Thomas Partey believes Arsenal had a “great season” despite missing out on Champions League football and highlighted the 2-1 home loss to Manchester City as an indication of the “level” Mikel Arteta’s team can reach.
The midfielder missed the last nine games of the season after picking up a thigh injury during April’s loss away at Crystal Palace and was forced to watch his side blow their chance to make a long-awaited return to the Champions League.
Losses to Tottenham and Newcastle in May allowed Spurs to overtake them in the top four, condemning Arsenal to the Europa League.
Still, Partey is looking at the positives.
While the campaign ended on a sour note, Arteta’s young side showed great signs of progress, with the City game in particular highlighting their improvement.
Only an injury-time winner from Rodri saw the eventual Premier League champions come away with three points, after Bukayo Saka’s opener was cancelled out by a Riyad Mahrez penalty.
Assistant manager Albert Stuivenberg slammed VAR’s decision to award the spot-kick on a dramatic New Year’s Day, with Arsenal widely credited for their performance.
“For me winning is the most important,” Partey told Joy Sports.
“It’s important to play well and have dominance in the game but in the end, if you don’t win, you don’t feel happy personally. They were the best team at that moment and we were able to play them at that level. In that end, we had a great season, short in the end but we had a great season.”
