Aaron Ramsey believes partaking in a full pre-season programme last summer was a key factor in his transition from maligned prospect to top dog and underlined his ambition to take his game to an even higher level this year.
The 23-year-old was crowned Arsenal’s Player of the Season for 13/14 after netting 16 goals in 34 appearances – including the winner in the FA Cup final – and says he’s aiming to continue his upwards trajectory after the lows of his terrible leg break in 2011.
“It’s always important to get a good pre-season in you,” the Welshman told Arsenal.com ahead of Saturday’s friendly with Boreham Wood.
“Over the years, the players that have missed out on pre-season are always playing catch-up when they come back during the season. It definitely helps players to get off to a good start.
“I’m just happy [with my progress] and I want to keep on working on my game. Hopefully I can keep improving and get better and better. That’s my target now – just to improve on my game and keep on building every season.
“I’ve been through a lot in my short career so far. I’ve had a bit of everything so it was nice to have a good season, score the number of goals that I did and be recognised a lot more.
“I’ve always believed in myself and what I can do, and I think a lot of people realised that last year and that’s what I’m more happy about.”
It’s likely that Ramsey will be charged with leading the midfield from the off this year with many of his midfield cohorts still on holiday following their respective exploits at the World Cup.
He will though, as Mikel Arteta told Arseblog News last week, also have to cope with the pressure of increased supporter expectation and the attention of opponents who’ll have him down as a marked man.
It shouldn’t be a major issue for him. Having fought back from a career-threatening injury and having won over his doubters he’s done the hard work. The main thing this term will be maintaining his consistency and staying fit…oh and…scoring overhead kicks weekly, injecting John Terry with the Ebola virus, winning us the Quadruple, starring at Milan Fashion Week, freeing North Korea from the tyranny of a madcap Communist dictator and making sure he puts the bins out each week before his new missus has a moan.
No pressure Aaron.
No matter who we sign is gonna be better that Welsh Jesus. Thank god he’s a gooner.
Ramsey is useless deadweight, sell him now !
…ohh wait I thought it was 2012 .
Well…be very afraid…opponents
Rambo>vidal,kroos,pogba & Fabregas combined
Maybe not.
Maybe YES!
Well I don’t know about that. But he once took a dump and it beat Cleverly, Felaini and the whole Spurs midfield in a game of footie.
The arragorn of the mighty arsenal!
“………….underlined his ambition to take his game to an even higher level this year.” Quite a contrary to Jack Wilshere, who was caught smoking again (which he promised last year that he won’t do). Scholes is right. Jack has not improved as a player in the last couple of years. Some of that has to do with injuries and some of that has to do with Jack himself. He also goes down pretty easily during the game, which is frustrating to watch as a fan who believes that he can do better. I am hoping that Jack gets his act… Read more »
I wouldn’t go that far! hes 22 (yes I know gotze is the same) however the england/hodgson’s scouse team was not constructed in any level to suit him and neither did he have much input in the world cup! and so what if he has a few puffs (Zidane & Cruyff smoked!). the lad does have talents and I hope it does materialize
I don’t think smoking is something that should count as a personal blackmark against Jack. However, unlike fans, Jack is being paid a fortune to be at his physical best, and by smoking, he is letting his manager and team down just a little bit. Whatever he gets up to on his holidays, that kind of immaturity is not tolerated by top level clubs in 2014, just like eating junk food or drinking beer. I like Jack a lot and think he is a very good player, but he just isn’t as grown up as Aaron, and while I like… Read more »
If Jack plays like Zidane and Cruyff whilst being a smoker I will personally fly over to Morocco and pick up some duty-frees for him. The problem is he simply hasn’t played to his potential over recent seasons (injuries have played a huge part of course). With our new financial power I don’t think we will keep underperforming players longer than necessary. In recent years we’ve had to keep people like Arshavin, Chamakh, Denilson etc and keep them playing due to financial constraints. Now those are off it’ll be ‘perform or be replaced’. Jack has huge potential but if after… Read more »
@Highbury Clockhand: In Spain Jack would get like 10 free kicks per game. He goes to the ground a lot, but most of those events are clear fouls, with the opponent having no intention to hit the ball. What I don’t get in the first place is why referees ignore and tolerate this. But I guess it’s just because it’s an Arsenal player and not some twat from utd or chelsza.
He said Zidan smoked, so that just means that Jack has to live up to those greats, greats cause you mentiond that Cruyf as well. Big shoes buddy, BIG FUCKING shoes. Jack gets his act together, and he can be a great, Jack doesn’t get his act together, and he will realize that the world of football moves on, way faster than you may think. If he Jack, has any doubts about just how quickly the world of football moves on, let him have a look at all those awesome players who went to the World Cup and came away… Read more »
The cause of Jack going down a lot is getting kicked a lot. The cause of Jack’s getting kicked a lot is Jack- his style of play. Going full into challenges sometimes needlessly, running at the opposition top speed, being easy to wind up, and perhaps mostly holding onto the ball so late when a challenge is approaching. They all make for wonderful spectacle, but not for career longevity. From a viewer’s perspective it seems if Jack continues to work on being more discerning in tackles and passing a half-step earlier (needs outlets for this!), he might avoid some injuries.… Read more »
Mpls.
Firstly, fuck Scholes the overrated pint sized tool.
Second, it’s a cigarette, really we should give a shit? Jack always gives 100% on the pitch, surely that’s enough?
Lastly, enough people wrote off Ramsey not 2 years ago. He’s now our most consistent, effective player. If Jack doesn’t make it it won’t be because of a lack of application or because he’s had a fecking cigarette. Let’s just get behind him while he wears the glorious red and white!!
Other players caught smoking include Özil and Kocielny of Arsenal. Then you have Berbatov, Ballotelli and Rooney to mention a few others. Even Zinedine Zidane and Lionel Messi have been caught smoking, So it is obviously not the end of a career for a footballer. However over time they may need to put in some extra work on they’re stamina to keep it at an acceptable level if they light up regularly. Maradona liked to smoke cigars. But football is more than endurance, which is why it is possible to have a successfull career even though you smoke. But ye,… Read more »
All I have to say is…. What happens in Vegas….
All I have to say is…. What happens in Vegas…. He’ll be back fresh from holiday, cut the bullshit and get right with it. Jack’s my favourite player. Gooner through and through! He knows what it takes and he gives it 100 every single time. That’s exactly what Ramsey is like and see how he turned out. A lot of us rant about loyalty from the players, where the hell is ours? Ramsey talked about Barca and Madrid once… And after some of the fans treated him, I would thank him for his services if he chose to be on… Read more »
Is… Is it possible?
Another thing on his list of chores: kicking Maureen in his girly nuts.
Rambo
On the back of a wonderful season, the prospect on an improved Ramsey should be the 8th wonder of the world. Really Exciting times ahead of us
The Colossus of Ramsey. Visible from space.
He is the man,I love you Rambo
Great realisation that the world class player we just signed in sanchez might not even be our best player this season. What a squad.
He’s gonna score more goals than Lampard!!
lampard the retard
The prospect of Ramsey improving may just make my head explode. I am happy that the club are signing better players but I would fucking love to see Rambo get the player of the year again. His focus, his work ethic, his building on his innate talent, his courage after coming back from that horror show is so brilliant to see. Rapidly becoming a favorite for me. But as an aside, my devastated broken Arsensl heart dissuades me from ever getting a name on a shirt again. My solution is just to get a number, It lasts, and in the… Read more »
Just get an Henry 14 and be done with it.
Like me I got myself the magical no.7/Rosicly. Mark my words he will be our first Gunner to retire in Red/White in many years
either him or Diaby, could be .. “first Gunner to retire in Red/White in many years”
:p
He makes a good point about the importance of having a proper pre-season, something we’ve missed out on in recent years. Thankfully the English and Spanish will be back on Monday. Season starts in a month!
Especially if we do indeed have the new fitness coach coming in – hopefully he can give the previous routines a bit of a shake up. Reckon that would make a huge difference
I dream of the day when Ramsey and Wilshere play and destroy teams together, hopefully Wilsh can step up this season and cement a first team place.
If he can curb his attacking instincts I can see Wilshere being able to replace Arteta. Otherwise I can’t really see him having a place in the starting 11. Seeing as he played that position at Bolton, and for us before being moved up the pitch, I think he can do a job there. I actually think in some ways I preferred him playing that deeper role, picking teams apart from the back, a bit like Pirlo.
IF Khedira comes off I am genuinely excited. When you watch videos of the Invincibles one of the best things is that everyone is capable of recognising the potential to cause damage and push forward, but still have the grit to defend and the experience to hold back when possible. With both Rambo and Khedira in the middle of the park we will affectively have 6 attacking players to make runs beyond the striker, shark rebounds etc. Yet at the same time, have a solid and experienced spine to withstand pressure. For me the reason why Rambo was so godlike… Read more »
To further my point. How many times did we miss Rambo making interceptions or tackles in the centre of the park, or even higher up when he was injured last season? Its no coincidence that it wasn’t just us scoring less, but we had no flair, nor ball retention. If there are two of the same kind with a good relationship and understanding we WILL be the team to fear. Absolutely will be the best team we have had in a very VERY long time. Dare I say, 10 years.
Oh to be a…
If we don’t get Khedira I’d be happy with Bender. However, I’m surprised Besic has not been mentioned as a possible target, he played well in all of his games, and while still a little raw, he was all over the pitch.
Let us all give thanks at the altar of the Welsh Jesus for he has come to deliver us trophies and smite our enemies.
John terry is a cunt
If you didn’t improve at all and managed to stay fit all season you’d be the default bpl player of the season. If you went and got even better you’d be challenging for the throne of best/ most complete central midfielder in europe if not the world.
Here’s hoping a season full of victories and less of injuries…..I thought he deserved the young player of season rather than Hazard
Hazard is immensely talented but he seems a bit more complacent than Rambo. I think in the end Hazard won simply because he played more games. It doesn’t matter though, for me a “young player of the season” award is sort of like a “let’s see how long it takes for this kid to self-destruct and end up on reality television” award. Besides, Rambo was a legitimate shout for the grown-up player of the season award before his injury and not just from the Arsenal camp. Personal accolades are idiotic anyway. Rambo’s awesome not because he’s individually brilliant (even though… Read more »
If he’s a marked man, that leaves Ozil, Cazorla, Sanchez and Walcott free. That’s crazy squad depth in midfield!
Walcott probably won’t be back till October and Oezil is top of the world-cup exhaustion table for minutes played and miles run. He’ll also need time to chill out and mentally recover so we shouldn’t expect him to be at his best in the early part of the season. Just as Ramsey is stressing the benefits for him of getting a proper pre-season, we need to be patient with Oezil who’ll have to catch up much later. Ramsey, Wilshere, Arteta, Cazorla and Ox will need to carry us in the early weeks of the season and have a responsibility to… Read more »
Its not just the fact that he smoked, its the fact the he promised Wenger he wouldn’t
Wenger: “I’m not angry, Jack. I am just disappointed”
Top man!
And owen hass the balls to say that the arsenal won’t make top 4 and we don’t have top quality players. We’ve got Rambo, Ozil and Sanches you cunt!! Starting to think Owen might just be a bigger cunt than terry..
I wanna stamp his face.
What’s the best way to deal with a troll? Ignore him.
In this case, if you do it enough he’ll also lose his job, so there’s that to look forward to.
I wanna stamp his face when he joins me in the dole queue.
We have several players now who are one of the best in their positions:
Ramsey
Ozil
Sanchez
Mertasacker
Cazorla (arguably in a set up like Arsenal)
And, on top of all this our players have the attitude of improving (for instance, Ramsey today)
Can’t wait for the season to start. Coyg.
PS: John Terry, Btsport, Jose murinho, George w Henry and Michael Owen are c*nts
And Michael Owen is a constipated fart
Honestly, Owen is starting to get right up there with John Terry’s general level of cuntishness. Michael Owen’s predictions from last year:
– Arsenal won’t finish in the top four
– Arsenal will finish behind Tottenham
– Arsenal will finish behind Manchester United
– Liverpool will win the league
– Hull will win the FA Cup
– Arsenal won’t make any signings this summer
100% record so far. I would like very much for him to predict that I won’t win the lottery.
What I love about this guy is not just his great talent. He is so modest and humble, and seems to have no ego. Even his goal celebrations are so…ordinary! As good as Ozil, Sanchez and Cazorla are, Ramsey is the beating heart of this team. If he doesn’t get injured, I wouldn’t be surprised if he scored 20 goals next season. Giroud, Ramsey, Podolski and Theo can all get between 15-20 goals, Cazorla, Ozil and the Kosacker can get 5, then Sanchez can fill it out. I like.
I definitely agree with the goal celebrations – my favorite part is that you could probably caption each and every one with “holy shit I DID IT!”
Which is probably what we were thinking too.
Much as all this talk of new signings is exciting, the person I am most looking forward to see on the pitch again is this man. What a guy he is.
Jacks not the messiah, he’s a naughty boy, a very naughty boy and he’s not coming out to play! The messiah is welsh!!
If Ramsey improves more this season, he’ll be shoe in for the Ballon D’or nevermind EPL Player of the Year. He will not just be the supporting cast, but rather the main man in spite of Sanchez, Ozil and Khedira.
And then cue ‘he’s got Barcelona DNA’. They’d probably try to tell you he had some great grandfather who played pickup games in Catalonia during the Spanish Civil War.
Sheesh, it was a joke….obviously he’s not going to Barcelona.
Is Diaby injured yet?
I really like Aaron Ramsey.
I think people should learn the lesson to stick by a player, as long as jack shows commitment, hard work and passion then he’s allowed to make mistakes, perfect example is Ramsey.this time last season i was hearing plenty of horrible things said about Rambo and now sane people call him welsh Jesus as well…. Oh and if jack comes on leaps and bounds this year who cares if he has a cigi or 2 on holiday as long aa he doesn’t smoke during the season then I don’t see an issue I really like jack, watching him since I… Read more »
Wilshere is a right chav….teenage dad, two kids by age of 21, tattoos from his head to his arse, arrogantly smoking in public, believes his own hype but has never consistently delivered. It’s time he grew up. Ramsey, Theo and Arteta show how real pros behave…
Just to point out, I’m 23 and I have three children ages 5 to 1. The other stuff is true enough, but his family plans re his own buisness. Hell, I’d have more if I earned what Jack does. More Gooners, for one thing.
yeah but come on, they wernt planned were they
Indeed they were. Three times is a lot to be caught unawares, don’t you think? : )
I found it a funny and a bit true as he has exhibited questionable behaviour in and off the pitch sometimes.
To be fair though many footballers these days are teenage dads.
Let’s have some patience he is a better talent than the over-glorified Barkley and Henderson.
Diaby is quietly building up. We will be pleasantly surprised. I see Ramsey mk 2 in Diaby, his determination to rebound from adversity to be the toast of fans again. Ramsey though is the Messiah!
Well said. He shall come forth.
Pre-season IS key, especially for the Welsh Jesus (How Great Was My Volley?!) ;D
As evidenced last year, his performances on the Asian tour set the tone for his explosive season. He had clearly worked hard on his passing and decision making in the 2nd half of the previous (2012-2013) season, but on the tour we caught a first glimpse of the Ramsey we’ve now become accustomed to, who will take on and beat 2 defenders at once if the opportunity arises.
Here’s to another strong pre-season, followed by a campaign of even higher highs.
I think the Wilshere bashers would do well to look at the story of Aaron Ramsey before they head down a path of dissing a young player finding his way. Jack too has had long-term injury problems and this has undoubtedly hampered his progress far more than a tipsy drag on a ciggy on hols (not that I condone it). A good pre-season, a good run of games, get his rhythm and timing back (all essential for a midfielder) and he can be just as good as Rambo. Let’s not forget what he did before his on-off injury struggles. So…boo-boys… Read more »
Look, I totally agree that it does seem a bit silly to slate the boy, but I really dont think you can compare the 2 situations. Ramsey suffered an horrific injury and struggled to get through the tough times, but persevered and is now widely acclaimed for being the bollocks. Wilshere has suffered niggly injuries and struggles to get through the tough times, and behaves like a bit of a bollocks. The key difference is application. Ramsey applied himself and worked hard at his game and the perception – which, ultimately, is all we have – with Jack, is that… Read more »
All hail the Welsh Jesus! May he deliver us from the Evil one! (Maureen, spawn of the devil’s trumpet)
Owen only says these things because he wants people to notice him. If his brain werent full of Robbie Savage vomit, he wouldnt have gone to a plave like Real which around the time had strickers like Raul and Ronaldo(I guess)
I don’t care if Jack doesn’t stop smoking and drinking whilst on holiday.
What I would like him to stop doing, is getting the ball then running into people and falling over a lot!
I will await the thumbs downs but admit it, we have all been thinking it
Oh yeah…John Terry is a cunt
and…Michael Owen has the intelligence of a penile wort!
Last season – certainly pre injury – I honestly thought we had one of the world’s best players at Arsenal. Someone to rank with the Arsenal greats. Someone to rank with the likes of Messi, Zlatan and Zizou.
But consistency is the key.
If Ramsey stays fit for all our important games next season we win the Premier League title.
If Ramsey stays fit AND gets better nobody could legitimately contest we didn’t deserve it.
A smoke, seriously. People need to calm down, there’s some serious agenda out there by the media to tarnish wilshere. Zidane, messi, ballotelli, rooney, ashley cole and countless more have been photographed smoking, zero fuss. He’s his own man, let him make his own choice and stop scrutinising him all every step of the way
Off topic – BT Sport have a new advert coming out on Saturday & surprise surprise guess who gets slammed…Arsenal. If that’s not bad enough the last shot of the advert is of…surprise surprise Sturridge doing his twatty celebration! Thought you should be warned.
I think this makes BT triple cunts as Blogs might say.
John Terry & BT are cunts
I remember last season Wilshere saying how Ramsey had an amazing engine and could run all day Makes you think if Wilshere wasn’t smoking (chances are he is at home, it’s a hard habit to dip in and out of and if your not smoking a lot it just tastes like shit) Wilshere maybe wouldn’t making such rash decisions late in games and diving around if he was as fit as Ramsey, and smoking does effect your lung capacity. Messi runs less, Rooney looks fucked half the time and is much less of a player than he was when young.… Read more »
I’m all in favor of an anti-smoking stance, but what on earth did I just read?
Watching the World Cup increased my appreciation for Ramsey’s determination and ability to put himself in position to score decisive goals. (Thinking of that late, gritty header in Dortmund, and the FA cup winner in particular, but Ramsey’s doggedness in general…time and again, getting in the position to score/create those goals.) As we saw at the WC, that quality is rare. Finding a way to execute in those moments, even more so, and by no means quaranteed. Ramsey adding this grit and finish to his game, raised the bar for Arsenal as a whole. A side with Ramsey in it,… Read more »
Kroos showed with that performance in the final why Ramsey is better.
E could shag my sheep any time.
We’re behind ewe all the way!
He’ll be fine this year. I’m sure he’ll be able to cope with the “Go on Aaron, play like you did last season!” pressure better than the “Go die you’re too shit to play for Arsenal you Welsh prick” pressure he was receiving back in 2012.
I believe we would of won league last year if Ramsey and Walcott stayed fit can’t wait til palace first game and got my two day tickets to emerites cup buzzing !!!! Get annoyed with micheal Owen seems to no nothing how can he say Liverpool finish above arsenal when they’ve lost there only world class player ??????? Man is very deluded maybe too much time shifting horse shit
Dear Mr Aaron Ramsey. I am writing this letter to apologize for all the negative things I said about you…I guess I want too sentimental and naïve…I choose to ignore the difficult path you were coming from (Woe betide Shawcross,Pulis and Stoke Fc)…I was impatient and said a lot of unmentionable things about you..I hope you will find a place in your heart to forgive me… You have taught me that Patience is a virtue…and that one most value what he has…I have also learnt that standing by one’s belief irrespective of what people say is very important (all hail… Read more »