Arsenal Vs Newcastle United: There’s a problem with Aaron Ramsey

Aaron Ramsey again struggled in the traditional number 10 role for Arsenal against Newcastle United. It’s a problem that Unai Emery needs to solve.

Unai Emery is still settling into his role as Arsenal head coach. He is still learning the language, the city, the league, developing a relationship with his players. This was never going to be a quick fix. It was always going to take time. And for a large part of his role, Emery is tasked with being a problem solver: recognising the frictions of his systems and adapting as a result.

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Now five games into the new Premier League season after Saturday afternoon’s 2-1 win over Newcastle United, it is clear that Emery has great plans for one Aaron Ramsey.

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Ramsey may be in the final year of his contract but Emery still sees him as a vital component in his machine. In the 4-3-3, or 4-2-3-1, that Emery has predominantly employed this season, Ramsey has played in the most important position, the central attacking midfield role, with Emery even shifting both Mesut Ozil and Henrikh Mkhitaryan out to the wings to accommodate the Welshman. Emery clearly values Ramsey’s quality and contribution highly. But there is a problem with the outworking of it.

Although Ramsey is a midfielder who offers goals and assists, he does not do so as a traditional number 10 like, say, an Ozil or David Silva or Christian Eriksen. He does so in a more box-to-box role. Arsene Wenger used to compare him to Frank Lampard. Ramsey isn’t close to being the player that Lampard was, but his style is somewhat similar.

And Lampard never excelled when he was pushed into parts of the pitch that he did not want to go. Lampard’s great quality was his intelligence, his nous to anticipate an opportunity and then his spatial awareness to exploit it. It is difficult to do that when you are already stood next to the central defender that you are trying to outwit. It’s far more effective if the runs start from deeper.

The same goes for Ramsey. And his performances this season, in this attacking-most central midfield position, have illustrated his lack of comfort in this new role: His shots-per-game is the lowest it’s been since 2012/13; his passing accuracy is the lowest it’s ever been; he’s being fouled the least amount since 2010/11; he’s making the fewest amount of passes per game since 2009/10; he doesn’t have a goal or an assist.

To put it plainly, from the eye test and the numbers test, Ramsey isn’t playing very well. Is that because he’s a worse player than what he was last year when he was named Arsenal’s Player of the Season? No, of course it doesn’t. But it does heavily suggest that he is being used poorly. Ramsey, at this point in time, is a problem to be solved.

Emery may still want to persevere with Ramsey in this role. He may feel like it just takes time for Ramsey and his teammates to get used to this new system. But, right now, this is a hindrance, not a help, and there needs to be a rather significant turnaround if it’s going to change.