Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown likened Thomas Partey to Gunners legend Patrick Vieira after his full debut against Rapid Vienna left BT Sport’s pundits gushing over the midfielder.
The deadline day signing from Atletico Madrid was handed his first start in an Arsenal shirt in Thursday’s Europa League opener in Austria, though the visitors actually went behind on the night.
A mistake from Bernd Leno gifted Rapid an opener though David Luiz levelled with a towering header before substitute Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang secured the 2-1 victory and all three points.
Despite a testing evening for the team, Partey stood out throughout the contest and both Keown and Owen Hargreaves were blown away by his defensive and offensive skills.
‘Thomas Partey had one of the best debuts I’ve ever seen, honestly,’ said Hargreaves on BT Sport after the game.
Keown, meanwhile, was waxing lyrical about Partey throughout the game, saying at half-time: ‘I think you know when you see a player immediately add that touch of class, who wants to play and makes things happen.
‘He’s so silky smooth, he’s oozed class and been everywhere.’
After a compilation of Partey driving forward and starting attacks, Keown even compared the 27-year-old to arguably Arsenal’s greatest ever midfielder: ‘This is where he looks like Vieira for me when he’s travelling with the ball and making things happen.’
Hargreaves added: ‘Everyone is looking to him and that’s a 10 pass and he’s a holding midfield player.
‘He’s ran the whole game and you can tell he’s been playing in the Champions League because it looks too easy for him.
‘We saw before the whole range. Short, long, playing between the lines. Physically, that’s what he’s in there for, a little bit of steel.
‘With the centre-backs, boys get in bad positions, don’t worry, I’m there.’
MORE: Mikel Arteta rates Thomas Partey’s full Arsenal debut after Rapid Vienna win
Follow Metro Sport across our social channels, on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8291209 https://ift.tt/31AOUIp
No comments:
Post a Comment