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Aaron Ramsey Can Save Arsenal Again
By Josh Sippie
Aaron Ramsey is returning to Arsenal in the midst of a serious crisis. It is up to him to recreate his 2013/14 season and save Arsenal yet again.
Many of us still have fond memories of what Aaron Ramsey did in the 2013/14 season. He was the best midfielder in England. 16 goals and ten assists. Those are numbers you would expect from a supremely dominant No. 10 or an unselfish striker. But for Arsenal, it came from a deep-lying midfielder. Finally, after so many years recovering and so many years of harboring Arsene Wenger’s faith, Aaron Ramsey was starting to pay off.
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Arsene Wenger revealed (as quoted by the Independent) that Aaron Ramsey was ‘available’ for the Dinamo Zagreb match. This is the best news we have heard in quite some time. Aaron Ramsey provides something that Jack Wilshere’s, Danny Welbeck’s or Theo Walcott’s potential returns could not provide. It provides incessant hope. Aaron Ramsey is one guy that can win games all on his own. When he is on point, like he was in 2013/14, Aaron Ramsey can be unstoppable. He controls games and becomes something extraordinary.
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Many out there have settled on the concept that 2013/14 Ramsey was an anomaly that will never be seen again. I beg to differ. What we saw in 2013/14 was out of the ordinary. He was finally healthy, he was given a central role, and he was invited to control games when no one else could. And he did. The pressure put on him seemed to bring out the best of his talent.
When the season ended and he took home his player of the year trophy, it was expected that Aaron Ramsey return in the 2014/15 season and repeat his numbers. That did not happen. But the situation was completely different. In the 2013/14 season, Ramsey started on fire and kept rolling. Then he faced an injury layoff in the early parts of the new year. When he returned, his spot was waiting for him.
2014/15 was different. Aaron Ramsey started well, but numerous hamstring injuries (three in fact) prevented him from getting any feel for consistency. He was never healthy enough to stay on the pitch for weeks at a time. None of the injuries were particularly serious but they were frustrating enough to disrupt any form he hoped to build upon.
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Then Francis Coquelin came back and Aaron Ramsey was forced out wide. The pressure was lifted and his form dipped in the slightest. He still finished with ten goals and seven assists, though.
And then this season began. Aaron Ramsey was again relegated to the wide right and did not notch his first goal until a couple months into the season. And then he got hurt.
The point is that since that 2013/14 breakout year, Aaron Ramsey has not found himself in a similar situation. Again, it seems as though he plays his best when the team needs him.
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When the Welshman returns from injury, hopefully against Dinamo Zagreb, he will find Arsenal in a desperate situation. If he is put in a central role, sitting behind Mesut Ozil, Arsenal will be able to cope with the loss of Francis Coquelin. But to put Aaron Ramsey out wide is to miss a golden opportunity. Give him a chance to make a difference and he will. It may not come right away, but it will come.
He is going to have far more weapons to work with this time around as well. In the end, this horrific position that Arsenal finds themselves in can be solved with one man. Aaron Ramsey.