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Arsenal gave Aaron Ramsey a massive chance to do something special against Preston North End and while he didn’t shine, he at least glittered.
With Francis Coquelin and Santi Cazorla out and Mohamed Elneny on international duty, it’s up to Aaron Ramsey to make the partnership with Granit Xhaka work. While this is the one Arsenal midfield partnership I have been looking forward to, it is clear that it needs work.
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Still, Ramsey is a talented midfielder who was given a wide open, glaring opportunity against Preston North End and the results are murky. I had written him off at half and was prepared to lay into the guy, who is a personal favorite of mine. I wasn’t looking forward to it.
Then the second half happened and within a minute, Ramsey had fired in a pure, unexpected goal that came as more of a shock than anything. I couldn’t believe that what I had just seen went in.
Not because of how spectacular it was – although it was quite nice in it’s own right – but because of the form Ramsey has been in. He has not been good lately. Plain and simple. But that goal was just like the Ramsey we used to all know and love.
There are going to be more chances for Ramsey going forward – chances in the Premier League, nonetheless. And he has to prove that this golden goal was more than just a flash in the pan and that he really is the golden boy that we are used to.
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Ramsey is capable of these goals on a regular basis. Seriously, he is. This little glittering is a reminder of the gold he can produce. We had about two years of Ramsey being truly at his best and the team was benefiting immensely from it.
The trick has been extricating that Ramsey from the hollow carcass of the Welshman that we have been dealing with.
These spats with Alexis, the lack of any goals (Preston marked his first) and the lack of any real solid form soiled the image of an established product. But that’s the thing, Ramsey is established and he can be a huge piece of the Gunner’s attack.
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It will be exciting to see where he goes from here. If he keeps on glittering, eventually maybe we (and Ramsey too) can start to see the gold again.