‘Wow, Hallelujah’; Tony Adams loves what he’s seen from Thomas Partey

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Tony Adams can’t hide his delight at Thomas Partey. The Ghanian has left a fantastic impression on the ex-Arsenal captain.

Tony Adams clearly loves Thomas Partey. The new Arsenal midfielder appears to have done just about everything Adams wanted to see, in fact.

“You’ve got presence, you’ve got a leader,” Adams told Sky Sports. “[Partey’s] performance against Manchester United was phenomenal. For me, the best player on the pitch.

“He got around the pitch, he covered, he doubled up on the defending, he kept the lines very narrow. All the defensive principles of a holding midfield player were excellently done by this guy.

“I was really excited. Watching that game, for the first time in a long time, I went ‘Wow, Hallelujah’.”

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That’s about as glowing an appraisal as you can get. Let alone from one of the greatest defensive players in Arsenal’s history. But Partey has clearly done far more than just have a good game.

He demonstrated to Adams that he naturally does the fundamentals when defending. It wasn’t that he made some great tackles or had some great moments but that Partey simply knew what to do in each situation.

And that, truly, is what should separate the Ghanian from your average top-flight defensive midfield. He’s clever in midfield, which is exactly what Arsenal need.

Now, he certainly can’t do it all on his own, as we saw against Aston Villa. But in Partey, Arsenal have a player they can build a defensive system around. He’s the only who can keep things solid and structured in a way the Gunners haven’t had in a very, very long time.