Arsenal: Aaron Ramsey Heeding The Call

Arsenal’s players are representing all over the Euros, but few have performed quite like Aaron Ramsey. Clearly the Welshman is heeding the call.

Something about putting on that Wales shirt makes Aaron Ramsey look immaculate. Maybe it’s the hair after all. Whatever the case, few midfielders have put on a better show in the Euros this far than Arsenal’s favorite enigma. Maybe Mesut Ozil and Granit Xhaka. It’s all in the family.

It has left many Arsenal fans wondering why. Why can Ramsey look so dominant and so useful for Wales and be so frustrating at times for Arsenal?

To me, it’s all about consistency. What made Aaron Ramsey’s 2013/14 season so special was that he was handed a central role and allowed to work his magic. Wenger stuck through some growing pains and reaped the rewards.

The following year, Ramsey was back and forth between central mid and right mid and it never gelled with our Welshman. He isn’t a wide midfielder. Wales gives him acres of room to roam and Ramsey flourishes.

This past year was more of the same. He was actually our primary defensive midfielder at times. Again, speaking of roles that Ramsey does not play, defensive midfield is right up there with wide midfielder.

Ramsey was wound up when he was first unleashed in the center of the pitch for Wales. Here he was, back at his natural position, allowed to do what he does best – roam and control.

And you can bet that he knew that Arsene Wenger was at the Euros, watching. The boss is always watching. Ramsey still has everything to prove and with the addition of Granit Xhaka, he has to turn up the jets to take that second central role. Because whoever has that second central role is going to flourish next to a controlling force like Xhaka. Whether it be Cazorla, Wilshere, whoever. They will flourish.

Wales won their group in large part thanks to Aaron Ramsey. They beat out England, a gritty Slovakia and a, well, despondent Russia. But through it all there was Aaron Ramsey, controlling. Looking an awful lot like Granit Xhaka has looked for Switzerland.

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It’s like Aaron Ramsey heeded the call that Arsenal fans were bellowing for. So many questioned his season and wondered why he couldn’t replicate his 2013/14 returns but after what we’ve seen in the Euros thus far, we have our answer – he can. He, like everyone else, just has a preferred set of prerequisites in order to be in top form.

Thankfully, Arsenal can deliver on those prerequisites.

Many expect Cazorla to run away with the central midfield role next to Xhaka, but having two controlling forces like Xhaka and Ramsey is just as tantalizing. With Xhaka’s more reserved approach, where he doesn’t mind sitting back, even when the ball is bouncing around the opposing team’s box, Ramsey would have the perfect partner to allow him freedom to bombard forward and wreak havoc, the way he always does.

It’s a combination that, on paper, should flourish. Use their Euro performances as an indication. Xhaka sits back, being the hub between offense and defense. Ramsey roams, getting forward and attacking but always tracking back. These are two guys who have the national team role that makes them tick. Both of their nations give them all they need.

Arsenal have to do the same.

Next: Xhaka Turning Immaculate

Then again, it may just be the hair.

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