Arsenal: Aaron Ramsey reaching the same old, unconquerable hurdle

Aaron Ramsey scored a beautiful goal in Arsenal’s win over Everton. But he is now reaching the same old, unconquerable hurdle in his career: consistency.

Aaron Ramsey is an enigma more difficult to decipher than most modern day players. Wonderfully gifted and yet criminally unlucky; an all-round midfielder without any glaring weakness or strength; a typically Arsenal player, boasting so much potential and yet delivering so little in reality.

It is that last point that has come to define his young career thus far: a man of great talents and little success. It was thought that, after an illustrious European Championships for the Welsh national team where he outshone Gareth Bale of all people in a free-roaming, attacking midfield role, this would be the season that Ramsey finally begins to deliver on his promise.

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That, though, has been far from the case. Yet another year blighted by injuries and inconsistent form, Ramsey had struggled to establish himself a role in the starting XI, falling behind the likes of Granit Xhaka, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and even Mohamed Elneny at one stage in the midfield pecking order. However, since Wenger has implemented the 3-4-3 system that has somewhat brought a little upturn in the side’s fortunes, Ramsey has flourished as a patrolling, go-everywhere central midfielder.

He was again impressive in the final day of the season win over Everton, scoring a sumptuous goal with a curled effort as the game drew to a close, bending the shot around the outstretched Joel Robles, who could only strain to see the ball nestle into the far corner. It was a lovely goal but his performance offered far more than the goal.

His distribution was accurate and quick, he found Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil with accurate passes in between the lines, especially early on, and was willing to be incisive and direct with his runs off of the ball, as he does so well when he’s in fine fettle. The issue for Ramsey, though, is that we’ve seen all this before.

Talent has never been the issue for the Welshman. Consistency has. And that is not necessarily a fault of his own – it is often injuries that have prevented him from ever being a consistent starter. But at 26 and entering the prime of his career, it is time that he conquered the same old hurdle that has stinted the success that his qualities should have produced.

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Ramsey must find a way to perform at the same level as against Everton and other recent performances more frequently if he is to ever deliver on his vast potential. He is a gifted player but he is not a consistent one, and until he masters the latter, never will he be a great Arsenal player.

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