Villarreal knocked Arsenal out of the Europa League, beating them 2-1 in the two-legged semi-final and pundit Martin Keown was not particularly happy with the performances of Thomas Partey and Martin Odegaard in the second leg.
The Gunners required only one goal to turn things around in the second leg which is why the manager chose to take a few risks in the attacking areas, using both Emile Smith Rowe and Martin Odegaard in his starting line-up.
Two playmakers in the side meant Thomas Partey was the only midfielder responsible for playing out from the back but the summer signing clearly failed at his job.
‘You would have thought it would have suited Partey sitting deep in that midfield but it didn’t,’ Keown told BT Sport after the game, as quoted by Metro.
‘He didn’t look like he had the energy to get round the pitch and they didn’t work off him well enough. It was the tactics from the manager, completely outnumbered in that midfield and that was the tactical plan that Arteta went with.
‘We thought we were signing the next Patrick Vieira and he hasn’t looked like that at all. Started with an injury, came back early and got injured again. Doesn’t seem to have the legs in midfield, certainly on his own.
‘We made a mistake. We should have had two midfield players side-by-side in that midfield, for compactness. We didn’t have the right balance in that midfield.
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‘And then I’m looking at Odegaard – when is he pressing? He didn’t seem to want to go and press with the frontline to create a four to stop Villarreal coming out. And then in midfield they were able to just pass us by, he wasn’t able to offer that buffer, that protection for the defence.’
Martin Odegaard arrived at Arsenal in January but since then the loan signing has not done anything noteworthy at the club. But given that he is on loan, Mikel Arteta will not be too worried about him, the manager has the option of sending him back to Real Madrid.
But it’s Thomas Partey who will be a major headache for the Arsenal boss since the midfielder has been below par throughout this season and half of the time he has been on the treatment table.
By signing Thomas Partey, everyone thought Arteta had finally solved the deep-lying midfielder’s crisis but now it looks like the manager might have to find a replacement soon enough.
