An interesting sub-plot to Arsenal's 1-0 loss at Nottingham Forest, thus crowing Manchester City as Premier League champions, was Mikel Arteta's decision to experiment with Thomas Partey.
The Ghana international had been reduced to a substitute role in each of the Gunners' three previous games against Chelsea, Newcastle United and Brighton & Hove Albion but earned a recall to the starting line-up at the City Ground on Saturday afternoon.
Although, his inclusion did bring about a degree of confusion when the team news was announced an hour before kick-off as it wasn't clear if Arsenal had switched to a back three or if Granit Xhaka was operating at left-back in the absence of the injured Oleksandr Zinchenko.
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Thankfully it didn't take too long for Arteta's vision to be revealed as it was Partey playing at right-back as Benjamin White resumed his central defensive partnership with Gabriel Magalhaes which meant Jakub Kiwior moved out to full-back on the opposite flank.
With Takehiro Tomiyasu ruled out for the remainder of the season after undergoing knee surgery in March, Ainsley Maitland-Niles as well as Cedric Soares out on loan and youngster Reuell Walters untested at senior level, Arteta's options at right-back have been limited in recent months.
However, the decision to experiment with Partey ultimately backfired as football.london were in attendance at the City Ground and the verdict was that the midfielder couldn't replicate what Zinchenko does and that he "looked confused about where to stand often".
With that said, Arteta defended the 29-year-old's display: "We had a lot of issues during the week with players that haven’t been able to train," he told reporters in the post-match press conference. "Some could only train half an hour yesterday. We could have done it. I think Thomas played a really good game in that position. But again, of course when you lose, I should have done something different."
Unsurprisingly, the Partey experiment has garnered a lot of chatter amongst Arsenal fans on social media. With the summer transfer window fast approaching, there has been talk of Arteta and sporting director Edu targeting a new right-back amid links to Joao Cancelo and Mohamed Simakan among others.
And despite the Spaniard's verdict on Partey's performance, some supporters are of the opinion that the audition didn't go too well and as a result, a more natural full-back should be signed this summer with @_ericflair asking: "Partey at RB was that a hint of 'we need to sign Cancelo' to Edu?".
@Erol_DS asked: "Partey inverted RB. Are we getting ready for Cancelo?", @ArsenalAxel said: "The way Arsenal are playing Partey as a hybrid player on the right side, we definitely are getting Joao Cancelo next season" and @Jaydon458 said: "This is the reason we need Cancelo, even as a backup would be good because we need the depth, Partey at right back isn’t good."
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