Declan Rice admits that he was 'so excited' to have Partey back as his midfield partner

Following the 3-0 victory over Bournemouth, Declan Rice gave his honest opinion on what it’s like to play alongside Thomas Partey in Arsenal’s midfield.

This season, with everyone fit, the strongest Arsenal midfield on paper is Thomas Partey, Declan Rice, and Martin Odegaard. As good as the trio were individually last season, playing together was always going to make Arsenal’s midfield unplayable.

Mikel Arteta trusted and played it in Arsenal’s Community Shield victory against Manchester City, and we assumed it would be his normal midfield this season. However, the Spaniard chose not to do so, instead fielding Partey at right back, an experiment that failed miserably.

By the time Mikel Arteta answered the calls to switch Partey back to midfield, the Ghanaian international had sustained a serious injury that kept him out for a while. After a while out, he returned, only to make a cameo appearance against Manchester City before being out for months again.

Interestingly, Arteta did not immediately reintroduce the ex-Atletico Madrid player into the starting lineup (or even give him minutes from the bench) until after he fully recovered and passed match fitness. It didn’t sit well with some Gooners, who even chastised Arteta for not trusting the 30-year-old in big games like the 0-0 draw with Manchester City and the 1-0 loss to Bayern Munich, which he could have impacted.

Arteta eventually gave us the joy of watching a Partey-Rice-Odegaard midfield late last month versus Chelsea. Since Arsenal’s 5-0 victory over the Blues, the Partey-Rice-Odegaard midfield has been undroppable.

Partey anchors the midfield, giving Declan Rice a free role while Martin Odegaard concentrates on coordinating the attacking play.

Rice has greatly benefited from Partey’s reintegration; he has even produced an assist in each of the last three games.

After a standout performance against Bournemouth on Saturday, Rice was asked about the experience of playing alongside Partey.
He admitted; “It’s massive. The prospect of playing with Thomas — he’s been injured all season — I’ve been so excited.

“Now that he’s back, you can see the difference he makes. He’s so calm on the ball and does these body feints that create so much space.

“With him sitting there, it allows me to go forward more. You can see that with my goal and assist. The goal came so late in the game that I thought I might as well shoot, and it went in.”

Despite many assuming he was no longer part of Arteta’s game plan, Partey has been truly significant in the Premier League run-in; whether he stays or leaves, as largely expected, we will remember his brilliance during this period.

That said, next season, given Partey’s or even Jorginho’s influence anchoring the midfield, Mikel Arteta should just give Rice a free role and have a top midfield recruit, if not Partey, to fill the No. 6 role.