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Should Arsenal drop Aaron Ramsey?
Aaron Ramsey is a gifted footballer. Two seasons ago he scored 16 goals in 41 appearances, an excellent record for a central midfielder. Other than perhaps the scintillating form of Suarez, Ramsey was perhaps the best player in the premier league, leading Alan Hansen to liken him to Zidane.
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He also scored the winning goal in the FA Cup against Hull City in 2014, bringing the first trophy to the Emirates, and was voted as Arsenal’s player of the season.
Aaron Ramsey had a solid, if not spectacular season last year, struggling to play consistently due to injuries. He flashed his brilliance every now and then, and was industrious in every role that he was deployed in, but did not reach the heights of his previous season.
However, for all of Aaron Ramsey’s wonderful qualities, of which there are many, it may be time to drop him in favor of the team as a whole.
Tactically, Ramsey no longer fits into this Arsenal side. This was shown in the latter half of last season, where he played wide right, and last weekend against West Ham, where he, Cazorla and Ozil fought for very little space in behind Olivier Giroud.
Plain and simply, Ramsey cannot play wide right. I would even hesitate to play him in an attacking or defensive midfield role. Ramsey is an archetypal box-to-box midfielder, 100%. And if he is unable to make the team as a box-to-box midfielder, then it is at a detriment to the team if he is crowbarred into it.
In Arsenal’s five-man midfield, three players will always (and should always) play: Alexis Sanchez, who is God among us, Mesut Ozil and Francis Coquelin. This leaves space for two more players: a right winger and this box-to-box midfielder that is central to the whole system.
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For Arsenal to play at a high level, space must be created for the most creative players in the squad. Pace creates space, and I am hence a massive advocate of playing Walcott on the right wing. Against West Ham, Wenger opted for the exciting if inconsistent play of Oxlade-Chamberlain. Either way, pace is required on the right flank, something that Ramsey is never going to provide.
This leaves one space left: the role of the box-to-box midfielder. At this point in time, Santi Cazorla is Arsenal’s best player in this position. Ramsey is a very good player, but Cazorla was Arsenal’s best player in the latter half of last season, and he has developed a chemistry alongside Francis Coquelin.
Unless Ramsey can prove otherwise, Cazorla deserves to play in this role week in, week out. For however good an individual player the Welshman may be, he simply does not fit in this Arsenal side. Until Ramsey forces his way onto the pitch, Wenger must drop him in favor of allowing Cazorla and Ozil the room to manipulate games. If not, expect to see more congested midfield battles at the Emirates.
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