At the end of a week when Aaron Ramsey’s Arsenal future, or possible lack thereof, has garnered lots of headlines, it’s unsurprising that Unai Emery had to field questions on the Welshman’s contract negotiations in his pre-Watford press conference.
Numerous sources reported this week that the Gunners had withdrawn from talks over a new deal and that the club would be willing to sell the midfielder in January so not to lose the player on a free next summer.
As you might expect, Emery did his best not to give a straight answer when quizzed on the importance of the 27-year-old, choosing instead to play up his responsibility to the collective rather than any individual.
He said: “For me, every player is very important with their relation with the team. I consider each player an important space in the squad.”
Asked if he’d like Ramsey to stay at the Emirates, Emery went on to add: “There are three elements, three aspects.
“One is the player and also the player with their family and representatives.
“The other is the club and the other is the squad. My focus is always on the team.
“My focus is preparing with the players and only thinking about the match tomorrow.
“Each player has individual aspects to work or to do or to speak with the club or with the team, but my aspect for the focus, only to think, is the matches and preparing for the matches and to speak with the players if they are thinking and are very concentrated on work for giving us the best performance and to help the collective performance.”
I think we can safely say, that the situation remains shrouded in mystery.
A good player- Not the best-
Occasionally shows what he can do , but nowt special
Will be missed at Arsenal but only because our recruitment has been poor ,
west ham maybe
No offences to the Irons, but that would be a backwardd step
Hammers will win the PL next season if that happens! jokes aside i can see them taking our target the fourth place spot surely with a wilshere-ramsey partnership.now that’s world class.while we are still stuck with traitor no.2 granit in midfield.All thanks to the traitorous leech still sucking us dry 350k a week.I will never forgive that guy.He destroyed our payroll,wengers legacy and also our budget.
Ram you’re welcome to your opinion but don’t you feel you’re being a little dramatic? You’re blaming Özil for things that are far beyond his capacity to change, and for things he can’t reasonably be blamed for. The club opted to pay him £350k a week, you can’t call him a traitor for accepting. Wenger’s legacy hasn’t been destroyed, it lives on in the club’s history and values, in its playing style and in the stadium itself. I would argue that Özil has contributed positively to that; if you dislike him as a player perhaps you view his influence differently,… Read more »
All his good attributes at box-to-box are attacking wise. That role is supposed to be a more rounded player who does as much going forward as he does going backwards. Ramsey has been lacking too much defensively for a box to box midfielder. It’s a shame because as much as he scored all those goals in 13/14, the most impressive part of his game that season, was his defensive contribution. He was on par with Arturo Vidal for tackles, interceptions and still scored all those goals. Its disappointing how he has left all of that behind, to the point that… Read more »
Looks like Aaron will be getting a super payrise when he leaves – little/no transfer fee to get him.
But little/nothing for us. How did we get to this situation? The people running the club have to take the blame, (though Gazidis will avoid this by buggering off).
If we did indeed agree terms with him as has been reported and was the club who pushed back on the deal then it’s quite clear who’s fault it is.
There. It happened. We’re looking to apportion blame for a bugger-up but Wenger is no longer there for shielding. Now what?
They can always blame it on Gazidis
Emery has been clear a few times now- his job has nothing to do with contracts etc.
I wish the journalists would accept this and ask relevant questions instead.
It’s not going to happen of course
Can you imagine how disappointed the press pit is with the Post-Wenger era?
The club will never again be such an open font of communication.
True, his conferences went well beyond the on pitch stuff.
I always thought it was a shame his punditry was with French tv and not one of the British ones
I’m not making a crack at Emery’s expense, it’s just Wenger was renowned for weighing in opinions on things outside of his normal scope as a manager, and they used to take advantage of that to generate a lot of fodder for their publications.
Emery is very sensibly sticking to his scope.
The disappointing part of this is if there is truth to the club backing out of the agreement. That’s not a confidence inspiring move. If the writing is on the wall as it seems, then I’d prefer Emery get on with focusing on building with the players who will be here. If there is an on-pitch role conflict between Ramsey and another player, the other player should get the nod here forward. Use Ramsey as needed where he is of benefit to the cause. We shouldn’t waste time trying to train into a new system someone who is on their… Read more »
For some reason, ACDC’s “Beating around the Bush” just started playing in my head…..
Should image he’ll be gone in the next window. From a business perspective it looks pretty poor on our part, but in terms of football it’s probably the best move for both. Ramsey can pick up his last big payday move and move to a team that needs him in his best position, we can get someone more appropriate to our team’s needs.
The problem is what is his best position? He is poor behind the striker, he is average on the wing, and he is poor defensively in box to box position. He has loads of energy (so do I), he is capable of moment of brilliance that is true but they come too rarely to be deemed a top top player. Yes it has a West Ham, Everton, Sevilla written all over ( maybe AC Milan;)
I think box-to-box is still his best position; his best attributes are his engine, late runs in the box and ability to makes things happen on the ball in the final third. Like Ox I reckon he’d benefit from a team that plays at a quicker, less methodical pace.
If he can find a team that plays with 3 in midfield or he otherwise gets more freedom, he’ll be golden.
Sounds like his best position is no longer our issue. Given how long we’ve wrestled with it and how little progress we’ve made, just as well.
When Wenger would give these kind of responses, we would accuse him of beating around the bush etc etc
“Right now he is taking up space, and as of January or the end of the year, he will not be in that space”
Smith Rowe to the rescue.
I suspect that’s very much the idea- why spend all that money on a new contract for him when we can sign 4/5 youth prospects down for the long term
If the decision has been made and Ramsey goes in January or in the summer for a free then surely now is the time to take him out of the team. Tim Stillman made the point that we are struggling to accommodate all of our attacking players. If that’s the case then let’s axe Rambo now so the team can learn to play without him and Ozil can be moved to a more favoured role in the middle.
Agree. My thought is that Ramsey’s and Ozil’s lack of accepting Emery’s program is what pulling the contract is all about. Unlike others, I think Emery had a very large role in Arsenal changing there mind about the agreement.
I guess we will see on Saturday who comes in for Ramsey.
If it’s correct that the club decided he’s not worth whatever he’s holding out for, good on them. Once bitten (Mesut) twice shy I suspect. Ramsey could be a really good footballer if he accepted he’s no Gareth Bale. Alas, that purple patch a few years back appears to have distorted Arron’s mind. Suspect he’s in for a rude awakening when it dawns that clubs prepared to entertain him, are as low on the food chain as Arsenal. Mind you, big pay-day so you can’t blame him.
That year seems to have been his “career year”.
The fact that Unai can now comment on Ramsey, without really giving anything away, is a sign of how well his English is improving. I’m impressed!
I think we can safely say he learnt very well, from Arsene, this art of saying something that meant nothing to the press, and he is getting better and better at it, day after day?
He’s message is loud and clear:
“I have nothing to do with this, I’m only here to coach the team and focus on the next match. Try asking the club and the player what them lot are doing.”
I.know this may sound a bit wacky, but do you think clubs might one day think “instead of letting our coach, who has enough to worry about, sit there every week being asked about stuff that’s nothing to do with him, why don’t we also send the person who IS fucking responsible to sit next to him and answer those questions”?
Alas, we’re well into the era of nobody answering for anything, so the opposite will more likely prove true.
Just try speaking to the actual people at any utility or corporation that can actually answer your question. That’s where we’re going. And probably rightfully so in this time of social media torches and pitchforks. The best answer is no answer as far as their interests are concerned.
He is right.
Ramsey and his agent may yet change their minds before January.
Meanwhile he is still a useful asset for us.
If he should leave Jan, then we are still OK bc Ozil and Mhki effectively play similar role and it may give us opportunity to address our lack of a wide player on Rwing.
Ramsey can frustrate you at times but nothing compared to Ozil! What the hell did he do to deserve 300k plus per week!? Bonkers the way the club has been run and losing a player who has done a hell of a lot more for the club than Ozil
Why not mould AMN to replaces him? AMN looked tidier on the ball, passed well enough because Ramsey is not exactly Cesc in that regards. Drove forward well when he got the chance. AMN for me, could be the proper kind of box-to-box midfielder.
I do t think there’s much mystery to this at all… The club will try to sell him in January and if not he leaves for nothing at the end of the season. ??♂️