Arsenal: Aaron Ramsey missed more than anyone else against Watford

Arsenal’s loss against Watford was missing one key component to hold everything together, and it wasn’t Mesut Ozil or Alexis. It was Aaron Ramsey.

Maybe it’s a bit self-aggrandizing of me to feel vindicated in my own proclamations after such an infuriating Arsenal loss, so let me just skip over the part where I toot my own horn and get to the point: In this match, which looked to be three points in the bag, there was one key piece of the puzzle missing.

Despite injuries, it wasn’t defense. The defense was stoic, thanks mostly to Per Mertesacker, beast that he is.

Alexandre Lacazette is a known commodity who was not a weakness on the day.

Therefore the weakness has to stem from somewhere in between, and it did. It came from the base of the midfield, where Arsene Wenger questionably opted to start Granit Xhaka and Mohamed Elneny together, giving the center of the pitch virtually no pace and minimal ability to get forward.

There was no midfield pivot. Which, as we have learned through the years, is probably the most important role of any at Arsenal. Without that pivot, the transition from defense to attack is sloppy, slow and, at some points, nonexistent.

As such, it was the presence of Aaron Ramsey that was missed the most, and it wasn’t even close. In the absence of a pivot, Alex Iwobi anointed himself to the role, which left the attack criminally undermanned at times, as neither Elneny nor Xhaka provides much of a threat getting forward.

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Not having Ramsey’s late, intelligent runs into the box was like missing a foot. Iwobi felt so isolated at times and only had Hector Bellerin on the overlap to give the ball to because as soon as he dished off to the two holding midfielders, they’d immediately go backwards.

Ramsey is an instigator when he gets the ball in positions like that. It won’t always come off, but he pushes forward, not backwards. And when it comes to needing additional threats in such situations, having him magically appear out of the corner of your eye when you’re desperate for another option is such a crucial piece of the team.

Plus, Ramsey has gotten eve better this year about taking the ball from deep and pushing forward with it, something that neither Elneny nor Xhaka does effectively, as both are too cautious when they get the ball.

Ramsey’s swashbuckling approach to the game is what was needed. The Gunners were far too regimented in their attack. They had clear divisions between who should be attacking and who should be defending and it left Watford with a clear picture of where the trouble areas might be and they defended it well.

Next: 5 Things Learned From Watford Loss

This is why Jack Wilshere should have started, but this is Arsene Wenger we are dealing with, so all we can do is wait for the Welshman’s return.

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