He may have caught the eye with his goal scoring exploits last season, culminating in that FA Cup final winner at Wembley, but Arsene Wenger has urged Aaron Ramsey to not focus too much on that part of his game.
The Welsh Jesus ended up with 18 goals for club and country in the last campaign, a total made more impressive by his unfortunate mid-season lay-off, and while he’s already got three to his name this time around, the Arsenal manager is looking for him to concentrate on his all-round game.
Speaking at his press conference ahead of tomorrow night’s Champions League tie with Anderlecht, Wenger said, “A midfielder is a player who defends well, attacks well and keeps his priorities right.
“He’s not a goalscorer, so he has not to be obsessed by that. I just want him to do his job well. The goals are the consequence of the quality of his game. I don’t believe that he has to be obsessed by that.
“He’s running after consistency. He’s one of the players who has been very efficient last season. Since the start of the season, he has not had a consistent run. He’s now coming back – he has been sick as well.”
The illness explains why he wasn’t in the starting line up for the game against Burnley at the weekend, but after a hamstring scare, maybe that bit of extra rest won’t do him any harm as he seeks to play himself into form over the coming games.
I agree with Wenger but also he has to help him in that. Last season Ramsey played a deeper role than he has been used this season. Most of his goals came from getting into the box from deep and no one picking up his run. Of course he has an amazing goal in him but this season it’s looked as if he is trying to score too much. Whether that’s because of where he is playing and the system we are using or it’s him I don’t know. This season at times he has taken a little but too… Read more »
Is it just me or does Ramsey seemed visibly frustrated that things just didn’t seem to go his way the last few games?! It’s like each time he took a shot he expected it to go in. It might just be me, but I sense that he is struggling to meet his own expectations. The boss will do well to lower them.
I’m not too surprised to see a comment like this from Arsene. Ramsey’s game has suffered from trying to over- complicate his play for pretty much the whole season so far. The way that Ramsey became so good in the first place was by doing the basics well and building from there. Excellent reminder to the player Arsene. I have full faith in my fellow Welshman. Whoever would have thought that Jesus was from Cardiff!
Actually no. He did the basics well, he still does. But the other stuff came off as well last year. The thing is, players moved differently last year, now we have Welbeck and Alexis who are different players than the ones he’s used to, and maybe they don’t expect these types of passes and movements from him. Right now he’s not ‘overcomplicating’ his play, stuff just isn’t coming off.
Most of of our problems have come from trying to accommodate players into our first 11.
We need to find balance in our first 11, and shift a few for a more balanced squad
Ramsey is an intelligent footballer though, like Wilshere, he is guilty of overelaborate play.
I think the manager is right…Ramsey should not judge himself by goals alone. The pressure to score is less this season than last. We had only Giroud to depend on but now, Alexis, Walcott, Welbeck, Giroud, Podolski a.d Ox will share the burden. I want to see the Ramsey that will break up play, chase loose balls and seeming lost causes and pop up from deep to finish. The manager has to coach this back into him.
Aaron Ramsey scored the winning goal in the FA Cup final. He can do what ever he wants. Top boy.
This is so so so true
Needs to simplify his game a little , also Arsene needs to play him deeper like last year. But him over Wilshere for me tbh
Ramsey was never rooted in the 2 of a 4-2-3-1 and is playing roughly in the same position as last year, it’s what he’s doing (and what he’s not doing) from that position which is the issue.
I disagree, I think the 4 midfielders in our new 4141 have been given license to roam and for me it’s made the whole unit look disjointed. Ramsey looks better, for me at least, playing deeper along side a disciplined midfielder, it places more discipline on his game as well which I think he needs
We were a 4-2-3-1 when defending but a 4-1-4-1 when attacking because Ramsey was consistently higher up the pitch than Arteta. He wouldn’t have been able to score all those goals otherwise. IMO Wenger got it spot on; the problem isn’t the formation, it’s his mentality. And if the penny drops he’ll return to his old season form!
he gets a pass for me this season because he over-achieved expectations so well last season. Play your game Aaron, the rest will come naturally after that. And when all else fails, pass to Alexis!
Ramsey needs to revert back to sitting alongside arteta as he did last season.
He was magnificent there last season and most people forget his tackle rate and defensive stats were almost as sensational as his strike rate.
This season he has seemed pre-occupied with trying to “out-no.10” the 4 or 5 other candidates for the roll.
He really doesn’t need to do this he found his niche in the team perfectly last year.
The 2nd half of the 12/13 season where he & Arteta played in the deeper roles gave us the platform to go on that great run which saw us scrap into the CL, would like to see him deeper along side Arteta again, they complement each other fairly well & Rambo is definitely better breaking up play and then going forward as opposed to someone else breaking up play and giving him the ball further up the pitch
This harks to what I mentioned regarding the importance of the link player in midfield. It doesn’t matter if we are 4-2-3-1 or 4-1-4-1. To me, this is a question of emphasis. If the link player (ostensibly either jack or Ramsey this season, but also possibly Rosicky or Diaby) moves up to provide an extra body breaking down entrenched defenses, we are in a 4-1-4-1. If he holds next to the DM, we are 4-2-3-1. It is important for the link player to thread defense to attack and vice versa. Jack hasn’t quite got to grips with this yet due… Read more »
It’s make’s a big difference between 4231 and 4141 as taking a player out of the 4 and placing him deeper opens up more space for our attacking midfield, better passing options and angles for those playing deeper, as well as a better defensive platform for the overall team.
I agree. This is why Sami Khedira and Xabi Alonso are so valuable to their respective teams.
The formation you play is based off of how your defend, especially teams like Arsenal who attack with a fluid, almost free form system. Defensively last year, Ramsey would sit next to Arteta in that 2, whereas this year I notice Ramsey defending a lot higher up the pitch than he did last year. On another note when we have the ball, it seems like he is trying to receive the ball a lot higher up the pitch this year. Previously he would receive deep and distribute, and then many of his goals would come from surging runs into the… Read more »
If Ramsey actually keeps his game simple like he did last year and plays his complete game, I can see us solidify that defense again like we did last year. Unlike most on the blogosphere, I think Flamini has done very well breaking up plays in front of the defense this year. Both guys playing in that midfield base will cover a lot of gaps in the midfield
Whenever I see your username, I feel the urge to go and watch a clip of THAT goal.
He did well last game, but that has been it imo. Maybe he’s back into the groove now and we’ll be ok to leave it until the summer to get another midfielder, I’ll hold off on trusting him until he’s done it a little more though.
Yeah that goal against Spurs where in the same game Davids went from one of my childhood favourite to absolute cunt in a matter of seconds.
We were in top four last year because of Ramsey; therefore the system that allows him to thrive should be a priority for the manager. Too many fans have very short memory and are quick underestimating him again.