THOMAS PARTEY SENT HOME
Ok, ok, did I lose my mind a little yesterday on the Patreon podcast when news broke from Ghana that Thomas Partey had pulled out of a game?
Yes. I did. I was a drama queen. BUT I do not regret a thing.
Some points to note.
A player should always be allowed to represent their country. It’s the highest of honours. He is the captain of Ghana, their best player, he should be free to go if he is asked.
My annoyance?
Where is the foresight from the Ghana FA?
The player has been available for 40% of our games since he joined. He had a serious injury in March that put him out long-term and crashed our season. He only lasted 3 or so games this season before aggravating the same injury again. The man has managed one 90 minutes back and Ghana want to fly him out for 2 friendlies?
It was a stupid decision, it was selfish, and it could have cost them their captain for a tough World Cup.
I’m also a bit frustrated that other clubs always seem to be better at managing this sort of thing than Arsenal. Jurgen Klopp engineered a TAA ‘injury’ so he didn’t go to an international friendly earlier in the season. After that rest, he was fit for the rest of the season. Why can’t we do the same for our important players?
The Ghanaian FA say the player is fine and the move was precautionary. My hope is that this scare (fingers crossed) is going to put the fear of god into Thomas Partey and sharpen the way he looks after himself. He needs to stay off the dance floor, he needs to get some of that horse placenta into his muscles, sleep in a cryogenic chamber, and he might even need to freelance some of Paul Pogba’s witch doctor so we can banish any evil injury spirits at the training ground.
We are not equipped to deal with a major Thomas Partey injury right now.
Longer term, let’s be clear here, we don’t need a new #8 as much as we need a long-term solution to Thomas Partey. The checkbook needs dusting off this January. We need some special young talent that has all the attributes of TP05, because that’s the only way we can be sure this squad kicks on. The patterns are clear, he cannot be relied on, so let’s make moves on the next chapter.
These are the players most similar to him in Europe. As you can see, once they get out of France, they’re expensive. The scouts and analysts are going to have to get cracking if we want to find someone that doesn’t cost £100m.
Right, that’s the post today, get on the Patreon, Johnny’s new rap is on it (it’s awesome) and our latest Before The Whistle.
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NEW PATREON DROP: WE TALK THOMAS PARTEY AND HIS LATEST INJURY, ATTACKING STATS, AND @IJOHNNYCOCHRANE DEBUTS A NEW RAP
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— Le Grove (@LeGrove) September 23, 2022