Arsenal: Aaron Ramsey Cannot Replace Santi Cazorla For Exact Same Weakness

Aaron Ramsey is a possible replacement for Santi Cazorla. Unfortunately, though, the Arsenal midfielder falls short thanks to the exact same weakness.

The effect that Santi Cazorla has on the Arsenal side is undoubtedly missed. His calming influence when in possession, his ability to control the tempo of the game thanks to his unheralded dual-footedness, his accurate and creative distribution are all key components of the Gunners’ play when the Spaniard is in the starting lineup.

Without him, Arsenal have lacked a great deal of fluency and rhythm in their passing. They lack the intelligence to play the right pass at the right time; they lack the vision to play balls into the feet of the more attack-minded players in attacking positions; they lack the ability to command games through their usual dominance of possession.

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There have been many suggestions regarding who should replace Cazorla as the primary distributor and orchestrator from the deep-lying midfield position, the latest of which being Aaron Ramsey. The case for the Welshman is made by Chris Wheatley for Goal.com. It is a well-written article which puts forward some convincing reasons as to why the Arsenal midfield should be built around Ramsey. Here is an extract from his piece:

"“Santi Cazorla is a two-footed, skilful, technically gifted midfielder who has spent the campaign out injured. Gunners boss Wenger will keep him at the club for next season but his unreliability when it comes to keeping fit means it’s unlikely that he’ll play more than 10 to 15 games for Arsenal, opening the way for Ramsey to firm up that midfield spot.”"

However, there is one key aspect that Wheatley misses. Although Ramsey has the ability to fulfil the role that Cazorla plays so successfully, he is unable to address the very shortcoming that makes Cazorla in need of replacing. Few are stating that Cazorla lacks the quality to anchor the creative demands of the central midfield duo. Rather, the issue with his play centres on the lack of it.

Simply put, his body is not resilient enough to be relied upon to be stationed in such an important role for a whole season. Now 32 – he will turn 33 midway through next season – Cazorla has been unable to finish either of the last two seasons, appearing in just eight Premier League games this year and 15 the previous year. Ramsey, similarly, is an unreliable player thanks to his myriad of niggling injury issues. This season, the Welshman has made just eight starts in the Premier League and has never made more than 30 in any season in North London.

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This is not to say that Ramsey is a sub-standard player. He is a player of unfulfilled ability who, in the right system, can truly flourish in the Premier League. But to be relied upon to replace Cazorla requires one key trait: consistency. How can one be consistent without ever being available?

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