Arsenal: Aaron Ramsey’s biggest ‘weakness’ is what makes him invaluable

Arsenal slotted Aaron Ramsey back into the No. 10 role against West Ham and boy howdy did it work. He continues to reinforce that his weakness is a strength.

Arsenal had to shake things up against West Ham with Mesut Ozil succumbing to another mystery illness. And, as has come to be expected, the simplest answer was not the one chosen. Alex Iwobi retained his starting role and Aaron Ramsey worked his way back into the starting XI in Ozil’s No. 10 role.

You’re going to hear mixed reports about Ramsey’s performance. Some will say he did terrible. He had a few glaringly bad passes that stood out against a backdrop of mediocrity. But some, like me, will say he played exactly like Aaron Ramsey, and that is what makes him so valuable.

Ramsey isn’t a regular No. 10. He isn’t going to slip through clever balls and dwell in possession. he is going to drive, push the issue, and pop up in dangerous positions. That’s perfectly fine. There’s nothing that says he has to play like Ozil. In fact, I’d rather he doesn’t.

Overall, Ramsey proved yet again that what he lacks can actually be counted as a strength. He has something that the Gunners have so little of these days – unpredictability. But not in the sense that it is a problem. Joel Campbell had unpredictability too, which I liked, but he was also prone to fire a shot into the fortieth row.

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Ramsey’s unpredictability, against the backdrop of Arsenal’s methodical build-up play, allows him to catch defenses off guard when a little shake up is needed. He is just as capable of driving past a defender at their own goal line as he is of rocketing a sizzling ground shot from thirty yards out.

All of these things make him a nightmare for defenses.

And yes, sometimes his team mates aren’t on the same page, or he’ll play an overly ambitious ball. But how many times have we sat here, as fans, begging for the side-to-side passing to go somewhere? Well, with Ramsey, it does go somewhere, it just doesn’t always work out.

This was the kind of game we needed from Ramsey and I hope he retains the spot as a No. 10 even when Ozil returns. He is better at it, and fits Unai Emery’s style of play far better than his German counterpart.

And for the record, he was only dispossessed once. So take that, haters.