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Arsene Wenger Must Stop Shoehorning Aaron Ramsey Into Arsenal Formation

By Josh Sippie

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Aaron Ramsey has had times where he did the Alexis Sanchez thing to do – pull Arsenal to victories. In 2013/14 he was absolutely superb, perhaps even the best midfielder of the year in European football. 16 goals and 10 assists showed that all the faith that Arsene Wenger had showed in him was finally paying off.

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Last year was not necessarily a terrible follow-up for Ramsey at Arsenal. Despite injuries, the Welshman finished with 10 goals and 7 assists. Again, for a midfielder, that is a good return and one that is crucial for the club.

But this year, being forced out on the right side, he has yet to total a single solitary statistical number for Arsenal. A lot of that falls on positioning. Aaron Ramsey is simply not a winger. As long as he is placed on the flanks, he is going to be stunted. Even being given the license to drift centrally, he still is going to make less of an impact than Mesut Ozil and Santi Cazorla.

Let’s look at the passing numbers. Aaron Ramsey has completed 84% of his passes while contributing just 1.8 key passes per game. Compare that to the central midfielders, with Ozil completing 87% of passes with 4 key passes per game and Cazorla’s 90% completion with 3.3 passes per game (stats via WhoScored).

Yet, consider that when Aaron Ramsey was played at the No. 10 role for Arsenal against Tottenham, he produced 4 key passes, just like Ozil and just like Cazorla, leading the team.

Playing on the right and playing centrally are two completely different tactical endeavors. Shoehorning Aaron Ramsey into the formation is not helping him and it is not helping Arsenal. It anything, it is frustrating and stunting both parties. Ramsey is a fantastic talent but that talent is as a central midfielder, not as a right winger.

It is also preventing Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain from being a major factor.

Against Olympiakos, we saw Alexis, Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain leading the front line. They were our three best performers on the night. Their speed and counterattacking ability kept Arsenal in a game that they were trying their best (and succeeding) to squander. The chances still need to be converted, but as we saw with Alexis and as we are starting to see with Walcott, the attack is getting better. Alexis has hit his groove and Walcott is right around the corner. If Oxlade-Chamberlain can hit his groove, that gives us an entire pitch-width of speedy attackers who can create and score.

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Unfortunately, having Aaron Ramsey out wide hinders that. But it is not just Aaron Ramsey. Having any central midfielder out there hinders it. It makes the attack incredibly lopsided. If Wenger does not see Ramsey as a central midfielder or if he still values Cazorla more, that is well and good. Ramsey will have to be used as a super sub. But this business of forcing Ramsey into the game because of his quality as a central midfielder does not make sense when he cannot be used as a central midfielder.

This would be a major tactical change for Wenger, however. And given the faith he has in Ramsey (faith that is well-placed), he will not be benching him. But eventually Wenger has to make a decision for Arsenal and not for a player. Besides, as mentioned, this current strategy is helping neither team nor player.

Aaron Ramsey deserves to be starting, but if there is no place, then there is no place. Either move Santi Cazorla and let Ramsey start or sit Ramsey because the poor Welshman is in a frustrating state of limbo.

Next: The Champions League Run Is Over

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