Arsenal: Aaron Ramsey or Brighton… which sucks more?

Arsenal didn’t just fall out of top four contention, but they also bid their final farewell to Aaron Ramsey. Talk about two enormous failures.

No matter how bad the match against Brighton got, or how little fight Arsenal showed to keep their top four hopes alive, nothing hurt worse than seeing Aaron Ramsey tearing up at the farewell ceremony at the end of the match next to a smiley and huggy Petr Cech.

I must admit, I didn’t watch it right away, because to be completely honest, I didn’t think I could take it, but having now watched it, I realize that this is an incredibly low day in this club’s recent history. Not only did they draw against 17th-ranked Brighton to see themselves out of top four contention, but they also said their final farewells to Aaron Ramsey, the most valuable free transfer since… well, since a long time.

For awhile there, I debated what the biggest failure was – not being able to beat Brighton, or being so remarkably broke that they couldn’t give Ramsey what he deserved, and thus let him walk away for free.

And maybe I’ll debate it more after I’ve let the emotion of seeing Ramsey stepping on the field on our side for the last time fade away, but I think that, for now, the biggest failure of quite some time is letting Ramsey go for free.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

• 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
• 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
• Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
• 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
• Mikel Arteta provides Gabriel Martinelli injury update after Everton win

While the draw to Brighton sucks massively, and confines us to a Plan B that we really didn’t want to have to rely on, at least we have a Plan B. And it wasn’t just Brighton. It was the last four Premier League matches. That’s where the suckage really comes into it. Four straight matches. Win one of them – just one – and you’re in the running and in a really good spot. Win two? You’re almost in the clear.

Nuts right?

But Ramsey. There is no Plan B with Ramsey leaving. Who do you turn to to do what he does? You don’t. You either buy someone or you do without. At least the Brighton suckage leaves us with another possible outcome.

In the mean time, let’s just not screw up Plan B and make this really bad. At the very least I want to see Ramsey back at the Emirates next year in the Champions League. Not like that will be any consolation, but it’s better than nothing.