Arsenal enjoyed a fruitful season, which culminated in a record 12th FA Cup victory at Wembley against Aston Villa last weekend. Their season began in disappointing fashion, but an excellent second half of the campaign ensured the North Londoners secured third place. There have been many top performers for the Gunners this term, Aaron Ramsey being one of them.
Not many players divide opinion at the Emirates quite like Aaron Ramsey. The Welshman’s spell in North London has been something of an emotional rollercoaster. He joined Arsenal in 2008, amid genuine interest from Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United; Ramsey’s ability was unquestionable. He showed tremendous promise in the Gunners’ midfield, before suffering a horrendous broken leg at the hands of Ryan Shawcross at the Britannia Stadium in February 2010. He endured a long and frustrating recovery and inevitably, struggled to replicate the form he demonstrated prior to his injury.
Many questioned whether Ramsey would ever fully recover but he has shown immeasurable character, even in his darkest days, he never shirks away from the challenge. Last season, the Welshman was duly rewarded for his character and determination, as he enjoyed his best season in an Arsenal shirt. Before suffering an injury on Boxing Day in 2013, Ramsey had arguably been the outstanding player in the Premier League.
It’s no coincidence that Arsène Wenger’s side were top of the division prior to his injury. Nevertheless, when he returned after three months on the sidelines, he continued to be an extremely integral figure; he fittingly scored the winning goal in Arsenal’s FA Cup final comeback win against Hull City, which ended their much-publicised nine-year trophy drought.
This season has been slightly more underwhelming, as the emergence of Alexis Sanchez and revival enjoyed by Santi Cazorla has seen the former Cardiff midfielder shifted to the right-hand side, in order to accommodate the wealth of creative midfield flair. Despite this, Ramsey remains a prominent feature of Wenger’s side and his contribution, particularly in the second half of the campaign, has been invaluable.
He began the season in storming fashion, netting a fine individual goal in Arsenal’s 3-0 rout of Manchester City in the Community Shield, before scoring a last minute winner on the opening day at home against Crystal Palace. Additionally, Ramsey scored Arsenal’s first goal as they came back from 2-0 behind to snatch a point against Everton at Goodison Park. However, Ramsey’s incredible 2013/14 season was not purely based on his goal ratio; his energy, tenacity and creativity ensured he was becoming the complete midfielder.
Ramsey enjoyed his most profitable campaign in 2013/14, scoring ten league goals and providing nine assists in the process. As he struggled to reproduce these heroics this season, there were some suggestions that he was becoming too preoccupied on usurping this tally, however Arsène Wenger reiterated the importance of Ramsey maintaining his collective responsibility in the midfield, rather than simply chasing goals. Wenger claimed: "He has to keep his priorities right. He needs to help the team. It's not about goalscoring."
Ramsey adhered to Wenger’s advice and his performances began to improve. He is a player who possesses superb natural ability, which he matches with tremendous industry and desire. He exemplified this tenacity over the next month, and was rewarded with the individual accolades as he scored a sweet volley against Stoke, before netting a brace away at Galatasaray, which included a firm contender for Goal of the Season as he launched a blistering effort into the top corner on the half-volley, despite being 35-yards out from goal.
Yet, just as the Welsh wizard was beginning to build up confidence and momentum, he limped off with injury against the Turkish giants and was ruled out until February. Just five moments into his return against Leicester City as a substitute, Ramsey suffered a recurrence of a muscular problem and Wenger admitted he was mystified and concerned about the continual fitness issues surrounding the Welshman.
Wenger admitted: "He is a guy who is serious. He works hard and has a controlled and disciplined life so there is no reason why he should have muscular problems. We have individualised training for the players and [injury] prevention for the players and that is not a case that has been neglected. It is just we have to find the reason why that happens.”
Ramsey’s injury problems must be extremely frustrating and demoralising, particularly when the injuries occur whilst he’s enjoying a rich vein of form. However, how he responded to these setbacks is an illustration of his mentality. Fortunately, the 24-year-old has character in abundance and has responded superbly since his return in March.
Wenger has a plethora of midfield options at his disposal, although he rarely has the luxury of a selection dilemma due to the club’s notorious injury-list. However, the introduction of German fitness expert Shad Forsythe has seemingly had a positive impact and the Gunners have largely stayed fit from Christmas onwards.
As a consequence, Ramsey lost his central-midfield role, due to the emergence of Francis Coquelin and the renaissance of Santi Cazorla in a deeper playmaking role. Irrespective of this, Wenger values Ramsey’s contribution extremely highly, therefore he deployed the Welshman in an unconventional role on the right-hand flank.
After scoring the solitary goal in Arsenal’s 1-0 away win against Burnley, Ramsey was questioned by Gunners legend Thierry Henry about whether he was enjoying his stint on the right-hand side. The former Cardiff man admitted he preferred to have greater influence on matches from a central position, but maintained he was content with ‘doing a job for the team’. This exemplifies the team-spirit within the Arsenal squad at present.
Ramsey has performed diligently on the right hand-side and his influence did not wane significantly. He played an instrumental role in Arsenal’s 4-1 rout against Liverpool, continuing to reclaim possession at the expense of Liverpool’s ponderous defence, setting up two goals in the process. He also starred in Arsenal’s 3-1 victory against Hull at the KC last month.
It was a typical ‘Ramsey’ performance. Full of class, style, quality, tenacity and drive. He was instrumental in Arsenal’s most dangerous attacks, making diagonal runs from the right and consistently coming inside to receive penetrative through-balls from Ozil and Cazorla. The Hull backline found it extremely difficult to track his runs, hence his increased influence in the game.
His second-goal came courtesy of a stunning ball from Cazorla, as well as an intelligent run from Ramsey, beyond Olivier Giroud; this was a trademark of his in his prolific 2013/14 form. He controlled the lofted ball superbly and produced a clinical finish. It was a majestic goal and a timely reminder of Ramsey’s quality and timing. His movement and awareness is an invaluable attribute that bears similarities with Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard; two of the most prolific central-midfielders over the last decade of Premier League football.
The key for Aaron Ramsey next season is to enjoy a sustained period of fitness. Despite scoring 26 goals in all competitions over the last two seasons, he has only made 48 league appearances in that period; his goal-scoring tally would undoubtedly be even more impressive without his niggling injury problems. He will be desperate to reclaim his preferred central-midfield role, although he will certainly face stiff competition. Nevertheless, if he can remain fit, he will be an indispensable part of Wenger’s squad, as the veteran Frenchman searches for his first league title since 2004.