Let me start by reiterating where I stand re Aaron Ramsey, or for that matter, on any young Gunner who wears the shirt with pride and gives their all for the team: I support them unreservedly.
For me, they are not machines from which we can pull the plug if we don’t like what we are seeing.
Anybody under the age of 23 at Arsenal is still growing into a mature, top-Gunner. Some will make it and some don’t, but just like potted flowers need to be watered regularly, our young talent need to be showered with encouragement and support as much as we can. We, as supporters, need to help our (young) players to reach their potential, because they are part of us, and by investing our energy in supporting them, on and off the field, we will be richly rewarded eventually.
That’s how the likes of RvP, Theo, Song and Koz have become such important players for us now: ‘we’, especially Arsene Wenger and his coaching staff, made them believe in themselves and finally they are starting to deliver for us.
Although the above sounds utterly logical – well, at least it does to me – a large number of fans seem to do the absolute opposite. Aaron Ramsey has recently become the favourite scapegoat for all that is perceived to be wrong at Arsenal, and he is suffering from it.
I could, now, go down the path of the hardship Aaron has had to endure over the last two years. How many times will he have woken up in the middle of the night, covered in sweat, worrying he might never play footie, or anywhere near to his full potential, again? It’s likely that the suicide of Gary Speed, his former national manager and hero, also has had a profound impact on him during the last six months.
Anybody who possesses a healthy dose of empathy and compassion should therefore take it easy on him at the moment – this is only his first full season for Arsenal, after all.
But, I don’t want to pity him too much. This post is about fighting back for Aaron from a pure footballing point-of-view.
As with any up and coming young player, it takes a while before we decide whether we believe he is good enough to make it at Arsenal. But I never doubted Aaron would make it at Arsenal before he broke his leg, and a number of fine performances at the start of the season – notably in Europe – have reconfirmed to me that he still has what it takes to become one of our future legends.
This season, he has been finding his feet, sometimes literally, but only now does he play in the best position for him: the one next to the DM – the link-up, box-to-box midfielder.
Ramsey is no Arteta, but then Arteta had effectively become our ‘first’ DM, and our more obvious choice of DM, Song, became our main link-up midfielder, although these roles were interchanged regularly during matches. Song and Arteta established a fine partnership this year and the latter has been duly missed since his recent injury.
Since Arteta’s season-ending injury, the defensive duties of our midfield have been a shambles. Song has not reverted back to the more traditional holding DM role and Ramsey cannot fill the gaps that are left behind in the way Arteta did. On top of that, and just as worrying, Song and Ramsey are not playing closely together and don’t form a strong partnership at the moment. There is no shape to our midfield as all players – including our most advanced AM, Rosicky – seem to be moving all over the place without much cohesion. Add to that the recent tendency of our CB’s to go bombing forward, running or passing straight through our midfield, and it becomes clear why our midfield has been struggling so much with being the absolute centre of our team.
In the game against Norwich, Ramsey had the highest pass accuracy of all 28 players on the pitch. See match statistics as per link below (posted by Gooner in Exile on Monday):
http://www.whoscored.com/Matches/507262/LiveStatistics/England-Premier-League-2011-2012-Arsenal-Norwich
Yet, he only had 51 touches in 63 minutes of football, and that for an Arsenal – Wenger era – midfield link-up player! I watched the game again (Sky extended highlights) and I got tired from counting the number of times the ball should have been played to Ramsey, who was working his socks off to move into space to receive it. So, he received/touched the ball less than once a minute on Saturday: an absolute crime for such a pivotal position, and the main culprits were Vermaelen and Song. And there have been more games recently in which exactly the same has happened. The only time Ramsey seems to receive the ball is when his colleagues really have no other options, and that is simply not acceptable.
On the extended highlights, Ramsey’s passes were not only accurate but also very effective, moving the game on with precision and momentum. But the game needs to go through a player in his position constantly, and together with Song, Ramsey should be the fulcrum of the team: both the wall in midfield that shields our defence and the instigator for clever and effective attacks. On top of that, they should ensure the shape of our formation is kept in place and guard our style of play. The midfield also needs to bring composure and calm at times, and if this sometimes means that the game is slowed down, so be it. None of this is happening at the moment and Wenger needs to sort it out as soon as possible.
I am no expert, just a passionate life-long footie fan, as all of you are, and for the sake of blogging I am going to share with you what I believe needs to happen for the game against West Brom, if Arsenal wants to get a result there on Sunday:
First, the team need to be told by Wenger that Aaron is pivotal to our team and the ball needs to be played to him, whenever he is in a position to receive it. He should be the first on the team-sheet, so everybody knows how important he/that position is to the team. He needs a strong vote of confidence by the Boss.
Secondly, Aaron needs to be told to stand up for himself and be more demanding. He needs to remain focussed and make the game look simple, moving the ball on constantly and effectively, without feeling he needs to make a killer-pass every two minutes. He can do this.
Thirdly, Song and Aaron need to be working as a close partnership, bringing shape to the midfield, and therefore to the team, once more.
Fourthly, Song needs to sit back as a disciplined DM and shield the defence in our last game. Whether this is the best position for him long-term remains to be seen, but it is absolutely crucial that he is our traditional DM in this last and pivotal game of the season. He can do this.
Fifthly, the CB’s and the rest of the defence need to be more disciplined in holding their shape and keep their composure. Although it is great that both Koz and especially TV like to bomb forward, this needs to be carefully timed and executed. Both CB’s need to be told to play it simple most of the times, which means passing it to either Song or Ramsey, so they –especially Ramsey – can set up the next attack whilst keeping our team-shape intact. With our FB’s already going forward at the first opportunity, I see a lot more risks than benefits in our CBs also leaving their defensive positions constantly. Yet, in recent games our midfield has often been skipped by our CBs with no need to do so, leaving enormous gaps behind them (see also Rocky Lives’ great post on Monday).
Sixthly, Rosicky needs to play closer to both Ramsey and RvP, and not constantly chase the ball all over the pitch. He needs to position himself in the area in front of the opposition’s ‘D’ as much as he can. He needs to help Ramsey in setting up attacks and RvP and the wingers in finishing off chances. Rosicky and the wingers need to make each other constantly available by clever movement, so Ramsey or Song can move the game forward quickly.
But the most important thing is not to give up on Ramsey now. With the above mentioned adjustments we can get the very best out of him again and the team will fully benefit. At pivotal moments like this, we all should hold together and help a player reach another level: this is when we make them rather than break them. Victoria Concordia Crescit are not just three beautiful words: it is what makes Arsenal such a special football club, and why we are fully entitled to associate ourselves with the classification of ‘permanent class’.
TotalArsenal.
Posted by peachesgÖÖner 
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