ARSENAL gave fans what they wanted to see, a first start for £45million signing Thomas Partey in midfield.
But also on show was something they didn’t want to see – another defensive horror show.
Thomas Partey made his full debut for Arsenal, and was confident on the ball going forward and defendingCredit: Reuters
And once again questions will be asked as to why Emiliano Martinez was allowed to leave as Bernd Leno committed a clanger.
First for the good, apart from the unconvinving 2-1 win. Partey showed in a matter of minutes what he will bring to the Gunners’ fold.
He rarely, if ever, lost the ball. He was constantly looking forward and if he wasn’t attempting a defence splitting pass he was making a surge upfield.
The 27-year-old has been brought in to allow the creative flair of his team-mates to flourish.
He has already been likened to former Arsenal enforcer Patrick Vieira – no wonder fans are excited.
BT Sport pundits Martin Keown and Owen Hargreaves had seen enough in 45 minutes to know Arsenal had signed a beauty.
Keown said at half-time that the Ghanaian ‘oozed class’ while Hargreaves was full of praise at him ‘running the game’.
The former Manchester United midfielder later described Partey’s performance as ‘the best debut I’ve ever seen’.
He was booked for a mis-timed challenge in that opening period but he didn’t let that affect his game and seemed like he always had time on the ball.
And now for the bad – and usual suspects David Luiz and Leno make their appearances.
Mikel Arteta clearly wants his team to play out from the back – but they simply don’t have the players to do it.
Yes, Luiz, who did head his side level, can find a pass, but all too often he puts his team-mates under pressure.
Bernd Leno decided to pass the ball out of troubleCredit: BT Sport
Unfortunately for the German, his pass went straight to the opposition and led to a goalCredit: BT Sport
David Luiz and Bernd Leno combined to gift Rapid Vienna the opening goalCredit: Reuters
And when that team-mate is Leno, you’re bang in trouble.
The German stopped made numerous errors trying to pass out, and was punished for one of these when passing it straight to Ercan Kara who laid in Taxiarchis Fountas to score.
He hadn’t learnt that lesson, and Rapid Vienna will be gutted they didn’t score another two goals from his errors.
On a disappointing night of performances from Arsenal’s players, Partey stood out head and shoulders above the restCredit: Reuters
All the while over at Aston Villa Emiliano Martinez is impressing all with his shot-stopping, passing out and general confidence in the box.
One of Partey’s roles as a box-to-box midfielder will be to try and protect the back four.
Against better teams than Rapid Vienna that will be crucial, as there are still major flaws in the defence that Arteta needs to sort out.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
