Aaron Ramsey’s hopes of a move back into the centre of midfield have been scuppered by Arsene Wenger who says he doesn’t view the Welsh international as a deep-lying midfielder, and that he doesn’t want to blunt his attacking effectiveness by asking him to do that kind of job anyway.
Ramsey has spoken previously about playing in his preferred position, but the Arsenal manager doesn’t view a potential partnership with Santi Cazorla as secure enough. In the absence of Coquelin it seems that Mathieu Flamini, Mikel Arteta and even Calum Chambers will be asked to fill the gap.
“Ramsey is more an offensive player, he is not a tactical, defensive player, he said. “I will use him there when the game demands but is he naturally, with Cazorla, a balanced pair? Defensively, certainly, it’s a very adventurous one!
“I am a bit cautious on that front and I do not want to unbalance the team. I used him on the right because he gives us a balance, because we have Özil, who is an offensive player, we have Sánchez, we have Giroud or Walcott, and we have Cazorla, so to balance a bit defensively I use Ramsey on the right.
“That’s where I will certainly continue to use him, unless the game demands to attack.”
And it’s more about ensuring we get the most from Ramsey, who scored 16 goals the season before last, than not being confident he could do the job.
“He is not afraid to tackle but he likes to go in the box,” said Wenger. “He has a good timing of runs and he wants the ball and he wants to go forward. If you take that out of him, if you say: ‘Look, you have to sit now, sit there and wait,’ you kill his strengths.”
Cazorla and Ozil are the two best midfielders in the Premier League so far this season, and I agree with Wenger that Ramsey and Cazorla is a dangerous combination behind Ozil. Plus, the best the team has looked the past couple of seasons was the second half of last season, and it came with Ramsey playing wide right. That’s his place in the team at the moment, he just has to accept it (which, to be fair, he seems to, even if the odd reporter baits him for a quote). I’m sure he’d rather play where he’s playing than not… Read more »
Wilshere will probably not get beyond being a substitute and a rotation player this season. Next season? Maybe that’s when he starts challenging Cazorla for his spot in the team. Cazorla is probably past his peak in terms of age, and Wilshere is his most natural successor. He will have to get some continued fitness going though.
I absolutely love Jack, and want nothing more then to see him do well for Arsenal. But I just don’t think he is ever going to be able to stay fit for a whole season.
Not sure I agree. Ramsey’s best spell in midfield was alongside a deep lying distributor in Arteta. His tackling and interception stats were amongst the best in the league.
It’s not too big an adaption to play alongside Cazorla surely.
Just my opinion.
I think that’s fair but back then Ozil was either not playing at all due to injury or he was not playing well like now.
And Arteta is a similar player to Cazorla but Cazorla is more of an offensive player and he is much more involved in our attacking 3rd.
If we play Ramsey, I am sure he can do a job for us but I think we will not see best of Ramsey and we will be much more susceptibel to the counter attack.
That’s right, we conceded 6 against city 6 against Chelsea and 5 against Liverpool. They were only dominant against lesser teams. Thats why the boss is saying Ramsey and cazorla is far too dangerous.
Ramsey was injured on both occasions.
But, our system was slightly different that season. Much less proactive than it is now
Ramsey didn’t play in the Liverpool or Chelsea drubbings. That’d be Wilshere.
It’s a nice conundrum to have and Ramsey’s return should spice things up nicely! COYG!
Surely he can put ramsey along side flamini and put cazrola further up? He doesnt have to play along side Santi. For me, Ramsey is a tad wasted on the right. In central mid he can play box to box and its not as if his tackling and interception stats are bad.
Ramsey is a bit wasted on the right, but Cazorla would also be a bit wasted in a wide position. Plus I don’t remember seeing Cazorla play wide right for us? Doing that takes him farther from Ozil and Alexis, and it’s those three who make things happen for us. And playing Cazorla wide left would mean moving Alexis to the right, where he would surely be good but he has just been so devastatingly effective from that left wing position. The team looked unplayable last year with Cazorla in the middle and Ramsey wide right. Cazorla and Ozil both… Read more »
I agree Bobby. Ramsey is not a natural wide player, he drifts infield too much and because he lacks the pace of a top-level winger this contributes to him often being badly out of position when we lost a ball, and our right flank becomes a weak link. I really like Ramsey but his strength is as a box-to-box midfielder. If he can’t get in central midfield then he should be on the bench. Our central midfield is generally overcrowded, but because so many of our midfielders are injury prone and almost certain to miss 15+ games a season, we… Read more »
Love him on the right. Creates an extra body in midfield and it really suits Cazorla and Ozil.
I’ve noticed that we play really fast, fluid football whenever ramsey is in the team. Intelligent player. Just needs to get a couple of goals in and he can help us with the title push!
Ramsey on the right and Bellerín at right back is a fantastic combo. It allows Aaron to drift inside and Hector to fly up the touch line. It’s as though both players cover a position and a half.
Upvoted for your username
Spot on. It also gives Aaron more space to run into, when played centrally he has to charge straight at goal but from wide-ish right he can bend his run. Not to mention, it’s his angular position relative to Özil that counts rather than distance – if Mesut can’t see him, he can’t track those devastating runs from deep.
In the general sense, i think Rambo is more effective in the centre of the park. But given the current situation – with The Ox and Theo out – he would be my first choice on the right. (Not a slight against Campbell, mind you).
And based on form, Campbell should really keep his place. Certainly against a team like Norwich, bring Ramsey in for a hard away game, see how he does, what will Arsene do? I do miss seeing Ramsey link up with Ozil… With a purring Ozil-Sanchez-Ramsey-Cazorla, things might get crazy, I want some big wins boys
Personally, I would bench Sanchez and give him some rest whilst keeping Campbell out left (if he can play there, of course). Allows Ramsey a way back in, allows Sanchez a rest and allows Campbell to maintain playing time. If things get hairy, bring on Sanchez if Campbell isn’t performing or if Ramsey’s fitness levels are low. Best of all worlds in my mind.
I agree with this. Ramsey lacks the tactical discipline to play as a DM. Its kind of like asking Gerrard in his peak to play as a DM…it totally inhibits his strengths. Only way I see Ramsey back in the middle is if we have a DM in the Arteta/Busquets/Alonso mould.
Wenger knows
Three thumb downers think Wenger doesn’t know! Really?? Who are these people that know the players and the formations better than Arsene?
Rant over.
The same people who thought we should have bought Benzema, Ryan Babel, Nuri Sahin, M’Vila, Frey and those sorts.
You know, those who haven’t got the first clue what they are talking about, have zero inside knowledge but front their opinion as a way to beat a manager who has accomplished far, far more than they ever will.
That’s a brilliant headline/photo combination.
Hmm I feel it would be harsh to drop Campbell after his performance midweek… I guess we will see what the boss has up his sleeve. Don’t think he will play Ramsey the full 90 anyway
I think I agree with Wenger.
As long as Ozil and Carzola play, I think it would be sensible to play Ramsey on the right.
Plus, we still don’t have reliable option there other than Ramsey.
Ox is struggling for consistency and injury and althoug Campbell played really well on Tuesday, he is still fighting for his future at Arsenal.
I think our best football came when we play ST Sanchez Ozil Ramsey Carzola DM. I think we must stick to it.
Upgrade on ST and and decent competiton/backup needed on DM in the summer plz.
Agree on buys… Maybe that young DM chap out of Porto in January and Aubameyang in summer?
Yeah I wish Arsene does something in January but I don’t think he will unless we have set backs to those players that are coming back.
I think by looking at the current fixtures, we shd win most of the games bar Man City and Southampton until New year. Hope we can win them and see how our injury situation is again in Jan.
Oh and decent DM and Aubameyang would be like a dream.
What guy from Porto? Carvahlo from Sporting Lisbon rather and Lukaku though…
Based on pure, cold analysis, there are about five better strikers in world football than Giroud, maybe six or seven at most AND they all play for teams who have no need to sell.
He does need to work on his big chance conversion rate, he actually pads his conversion rate by doing really well off half chances. That’s why he frustrates people – he scores then ones he’s expected to miss and misses the ones he’s expected to score. I’d rather have him on the pitch if the team is only creating lots of poor chances though.
I think it’s less a case of Ramsey not replacing Coquelin as not being able to displace Cazorla. He’s our best option in the right too at the moment if not full stop. Our attacking force desperately needs rotation at the moment and I think it’s here Ramsey will get his chances.
I think Campbell is starting to blossom, and all he needs is the consistency of games, he will be hard to push out of that position if he can play every game like mid week.
He had one good game mate but I hope you are right!
He was very good against Swansea too. Makes it two good games in a short run of games, not too bad.
Cazorla’s possibly the most important part of how we play. His distribution from deep and two footed Ness mean no one is good enough to displace him.
Few years ago Ramsey was way more disciplined than he is now. That’s why he could play as B2B and he was one of the best in the league. But now he wants to be like Ozil.. His doesn’t put his defensive duties equally as attacking. If he wants to be in the centre of midfield again he needs to be more disciplined and i think Wenger is trying to teach him that with playing him on the wing but even there he is always driving inside. I think Ozil was so good in his last games because Ramsey didn’t… Read more »
Right, centre, deep, advanced, it’s just great to have him back
Arsenal’s biggest upturn in fortunes happened when Cazorla was moved deep and we best Man City last year. I honestly thought that that display of his was the best by any player in the PL the whole of last season. Read this analysis of Cazorla against Dinamo by 7am Kickoff: http://www.7amkickoff.com/2015/cazorla-shows-size-doesnt-matter-as-he-bosses-dinamos-midfield. It would be interesting to extrapolate his performances from that Man City performance to current. It could new suggested that our defensive performance, even though Coquelin has been superb, has more to do with Cazorla than Coq. Moving Ramsey centrally might disrupt the fantastic balance down the right with… Read more »
Well, this is not surprising. A lot of Europe is moving to the right.
We have 3 good options at RW all offer different attributes – Ramsey – Creative vision and passing. Prefers to cut in allowing Bellerin to overlap Ox – Genuine pace and skill on the ball when moving forward. Stays wide and stretches the game. Needs to improve with defensive awareness Campbell – For limited time starting, he shows he protects the ball well and has great technical skills. Also very aware and uses the ball well. Protects the RB like Ramsey but also offers support going forward. Can switch to LW in lieu of Alexis This must surely be a… Read more »
I think we can get a bit caught up on positions. Freddie was not a typical winger but a very effective right sided midfielder. In essence Ramsey is needed to carry out the old inside right position with Hector offering the width. If Ramsey embraces the role we could have a very influential Freddie style player on our hands. Plenty goals in rambo