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Arsenal: Mesut Ozil Should Blaze Trail For Aaron Ramsey
By Josh Sippie
Arsenal seems to be immune to the superstar aura, but Mesut Ozil may indeed be getting special treatment that Aaron Ramsey is not.
Everyone, myself included, seems to have the all important solution to how to maximize Aaron Ramsey. After what we have seen in the Euros and what we saw in the good years that he had at Arsenal, it seems to be pretty simple – set the Welshman free and watch him be amazing. It has worked in the past, after all.
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Wenger has been hesitant to do that, slotting him wide right and giving him the creative license to drift centrally but, in the end, that small bit of openness isn’t going to amount to the freedom he has utilized for Wales and for Arsenal in the middle of the pitch.
He needs that freedom, that ability to just be himself and not have a checklist of things to do. I recognize that that isn’t the easiest thing to allow, as you can hardly hold him accountable if you give him such freedom, but it takes on an added impetus when Mesut Ozil comes out and admits that he is doing so well because Wenger allows the German maestro to be free and to be himself on the pitch.
That makes sense. Let Ozil be himself because it works. Let him be the central figure of the offense and reel in the rewards. Why wouldn’t you?
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But by that standard, why wouldn’t you do the same with Ramsey when it has worked so well, not just with the Welshman, but now with the German as well?
It feels like Ozil should be blazing the trail with which Ramsey can follow. Wenger has to see the effects that letting certain players run free can have.
Perhaps some of the problem comes from a lack of faith in his midfield to allow Ramsey that creative license when he is already allowing it to Ozil, who is rarely seen tracking back to defend, hence the proof that he is being allowed to do his own thing.
The hope therein lies with Granit Xhaka. Perhaps if Xhaka can grow into the all-inclusive midfielder that we think and learn how to dominate the center of the pitch, then a coming and going Aaron Ramsey will be a welcome addition.
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It’s just that right now, Wenger needs Coquelin there to ease the transition of Xhaka into dominance.