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Aaron Ramsey Must Start for Arsenal over Santi Cazorla
By Josh Sippie
Arsenal ran into a problem or seven against the Hammerin’ West Ham Hammers. One of their main problems was a gross lack of width brought on by starting four central midfielders: Mesut Ozil, Santi Cazorla, Aaron Ramsey and Francis Coquelin.
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With Alexis Sanchez set to return and resume his position on the left wing, that leaves either Aaron Ramsey or Santi Cazorla without a job, seeing as how Francis Coquelin only needs one henchman beside him.
Aaron Ramsey has to be given top priority, particularly against Crystal Palace. The Welshman has already made it known that he wants that central midfield role and he has done nothing to lose it. He looked superb in preseason and despite and absolute shocker by the team against the Hammers, Aaron Ramsey was one of the few bright spots.
Aside from completing 88% of his passes (stats via WhoScored), Ramsey also notched a team high five interceptions. Interceptions in the midfield are massive and can swing the momentum immediately, as the attack is rerouted and the opposition can be caught out of position. Ramsey provided five immediate momentum shifts.
One of the main reasons why Francis Coquelin holds so much value is because of his eye for intercepting, but Aaron Ramsey appears to have acquired that eye. Being a box-to-box midfielder, you expect him to contribute to both sides of the ball, but to put up Coquelin like numbers while still maintaining a presence on the offensive side is a feat.
Some may completely ignore Ramsey’s performance because of the Debuchy pass that he neglected, but Aaron Ramsey is not all Hollywood. He does the hard work too.
Santi Cazorla was really good against West Ham as well, as he led the team with a massive five key passes and a 94% pass completion percentage. But Cazorla, despite his positioning last year, is not a deep-lying midfielder. He just isn’t.
The primary argument for the inclusion of Cazorla against Crystal Palace will be that Arsenal need his creativity. But with Mesut Ozil back in the No. 10 role, Arsenal will regain all the creativity they could possibly need from the center of the pitch. He will have the high-flying Ox and Alexis to either side of him to pick up whatever brilliant passes he can find.
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Behind Ozil, Arsenal need defense and physicality to do their best in matching the hulking Eagles. Ramsey provides the best option for that. He is a better aerial threat and more of a scoring threat as well. He can cut lose from distance and has a knack for popping up in goal-scoring situations.
Again, Arsenal do not need a tempo setter and creative mind, they have that in Ozil. Arsenal need a strong presence throughout the pitch, a tireless engine and an eye for goal.
Throughout the preseason, Wenger did not pair Cazorla and Coquelin together very often, despite the success they had in the wake of Ramsey’s injury. Take that as another sign that Aaron Ramsey has the green light to secure the position again.
Next: Kieran Gibbs is the Solution