Partey’s obvious talent with the ball, he is one of the worst midfielders in Europe’s top 5 leagues in creating shots. This is more due to his role at Arsenal rather than a representation of his quality as a dribbler though. The better shot creators such as Aouar and Pogba play more attacking roles in their respective teams, which means they can get into better positions to create shots. A more accurate representation of Partey’s ability as a dribbler is how he progresses the ball from deep, which I will touch on later. However, that is not to say that Partey shouldn’t be performing better here, because as a floor-raising midfielder, it’s quite important to be able to create opportunities for your team.

Now onto the passing aspect of creation and how it can lead to good playmaking. In my previous deep dive, I mentioned that passing consists of several tools, which are: directionality, vision/anticipation, and weight of pass. For midfielders who are ball-dominant, all these tools are required to be valuable in possession.

With regards to directionality, Partey is a multidirectional passer. He’s capable of playing long switches to either side at a consistent clip and can drill passes into the middle with ease, especially since that is his trademark pass. He prefers to make these passes when stationary or under little pressure but he’s still proficient at pulling them off on the move. The Arsenal star’s main weakness in this area is his unwillingness to pass with his left foot, which does close the pitch up in certain situations. However, he offsets this by playing a lot of outside the foot passes in short distances.

For a midfielder, the 28-year-old is an incredibly high-risk, high-reward passer, let alone for a player who plays in central or defensive midfield. When he senses a potential opening for a run in-behind or a tight gap to thread a pass into, he doesn’t hesitate to pull the trigger. It speaks to Partey’s great vision on the pitch that he’s able to spot openings that most midfielders see a millisecond too late. Those small differences can be the separator between the good and great passers because defenders can recover to close the passing window in such little time.

Partey also has a good understanding of where to place passes because different situations require different placement of passes. Some passes must be straight to feet whilst others must be in front of the intended target so they can run onto it. The video below highlights how good his anticipation of situations and space is.

The biggest gripe I have about Partey’s passing quality is his weight of pass. This is not to say it’s a weakness, he’s still great in this department but here lies the biggest area of improvement in his passing game. He can tend to hit short passes too strong, which makes it harder for the receiver to control the ball. The same can be said for Partey’s attempts at longer passes but they can also be too short at times because he loops these passes a tad. This is only a minor inconvenience though as the accuracy is there for the shorter passes and longer balls are tough to execute well at a high clip.

While the three passing tools have been covered, there is one more additional tool that can make a midfielder elite at passing. This tool is manipulation, which means using your body positioning to bend the defence to your will to create an open passing lane. The most common example is the disguised pass, used by some of the best on-ball midfielders in today’s game like Thiago Alcântara and Tanguy Ndombélé. Partey is just as proficient at this skill as these players and has become a staple in his passing game as seen below.

Putting his technique together, what type of passer does it get you? Well, Partey is a ball progressing machine with incredible speed on his passes to feet but also capable of controlling the tempo of the game from deep and getting wide players involved. His main limitation, if you can even call it that, is his over-reliance on his right foot. All that means is that he just has specific areas on the pitch that he is super effective in instead of being great all over the pitch. A good representation of this is the progressive pass map below.

The map showcases two progressive clusters in yellow and light blue with successful progressive passes having a green point at the beginning of each pass. The yellow cluster represents passes that finish on the left-hand side of the pitch, while the light blue cluster represents the opposite.

Given that Partey plays on the right side of a double pivot, he’s bound to have more progressive passes on that side. However, his success rate on that side is so much better on that side than one would expect. The key reason for that isn’t just volume but the fact that Partey can open his body up better to find direct passes into the right half-space with his stronger right foot. He doesn’t need to take extra touches to get the ball onto his right foot, which is a common occurrence when he passes from the left side of the pitch.

We’ve already seen how poorly Partey stacks up in creating shots by dribbling. When looking at it as a whole, combining shot creating actions via dribbling and passing, there is pretty much no change.

This doesn’t reflect well on a player who has a fantastic skill set and is capable of producing more, but it does speak to what Arteta asks from his midfielders as Granit Xhaka has the same xA numbers with lower shot-creating actions.

Like I mentioned earlier, looking at Partey’s progressive skill from deep will paint a more accurate picture of his ability on the ball as a passer or dribbler. And unsurprisingly, the graph below showcases the Arsenal midfielder being one of the best in the world in this area.

It was clear how well Partey progresses the ball but to do it with so few turnovers of the ball, especially given his high-risk pass selection, is super impressive. Naturally, it highlights the midfielder’s precision in his passing but also his impeccable touch and ball control to evade defenders and secure the ball. Also, Granit Xhaka appears in the same area, emphasising the idea that these numbers are also somewhat dependent on the role they play at Arsenal.

Defence

The midfielder is a strong positive, impact wise, on the defensive side of the game. There are several reasons for this but one of which is his physical advantages. Partey’s physical stature coupled with a fantastic motor makes him tough to go against, especially in a one-on-one setting.

His stamina is a key attribute as he doesn’t give up on defensive plays even if he gets beat and is good at tracking back with speed. The 28-year-old’s frame once again comes in handy as his long legs help close distances to opponents that most midfielders would not be able to.

However, there are some drawbacks with his use of his frame. Because he’s larger than most players, he tries to leverage his size by wrapping his legs around players who shield the ball with their back to him. This usually results in Partey giving away a foul. Therefore, his tackling technique limits his ceiling as a tackler. This is in conjunction with his slide tackling ability where he tends to misjudge the distance that he can close and ends up whiffing on at least half of his slide tackle challenges.

Possibly the greatest asset Partey possesses as a defender is his versatility. He is just as capable of pressing as he is protecting the backline as a lone pivot, which makes him a manager’s dream. However, he rarely wins the ball back from pressing from the front because this action only happens in certain situations such as a goal kick. The defensive action map below showcases this well as and highlights where Partey does his most damage defensively.

Instead of pressing from the front, he shadows players in a one-on-one scenario to prevent passes into them, or to stop the opposition from cutting through Arsenal’s midfield with vertical progressive passes. He can sometimes approach opponents with a poor pressing angle, which can lead to him getting beat. But for the most part, he has good technique and does well to nullify the best opposing on-ball midfielder.

This leads nicely onto another one of Partey’s best defensive attributes, which is his situational awareness. He can make the occasional highlight play using this but for the most part, it helps him keep great positioning and execute on the basics of defending. This translates to good defending of open space, defending in midfield or covering the wide areas, which are enhanced when you factor in his physical talents. Therefore, it makes him a very good team defender and a player capable of protecting the defence as either a lone pivot or alongside midfield partners.

The only weakness in his awareness is that he’s only excellent when the action is happening in front of him because his scanning is quite poor. He can be caught ball-watching a little too much and doesn’t scan in a 360⁰ angle. Therefore, it makes Partey susceptible to runs in behind as he can’t track where the opponent moves. This tends to occur when he is playing higher up the pitch and is tasked with pressing from the front.

From a statistical standpoint, Partey stacks up decently against midfielders in Europe’s top 5 leagues. Despite some occasional whiffs on plays, Partey wins quite a few tackles thanks to his decent technique and physical advantages, making him a great one-on-one defender.

It should also be noted that these numbers are not adjusted for possession, which is to detriment of Partey’s statistical impact. This is because Arsenal are a team that have higher possession numbers than most, which means Arsenal players don’t have the opportunity to make as many tackles and interceptions as a team that has very little possession. Thus, if these numbers were adjusted to possession, then Partey would rank a little higher.

From a team defending standpoint, Partey is somewhere in the middle as shown below.

He ranks highly for recovering the ball, which shouldn’t be a surprise as we saw his defensive actions map earlier. With regards to pressing, he demonstrates decent output but nothing to write home about. This correlates well with some of the match footage as Partey’s great defensive energy can sometimes be undone with his pressing angle approach. However, I still view him as a stronger team defender than these numbers suggest because his awareness and ability to play multiple roles is fundamental for team success.

Scoring

Scoring is by far the weakest aspect of Partey’s game, granted it is not required for him to have. There isn’t much to discuss here because of how deep he plays and even when he has played in a box-to-box role, he hasn’t provided any impact on the goalscoring end.

In the general overview section, I mentioned how Partey has high xG numbers in comparison to other midfielders. His inflation in these numbers come from shots from outside the box that he should be discouraged to take. During his time with the Gunners, Partey has not showcased any ability to covert such low-value shots for him to keep taking them consistently per game. While he has tested the opposition keeper on the occasion, he has yet to score from distance for Arsenal. His shot map below is a damning indictment of his poor shot choice and conversion.

Several box-to-box midfielders in the game like Leon Goretzka can offer value going forward and chip in with some goals due to their off-ball movement. Unfortunately, Partey has not been able to utilise any off-ball ability due to his role. The extent of his activity without the ball is relocating for a pass from either a defender or midfielder to progress the ball.

Tactical Review of the Transfer

Now that Partey’s skillset has been covered, it’s important to discuss how he was used at Arsenal since his transfer and whether it has limited his impact on the North London outfit. The signing was meant to help solve the chance creation issues that Arteta’s team had encountered so this section will be about the attacking side of the game. But first, we need to look back at the Ghanaian’s time in Spain, where he was one of the most influential players for Atlético Madrid under manager Diego Simeone.

Whilst Atléti have a reputation for playing incredibly defensive football, Simeone built a side that was ideal for Partey to thrive in from an attacking standpoint. His team played a narrow 4–4–2 with the wide midfielders tucking into the centre and the full-backs pushing up into the vacated space.

Partey featured in a double pivot that had many options in between the lines or the two options out wide to find, which meant that Atléti could take advantage of the 28-year-old’s phenomenal passing.

Meanwhile, at Arsenal, Arteta deployed various formations and set-ups to try and get the Gunners firing upfront. The staple in build-up play has been the 3–2–5/2–3–5 with Partey being a part of the midfield rather than dropping to defence like Xhaka would often do. This set-up wasn’t hugely successful though, with Arsenal lacking the correct personnel to pull it off.

In the early part of the season, Arteta had to use Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and either Willian or Nicolas Pépé in the half spaces whilst Alexandre Lacazette started upfront. With Aubameyang’s poacher instinct, his role in the left half-space was to be on the line of defence to make off-ball runs into the box, which meant Lacazette would have to drop deep to offer support as a false nine. While the Frenchman can do this well, he was not consistent with it as he still had to be in the box to score. This left Partey with and a large amount of space to penetrate with very limited options going forward because they were too far away.

The emergence of Emile Smith-Rowe and signing Martin Ødegaard on loan changed that as they helped Arsenal have a major uptick in form post-Christmas. Despite both youngsters not racking up high goals and assists, their contribution was important as they provided better options in the half-spaces. Smith-Rowe is an expert on the left, capable of combining well with his teammates higher up the pitch as well as possessing great close control and energy. Meanwhile, Ødegaard drops a little deeper to be a linkman to the attack and midfield on the right side with his incisive passing. A great piece here by Max Taylor and Jon Olllington showcases their influence at Arsenal in a more complete picture. Overall, their inclusion allows Partey to find players in between the lines much easier and they can then go on to impact the final third.

While Arsenal may have been unable to get the best out of Partey early in the season, there were problems in Arsenal’s game that the midfielder’s presence solved quite well. The Gunners don’t tend to struggle in build-up play often but a common occurrence when playing out from the back or trying to get the ball to their attacking players, they play the ball extremely slowly. The lack of intensity allows the opposition to sit in their favourable shape and doesn’t encourage any movement or rotations on Arsenal’s part, which leads to stale build-up play. Partey’s inclusion in the line-up here was important as he possesses a desire to play the ball forward and pass with quickness as shown below.

Here, Arsenal were unable to break into Leicester’s deep block despite some good attempts from David Luiz to play passes in behind. It took the Gunners a minute to get an opportunity to break through Leicester with Partey getting on the ball to lift a great ball over the top that resulted in Arsenal winning a corner from a good chance.

Final Thoughts

It’s quite clear that Arsenal have an incredibly talented player on their hands, capable of producing moments of brilliance on the ball whilst providing solidity off it. Whilst fans can be forgiven for expecting a little more from a floor-raising midfielder, the system surrounding the Ghanaian didn’t take advantage of his strengths. He’s also a player impacting play before the final third, whereas Arsenal lacked the quality in chance creation in and around the box, so it is a little unfair to put that on Partey. Combine this with his injury issues throughout the year and adapting to a new league and country, it should be regarded as a solid debut season.

With the addition of several players in key positions, such as Ødegaard and Takehiro Tomiyasu, Arsenal have built a very good first XI around Partey to get back into the top six. Now with a season under his belt and players that suit Arteta’s system better, it should result in a positive season for both the club and its star midfielder.