Partey not at the Party – The Midfield and team permutations for the Semi-Final 1st Leg.

Foolish TP

For an experienced player to let his teammates and manager down with a silly and needless booking was disappointing. Obviously, it did not spoil the moment for the fans and the club, reaching their first Champions League Semi Final for 16 years, but with Jorginho injured the Ghanaian’s absence certainly gives Arteta a headache. We all saw the man of the moment; Declan Rice tell his senior colleague what he thought about Partey’s idiocy.

As we all come down from our respective cloud nine, we are all, no doubt, beginning to ponder what Arteta will be planning for the visit of PSG, without 2 of his first-choice central midfielders. I have seen many varied suggestions, all of which make sense, to some degree or another in my mind, but I am convinced that our manager will be seeking the solution that least disrupts what is becoming a successful formula in this competition. Of course, he has 2 league outings to experiment, but I thought I would list the various potential solutions here:

Option 1 – On social media, the most popular option I have seen seems to favour moving Lewis Skelly to the Number 6 position, shifting Timber to left back and slotting Ben White back in on the right. I can see the merit here but White’s one on one job against either of PSG’s flying wingers scares me.

MLS at 6? (Credit Arsenal.com

Option 2 – Given my fear for White in the one on ones, the other option for left back is Zinchenko or Tierney and given my trepidation about the PSG wing pace and trickery the Scotsman’s superior defensive prowess gives him the edge here. This leaves Timber on the right where he has been quite brilliant and adds width to our left side attacking options, allowing Tierney to overlap Gabi.

Option 3 – Whilst MLS can undoubtedly thrive at 6, and it may be his long-term position, his performances at LB make me reluctant to see the move now. Leaving him in his current role, moving Rice to 6, Merino back to left 8 and allowing Trossard to play False 9 is the second permutation. Again, I cannot see Arteta wishing to lose Rice’s attacking licence or Merino’s increased confidence at 9.

Doe anyone want Rice back at 6 now? (Credit arsenal.com)

Option 4 – Whilst I think Zinchenko’s days as and inverted full back have passed, At Arsenal at least, the fourth option is simply to slot the Ukrainian into Partey’s vacated position. This solution is the one that means no disruption in the other outfield roles and Zinchenko certainly has the same ability to break the liens with incisive passing that the Ghanaian provides. The Concerns here might be about Olly’s mobility and his tendency to dwell on the ball, given the strength of the PSG’s midfield press.

Zinchenko at 6? Credit: Arsenal.com

Option 5 – An entirely left field suggestion might be to bring Nwaneri into the starting 11 at right 8 and ask our skipper Odegaard to exercise self-discipline and sit for this match only. Given how deep he has been of late, collecting the ball from the back line and how out of sorts he see3sm in the attacking third, is this craziest option? I recall under Wenger with an injury crisis we had to play Rosicky and Oxlade-Chamberlain in deeper central midfield roles in 2012. We won 3-0 and were a van Persie miss away from winning by 4 and levelling  the tie.

Option 6 – Many supporters have hoped to see Martinelli tried through the centre again and the winner last week will have whetted that appetite further. PSG’s weakness might be their central defence and Gabi’s pace and ability to run behind could be exciting. This permutation sees Merino back at left 8, Rice at 6 and Trossard in his accustomed left-wing role.

Gabi at 9? (Credit Arsenal.com)

Option 7 – Whilst perhaps radical another solution would be to slot Ben White into Partey’s berth. In his early time at Arsenal, there was much call for Arteta to try White at DM, as the player had played there competently for Leeds on loan from Brighton. A variation on this solution of course, is to play Benny Blanco at right back and Timber at 6. My reservations on White one on one versus the PSG wingers still applies.

Option 8 – You tell me in the comments or on social media.

I think I favour Option 4 at the moment as I an reluctant to see MLS moved but is Arteta does ask the youngster at move then I would want to see Tierney at left back as per Option 2.

Note that all of the above assuming that neither Calafiori or Jorginho are available.

This afternoon’s selection and substitutions today, against a weak Ipswich side may offer is the first clue into Arteta’s thoughts  ….

Dave Seager

Passionate fifty-something Arsenal supporter who has been making the journey to N5 regularly since the early 1980s – although his first game was in 1976. Always passionate when talking about The Arsenal, Dave decided to send a guest blog to Gunnersphere in the summer of 2011 and has not stopped writing about the Gunners since.

He set up his own site – 1 Nil Down 2 One Up – in February 2012, which he moved on in 2016 to concentrate on freelance writing and building Gunners Town, which he launched with Paul in 2014.

The objective of GT was to be new and fresh and to give a platform for likeminded passionate Arsenal fans wishing to write about their team. Dave still of course, writes for the site himself and advises the ever-changing writing crew.