Ramsey hasn’t got the brain, discipline or technical ability to thrive in any sort of DLP role. I’ve never seen any signs of conservative or measured midfield play from him.
It’s not wenger’s fault at all. Ramsey’s best football has come when the composition of his team allowed him to enjoy the tactical freedom to do what he liked. It’s obvious he thrives in a certain system but most top clubs won’t accommodate the entire team for one player. Hence why if he drops down a level he’d find more success.
He’s a utility player/homegrown filler at best. Much better talents out there tbh
Rambo is another good player to have in the squad coming off the bench, but if you have hopes of winning the EPL & competing at the pointy end of the CL he simply isn’t starting material.
Ramsey is a good player but is he good enough to start for a team challenging for the PL and CL?
I’m not really sure what his best position is, but what ever it is, he isn’t better, or more effective, than Ozil, Sanchez, Cazorla, Walcott, or even Iwobi, so he is not good enough to start but is certainly great to have on there bench, especially with our injury record.
I’m not sure his football education has been helped by the things you allude to, but it’s also a stretch to say he would’ve been a top player given other circumstances. HIs technique was really never good enough to be a top centre midfielder, it’s why people like me and IORP didn’t rate him from the beginning. That said, I think if he had carried on the way he was, with the humble, simplified approach to his game that he had in 12-13, he would at least be a player worthy of starting in CM for a top club, if not a truly top player…say a better version of Mohammed Elneny.
@Oliver he’s almost 26. He doesn’t require further development, he is what he is at this point. He requires replacing, especially because the one position he has use to us in he publicly bitches about playing in.
If we’re too be a true top, top level team, having a destroyer next to a DLP isn’t necessarily right.
Madrid’s axis of Kroos - Modric is the best midfield around at the moment and I would wager that Wenger would prefer to mould Ramsey - Xhaka into the equivalent for Arsenal, sooner that that starting the Coq (as much as I rate him).
Dreams of being a #10 are zilch. Iwöbi has more chance of playing that position.
For all the people in the squad, Özil is really the only one you can allow to have the freedom during the game, he’s that good. We’ve said for a few seasons now that “if he could refine his game more” or “be more disciplined, he could play this role” etc. However, with squad placement and his knack for thinking it’s still 12-13 or 13-14? (goal scoring season) there’s signs he simply won’t.
Elneny is more than capable of playing this refined game than Ramsey is right now and if I were him, I’d feel challenged for his position in the first team.
I painfully rewatched the UCL game. Ramsey did more than just ghost inside fwiw. He occupied Ozil’s space time and time again as well as Xhaka’s space. A couple of times, Ozil actually through his hands in the air at him.
Not only did he distort the team’s shape, his passing accuracy was poor and his workrate on defense was absolute rubbish. If Wenger starts him against Spurs, it’ll be madness.
He shouldn’t see the pitch in important matches. He’s not disciplined enough.
Iwobi would definitely be my back-up to Özil, that or reconfiguring the formation to have Alexis play behind Giroud.
Ramsey is a non-option there–it’s a dream/fantasy as @YJYUX says–and Cazorla is much better deeper/gets a nosebleed whenever he’s near the goal for some reason.
Agreed on Alexis too tbh. God how I wish we had a prime Hazard to throw into the mix. Now THAT would be a sight to behold.
The more I think about it; the more I like Iwobi centrally. I wonder if that has crossed Wenger’s mind. Excuse my lazyness but cba to Google, and I know your knowledge on youth is quite decent. Did Iwobi play there for the reserves / younger teams?
I’m sure he did, he played at striker, on the left, and on the right. Even if he didn’t start as a #10 in any game (I feel like he did), he’s so versatile and playing as a ST/playing the way he does for us where he basically plays like a #10 on the left, I don’t think there’s much doubt he’d fit in or that he has the skills.
Didn’t he get a start in the early rounds of the FA Cup as a #10? That game where Chambers scored?
edit:
re: Aaron Ramsey
[QUOTE]“Aaron has his specific qualities - going into the box, playing forward, having the drive to push the team forward. He has interesting qualities and has a big engine as well. That’s vital in modern sport.”
Ramsey’s stock rose with Wales’ stirring run to the Euro 2016 semi-finals and his club manager has seen a difference.
“I’m certain that mentally he feels stronger [after Euro 2016],” said Wenger. “Tuesday was his first start since August 13, that’s 11 weeks, so it will take him some time to come back to his best. Mentally he certainly feels stronger and he’ll have a big impact once he’s fully back.”
Incidentally, as soon as OX came on vs Ludo in place of Ramsey, Ludo has exactly ZERO counteracts the rest of the game and didn’t threaten. OX played and pretty much stayed wide (with the occasional diagonal) … and defended. It’s that bloody simple. Ozil also had much more space to operate.
didn’t rate him from the beginning. That said, I think if he had carried on the way he was, with the humble, simplified approach to his game that he had in 12-13, he would at least be a player worthy of starting in CM for a top club, if not a truly top player…say a better version of Mohammed Elneny.