Arsenal have been building a lot of momentum recently.
The Gunners are really playing with a spring in their step at the moment, and it’s been quite some time since they lost a game in the Premier League.
The north London club seem to be riding the crest of the wave right now, but there’s one player who seems to be lagging a bit behind and not quite playing at his best.
The Arsenal player who is lagging behind
Speaking on the Handbrake Off Podcast, Adrian Clarke has been discussing some of Thomas Partey’s recent performances for Arsenal.
The pundit says that Partey seems to have lost a lot of his athleticism as of late, claiming that it often looks like he’s running carrying a rucksack on his back.
“I want to ask you about Thomas Partey, he doesn’t have the pace now. I saw it at the weekend when Kevin De Bruyne ran away from him and there was another when whoever had the ball against Luton ran away from him. Now we have Rice in there, he does all of that and he has the energy as well,” The host said.
“It’s a strange one because he’s a really powerful runner, that’s always been one of his strengths, the way he powers down the middle. I think the City game last season was an eye-opener, and it was the same at the weekend, that was really noticeable, when Declan lost it he got back quickly and won it, but when Thomas lost it it was like he had a rucksack on his back, I think he’s lost a bit of athleticism, that’s the sad truth, he’s into his 30s and he’s had injuries, so maybe that’s understandable,” Clarke said.
Thomas Partey has slowed down
Clarke isn’t wrong, the £45m man does look like he has slowed down and that is understandable.
The Ghanaian is no spring chicken these days, and after so long on the sidelines with injuries, that pace will have faded a little bit.
Whether or not he can recover that pace once he gets back into the swing of things remains to be seen, but, at the moment, he’s not looking himself.
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