Who has been Arsenal’s Player of the Year?

Aaron Ramsey

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Aaron Ramsey is a real dark horse to win Arsenal’s key player for the second year in a row. Whereas last year Ramsey put up 16 goals and 10 assists to make him the undisputed MVP of North London, this year he’s put up 10 goals and 8 assists. Still impressive, but definitely no 2013/14 season.

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Ramsey still has a proneness to injury and both years those injuries disrupted the flow he had within the Arsenal team. Many people even accused Ramsey of being a flop after last year, but the statistics say otherwise.

The Welshman may not be putting up the hard stats (goals, assists), but that may be because he took the focus of his game from scoring goals (which we desperately needed last year) to playing a more supportive role (which we’ve needed this year) and this adaptability plays in his favor. Consider these stats comparing the Aaron Ramsey of last year to the Aaron Ramsey of this year (Squawka):

[table id=44 /]

As you can see, Ramsey is still putting up superb numbers, but he’s become more of a supplier than a producer. With Alexis Sanchez and Olivier Giroud, Ramsey hasn’t needed to supply the same way he did last year.

It’s a stretch to vote for Ramsey, I’ll admit. The versatility of his positioning and the adaptability of his game play are his two greatest proponents, but as far as MVP quality, he doesn’t stand out.

Next: Francis Coquelin