Ramsey was one young player who many Arsenal fans would have expected to step up this season with the key players departing and Wilshere injured. However his form has been indifferent which is understandable considering he is still only 21.Some Arsenal fans have already written off  Ramsey on the basis of  his recent performances which i think is really harsh. He had a pretty decent start to the season but struggled to maintain that form. The biggest criticism of his game was his  inability to finish off chances. Also he would often try to overplay by trying some back heels and fancy flicks when

Arsenal’s 7 match winning streak came to an end against QPR at loftus road. Now this run had to end at some point but the manner in which it came was disappointing. Even though 2 mistakes by Vermaelen cost us the game the team as a whole were really poor. We didn’t create many chances and also didn’t close down QPR enough like we have done in our games recently. But the thing that concerned me the most  was Wenger playing Ramsey on the left side of midfield ahead of the likes of Gervinho, Chamberlain and Benayoun.

Ramsey was one young player who many Arsenal fans would have expected to step up this season with the key players departing and Wilshere injured. However his form has been indifferent which is understandable considering he is still only 21.Some Arsenal fans have already written off  Ramsey on the basis of  his recent performances which i think is really harsh. He had a pretty decent start to the season but struggled to maintain that form. The biggest criticism of his game was his  inability to finish off chances. Also he would often try to overplay by trying some back heels and fancy flicks when a simple pass would have been a better option. However his work rate is top notch and also has an eye for a killer pass.

He came back from injury recently and started out wide against Everton. Even though we started that game really well dominating the first 20 minutes with Ramsey missing clear cut chances. However after that we never got our passing game going. And with Ramsey often drifting inside we never had a proper shape which we had when the likes of Chamberlain, Benayoun and Gervinho play.

Wenger played with the same formation again against QPR. And this time too it didn’t work to much effect. I think the idea behind this move is to give Gibbs more protection.  But surely playing the experienced Benayoun or Gervinho who regularly play there is a better option. And also they put in a pretty good shift every time they play especially Benayoun. Ramsey doesn’t look comfortable playing out wide and with him drifting inside often it affects our shape and balance. We have a seen in the past that Arsene has a tendency at times to play players out of position. Ramsey himself has already played as a central midfielder, attacking midfielder and now he is asked to play out wide. He is at his best when he is playing in the middle and driving the team forward. He might find opportunities limited considering Rosicky’s recent form but he should be patient and then prove his worth when he does get a chance to play there. In the meantime Arsene should field the players in their natural position and  by playing the likes of  Ramsey out wide Wenger is not doing Ramsey or the team any favours.

Mean Lean’s Response.

I am utterly amazed at the amount of criticism aimed in the direction of Aaron Ramsey this season. Unfortunately the need for a villain in a red and white shirt seems to be alive and kicking these days. Without Denilson, Bendtner, Walcott, Arshavin or whichever player who is not the flavour of the month, attentions need to be turned on someone else. It has fallen on the shoulders of a 21 year old who is playing his first full season for Arsenal and doing so after having his leg broken.

I despair at how those important facts are swept into the gutter and the player is completely written off as rubbish and a waste of space.

There is a commonly used phrase that football fans talk about, one that obviously isn’t true today.

‘If a player gives 100% for the shirt then you can forgive his shortcomings’

No player covers as much ground as Aaron Ramsey, no player stands up and shows for the ball regardless of his performance as much as Ramsey.

But I do not worry about Aaron Ramsey both in terms of his technical or mental qualities, At only 21 he was given the captains armband for his country and it is because he has guts, he has a strong character and he is not afraid to show that even to senior players at the club.

On current form Aaron Ramsey has been rightly overtaken by Tomas Rosicky, the Czech’s quicker circulation of the ball and his drive from midfield has been a highlight during this second half of the campaign but Ramsey has plenty of scope for improvement and given the fact that he is a winner on the pitch, I expect him not to rest on his laurels and get better season after season.

We have seen what he can do when his game comes together. At Stamford Bridge he was arguably the best player on the pitch, creating chances and winning tackles. We have been waiting for his goal scoring to spark into life but that has not come yet,

Not many central midfielders find themselves in goal scoring positions as much as Aaron Ramsey. He is rushing chances, lashing shots over the bar, having his shots saved or firing wide. He looks like a man trying to score rather than expecting to score. Look at players like Thierry Henry when they first joined the club at 22 before his goal run he snatched at chances, he didn’t know when he would get his first Arsenal goal and then years later he knew he would score. Different player, different position but the same rule applies with Aaron.

Without having the stats at hand I wouldn’t be surprised if Ramsey had our second or third highest amount of goal
attempts this season at least in the games that he has played in.

While it seems tempting to judge a young player, we must not forget that for the most part, young players have to develop their game. An average player at 18-22 might turn into a world beater at 24-29.

At present Arsene is making him do a job in certain games and that might not be getting the best out of his talents but you can be sure that it will do him no harm to learn a new position in the long term just as the likes of Abou Diaby, Jack Wilshere, Mikel Arteta and Tomas Rosicky have had to do in their careers to date.

With Jack Wilshere on the mend and perhaps Abou Diaby we can look around and see a wealth of talent in our center midfield area but make no mistake, Aaron Ramsey will be back at some point and I am sure he will change plenty of minds as so many have done before him.