Arsenal: Aaron Ramsey is our No. 10, so deal with it

Arsenal deployed their best attacking force and it was all hinged on Aaron Ramsey. Say hello to our new No. 10, because no one can do this better.

Some Arsenal fans aren’t too thrilled with the idea of Aaron Ramsey being the new No. 10 at the club, forcing Mesut Ozil out wide, but if we didn’t see against West Ham why this is a necessity, we did see it against Cardiff City.

For starters, it’s a matter of who can handle the spotlight. Ozil can’t. Ozil needs to be a peripheral character in order to be at his best. Ramsey needs to be in the center of everything, that’s where he’s his best. So let them be at their best by playing them where they’re best. It’s that easy.

But, if you needed more proof, and you’ve already watched (and rewatched) Cardiff City, then let me go ahead and lay it out there for you.

This was the best attack that you could put around Ramsey. He had both strikers with him and Ozil to collaborate with. Perfection.

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And that’s what brought out the best in Ramsey. It goes without saying that a player is better when you surround him with the best you can. Ramsey was at his best against Cardiff, in a tough match, and the stats back him up.

Ramsey created the most chances of anyone on the pitch (4). Those four chances are more than Ozil has created all season. If the Welshman is playing as an audition, then I don’t know how he can’t get the role at this point. He’s been absolutely fantastic and all I want is to see more of him.

He won the ball back four times as well, which was more than anyone else on the team. I don’t need to cite how that compares to Ozil. Unless you really want me too.

Ramsey was just plain better than Ozil has been all year and going back quite some time. We know he has consistency when he’s playing at his favored positions and this is arguably his most favored position, so it’s reasonable to expect these kinds of performances to continue so long as you put him in similar (or the exact same) situations. He’s in his prime. This is who he is.

Solving Ozil’s crisis by simply moving him seems like a great fix to an ongoing problem. Now we just have to keep Ramsey around.