Arsene Wenger and Theo Walcott have heaped praise on Aaron Ramsey’s development in the last year and both tipped him for a big season at the Emirates.
The Welshman, who committed his future to the Gunners in December at a time when his form left much to be desired, has gone from strength to strength following a move into the centre of midfield and was the stand out performer in Wednesday’s first-leg Champions League qualifier win over Fenerbahce.
Reflecting on the 22-year-old’s progress since his recovery from the horrific leg-break he sustained in 2010, the boss told Arsenal Player that it was testament to the former-Cardiff man’s mental strength and focus.
“His improvement is blatant. I said that many times – our fans have to be behind the players because one year ago, nobody would have imagined that Ramsey would be at that level now.
“You have to believe in your players, especially when they are young. Every month, if they have he right attitude, they will be stronger.
“We have not only the chance but as well the merit to have all these young players together and you want them to be encouraged. It’s as well nice to see that under pressure, they respond with a good performance.”
Hinting that Ramsey’s prolonged spell on the sidelines had the unforeseen benefit of forcing the Welshman to seriously weigh up how much he wanted to succeed at the highest level, the boss continued:
“You know a player who is injured before the age of 20, he gets back to a level he was at before and he improves like nothing has happened before. The stats show that.
“It took him a while of course because it was not a simple injury. Because he was so young, what happened to him will not have damaged his career. He shows that now.
“I believe as well the fact that he was out for such a long time, he had to think about his career [and] think about how much he wants it. Sometimes, the suffering in your life, if you turn it in a positive way, can be helpful.
“Of course you do not want to wish anybody to be injured like that. We all go through periods in our life where things are not as easy as you think it can be and it’s what kind of use you make out of it [that matters]. I think he used that in a very positive way.”
Impressed with what he’s seen of his teammate since he returned after the summer break, Theo Walcott (no stranger himself to the process of winning over doubters) stressed that Ramsey could be set for a ‘breakthrough’ season.
“I said to Aaron at the start of pre-season that he was looking very sharp, very fit,” Walcott told Arsenal Player.
“He’s worked so hard throughout the whole summer and pre-season, and he wants to show people what he can do.
“It’s a massive year for him and for everyone. He’s had his injury problems as well but I think this season is definitely going to be Aaron’s, definitely.”
I love Rambo, that’s it.
of course
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55ntTCuB2vg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSZvtWYG_0c
couldn’t have put it better
In the meantime, in Orc country, Ryan Shawcross is….
… still a c**nt
No. He’s a Cunt.
Ryan Shawcross…He was a Cunt, He is a Cunt, and he will forever be a Cunt!!!
..a self-fingering cunt.
That’s the answer I was looking for. A SELF FINGERING CUNT.
Aaron ramsey saw the rocky balbao speech before the Munich game.. and now he is known as Rambo..!!
I can tell you that you have chosen a very apt nickname.
mine is the pleasure master !!
Lovely to see him growing as a player. He’s always showed he had the ingredients to succeed, even when he was getting stick left and right. Now that people are falling over themselves to heap praise on him, it’s satisfying to see.
Theo: “I told Aaron he’s looking very fit”
hehehehehe 😉
Is anybody fed up of all the jokes about someone dying when Ramsey scores?
At this rate, randumm peepleee are only gonna keep dyingg yooo
Nic Anelka’s agent passed away, but im sure that was coincidence.
noway!! im praying that fucker jamie redknapp will die next time rambo scores
wishing death on someone? classy.
Not really appropriate, but I can understand where you coming from. He talks a lot of shiite
I have to say, watching him score against Fenerbahce after bossing that midfield, and then proceed to continue to boss it afterwards until the final whistle made me extremely happy. If anyone deserves to have a breakthrough season, it’s him.
Up the Ram
“Up and Aaron!” – Radioactive Man
In 2008 it was rumoured that Bale was misfiring and that he would be involved in a swap deal with Downing. I see a similar thing here, everyone wrote him off when he was played in a different position, he finds his best position and now he will be a world beater.
I was at a game last season and actually had to tell the guy next to me to shut up. He was giving Ramsey so much shit I thought he must be fucking the guys Mrs. Fair play to him to the lad.
About the only thing I agree with Wenger about right now is we should always get behind the players we have. It’s not their fault our manager and board are greedy capitalists.
Always nice to see an “underdog” rise to the top. I have to admit I was once one of the doubters, but he has sold me over the past few months. In his current form, he is one of the first names on the teamsheet even if the unthinkable happens and AW opens that chequebook.
Ramsey’s a beast! Can’t wait for tomorrow, COYG!
Rodgers has been left frustrated after the club’s owners refused to splash £30million on Willian.
Now let’s think about this for a moment dear Brendan. If your had just used that little brain of yours and sold us Suarez for £40million (+£1), you would have been able to afford Willian + £10million (+£1) change.
Instead you are stuck with a miserable striker who desperately wants Champions League football and no Willian.
You sir are one smooth motherfucker.
Your = you
your ≠you.
Sorry.
always rated ranbo, hes always shown 100% commitment even when things were going really bad for him. total respect for the boy hes a true gunner and deserves to wear the shirt. now sign some fookin players wenger!
What a fine young man he is, having had that horrific injury, he never hid on his return, never shirked the criticism, and now he is being played in his correct position, he is thriving. Very pleased for him.
I was actually sat next to some bloke at the villa game calling for Ramsey to be taken off. When I told him to stop being an idiot, he accused me of not seeing many games. I guess there are just a lot of Arsenal fans that really don’t understand football.
he doesn’t score 10 goals in a game and ronaldinhoesque dribble past every player on the other team???? he’s crap, sell him.
As long as he cuts out the back heels, he’s convinced me!
All i can say: with iron rambo and the will to shere, arsnl fc future is magnificent…Lets kip stikin 2 our players @ al times . Luv y’all.
Americans already get enough stick with the whole ‘soccer’ thing. please don’t use the colloqualisms of the uneducated and inbred south when discussing the arsenal.
I didn’t know he was only 22. I’m even more impressed.
I believed in Ramsey so much i still have him in my fifa team 3 seasons in haha..true story
It is really positive to see Ramsey finally flourishing into the player we were hoping he can be. It is a testament to his hard work that he is back playing at the top level. I wish him luck and hope he can keep this up to become the best Welsh player in the premiership!
Real heroes don’t die, they just reload.
— John Rambo
Arsene Wenger is still in the process of moulding Ramsey, Wilshere, Walcot, Chamberlaiin, Gibbs and Jenkinson. There is a passion and team spirit with these guys that is almost homo-erotic and I love it! They are the future of AFC. They need time, but they need support from experienced world class players like Podolski Carzola, Mertesacker, Sagna and yes most definitely a few new high quality experienced signings (including Flamini). But more than anything they need the support of the Fans. Please understand what Arsene is doing and support these guys. It takes time, but everything worth having does. With… Read more »
Easily the best comment i have seen on any site about Arsenal. Your comments have embarrassed me actually because i had turned into one of those negative fan, especially after missing out on Gustavo. I have for many years supported Wenger but could not see what he was doing this season so i became on of those mindless supporters. Truth is i will always support Wenger and Arsenal, no matter what. Thanks for waking me up….
I wouldn’t say I personally had become a negative fan, but your comment strikes a chord here too mate. I won’t deny I had made a habit of sighing fairly loudly at times when Ramsey would give away the ball in dangerous areas, but at least from the couch in Sweden he didn’t need to hear it or feel too upset. The cat was a bit pissed with my sighing, but she got booted out the door and no longer sits with me during matches so that problem is solved. A degree of frustration, as covered exceedingly deeply by this… Read more »
You raise an excellent point. But when will the Arsenal faithful get their heads round the fact that it is spelled and pronounced “CAZORLA” not “CARZOLA”! The co-commentator on arsenal player can’t even get it right, and he’s paid to say it.
Thank you – this ‘Carzola’ business drives me crazy.
(Although its pronunciation is actually closer to Cathorla)
And as you say, apart from that David’s post was great.
Very encouraging point made David! We must be the 12th man behind the team this season! Let’s do it for the lads! It will be …
LANS!
Completely agree mate. Our away support is fantastic, I love hearing the passion. But the home support is embarrassing, sometimes I get surprised when the crowd at the Emirates actually applaud a good effort and not boo at the end product.
Wouldn’t mind some good support at home! Sort this out Emirates crowd!
Extremely encouraging, the guts and dignity Ramsey has shown when getting slated from the terraces in a massively over-the-top way has been genuinely impressive. A good work ethic and now an important player for us, make no mistake.
Good on you mate.
Guts and dignity…two out of three words I’d use to describe our Rambo…the third being class.
4th word: gorgeous.
Lets not get carried away now he’s no HFB
Oh he’s hotter than HFB believe you me. He’s got that classic British look, so god damn good looking 🙂
(HFB is hot too, in that Euro pretty boy very questionable fashion taste sort of way 😉 )
Anyone else thinks Wenger speaks so impressively and from the heart when he talks of his individual players- how they recover from setbacks etc? Compare this to his stock bingo phrases on signings etc
I think the personal development of players is his favourite part of the job
Well has has said before he doesn’t buy star plays, he makes them. Parlour was an average midfielder turned in to powerful winger, Petit an average leftback, Vieira in Milan reserves, stagnating winger Henry, raw talents like Anelka, Ljungberg, Fabregas, Ashley Cole, Clichy, Adebayor, RvP, Walcott, Ramsey, Whilshere, etc. Of course with this approach there will be many that can not rise to their potential. There will also be those that want to leave for homesickness, money or more ambition, and often it is out of the control of the manager. This is the inherent problem with dealing with humans.… Read more »
Agree with everything you said there, but for ‘Whilshere’
Good on Ramsey without a doubt, but you have to acknowledge that during the “comeback” period, it was excruciating to watch him perform so many bumblefucks. So there was a bit of warranted angst towards his very poor play and decision making at times. He doesn’t get a free pass because he was injured, but the fact he has worked so hard at turning those issues around makes for a very fantastic narrative. Lets hope he keeps up the form and that when he (or any player) on our squad go through a stretch of poor form they are handled… Read more »
@ Gergios — Wenger is a fantastic face for this club. Always has been, always will be. He’s a passionate man not only about football but about life in general. A great ambassador of the sport by showing integrity, love, thought, and philosophy.
you must be joking! Christ on a crutch, some of you arsene arselickers really take it too far. He’s an embarrassment to the club, a joke to anyone elsewhere. Name me one other Premier league side where Wenger would be tolerated. A manager who won’t spend a 100m quid transfer kitty! Unheard of. He should’ve been shown the door three years ago, minimum, and we’d be on a different planet now. Look at what a bright young manager and a clever CEO are doing at Spurs. Now it’s too late, this season is relatively fucked already, BECAUSE of Wenger. The… Read more »
“Look at what a bright young manager and a clever CEO are doing at Spurs.”
Those two are one game into a season where they’ll finishing below us for like the 20th straight season
Can’t wait till Hughes takes stoke down.
Ramsey is a great talent ryth frm the time we had cesc I believed in him until he got injured and I still believed in him even all ma frnd critiscised me and they even call him all sort of names and now he is prooving them all wrong. I love dis dude Rambo Rambo
@ David – loved everything you said… I think it’s incredible the stick Ramsey has got since coming back from injury. It seems AFC fans have short memories. Ramsey was showing bags of promise and potential before that horror tackle and was in some fine form. But as AW said, the young man has shown tremendous character and turned all the adversity on its head, including the crap he has got from his own fans…..
Basically everything Wenger said I’ve been saying for years! Now that he is in his right position and not out on the wing he is showing how great he really is. Keep proving the haters wrong Rambo!
I love this kid. Have believed in him from before the injury and am chuffed he’s coming good now. He’s such a lad and for someone who’s just 22 he’s shown tremendous maturity and inner strength. I can’t imagine the shite he has had to go through yet he keeps that smile on his face and carries on. Fucking class act. Here’s to Rambo continuing to go from strength to strength.
Okay shallow I know but god this man is fookin sexy
http://31.media.tumblr.com/92b26591a89d821c4b873800b6e476dd/tumblr_mrxo75PVMT1r6ibubo2_250.gif
I believe a wind of commitment is blowing through this team..can’t wait for our season to kick off since our tranfer window just kicked off!!!
Ram should keep it up and Dodge his legs avoided missing out for a loooong tin.lol
I can not believe how much stick Ramsey received from arsenal fans since he came back from injury and we are talking about the vast majority of fan postings on message boards. The kid was a dominant player at 18 in a 2 leg qualifier vs England u21 and in Wales was seen as the most promising player – yes ahead of bale . Barely past 20 a horror tackle leaves his ankle hanging off his leg . He comes backs and struggles and at 21 gets constant abuse including comments wishing he was dead. Some fans. Being welsh I… Read more »
I think there is a danger in getting carried away with Ramsey much as many did with jenkinson over last season suggesting we should sell Sagna as I remember. Ramsey has improved and he shows more combative commitment in his game which has been the principal help. IMO, he is a strong candidate to take over from Arteta once he learns (or is restricted to) more positional discipline. Both players are similar. neither can pass their man but both are excellent passers of the ball (and have good vision) I’m still not convinced that at this point of time, Ramsey… Read more »