Arsenal: Aaron Ramsey can be the sort-of-secret weapon

Arsenal still look intent on letting Aaron Ramsey walk, but that might mask him as a sort-of-secret weapon, especially in this cluster of fixtures.

I still don’t, nor will I probably ever, understand why Arsenal are so intent on letting Aaron Ramsey walk in either January or the summer time. Not when he has provided so much in such a small capacity this year.

The guy is still third in Premier League assists with six, and he’s only played 600 minutes. He was so convincing, that not even Unai Emery could keep him out of the starting XI. Of course, that lead to an injury against Manchester United, but it was a minor thing, and the Welshman should be back in the mix for Southampton.

Which I believe puts Ramsey in a unique position. He has always been one of the primary threats of this club, his heart and his creativity would bleed all over the pitch such that it was impossible to hide his influence, nor would we even want to.

But going forward, as his “exit” looms closer and closer, Ramsey will probably continue to veer towards a forgotten man. Unai Emery is using other people to do the creating, he has other guys to provide the heart (but serious, still sign Ramsey), and teams have to account for those guys more than they have to wonder if Ramsey might find the pitch on any given day.

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Thinking ahead, even across these next to fixtures, I’m a little worked up about how to handle Southampton with Tottenham looming just three days after. That’s a hard situation to be in for Emery, and his managing skills are going to be called upon in a big way, because the last thing we need are more injuries caused by overwork.

That’s where I think Aaron Ramsey can play a huge part as the sort-of-secret weapon. He is no longer a “main man” in this Arsenal club, despite the crazy numbers he is putting up, and that being the case, while his impact from the bench will always be useful, I don’t see the need, barring a disaster, to even sub him on against Southampton.

Instead, why not save him for a start against Tottenham, where he can let his passion bleed out on the pitch again, like it did the previous North London Derby?

Maybe that can push the club towards offering him that contract again. Here’s to hoping.