Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey Comes Of Age But How Much Better Can He Get?

There were times over the last two years when it looked like it might have been for the best if Aaron Ramsey and Arsenal parted ways. Special moments had been few and far between for the Welsh youngster since he battled back from a horrendous injury suffered in February 2010.

A brutal challenge – it could not even be described as a tackle – by Stoke’s Ryan Shawcross left the then 19-year-old Ramsey with a double fracture of his leg and his career very much in doubt.

The road to recovery took over a year and involved on-loan detours to Nottingham Forest and Cardiff City.

But just as commentators affixed the number of trophy less years to any mention of Arsenal, so they seemed unable to make any reference to Ramsey without supplementing it with talk of the injury and how he did not quite look the same player.

Arsenal fans made their dissatisfaction with Ramsey’s performances quite clear on a regular basis and there was often a sense that Ramsey was a convenient lightning rod for their frustration with Arsene Wenger and the club in general.

The first shoots of an new emerging Arsenal were evident in their turnaround in last season’s Premier League. Another horrendous start morphed into 52 points from 23 games and a chance at the Champions League was salvaged with a fourth place finish.

Ramsey was central to that rebound but it is only in retrospect that the Welshman receives any credit. It is fair to say that as this season got underway there were few fans of the Gunners who thought of Ramsey as being little more than a reincarnation of a number of other players who had been shown far too much patience by manager Arsene Wenger.

Patience has always been Wenger’s strength and it has also been his weakness. If you are going to give youngsters a chance then you have to be willing to live with the numerous and sometimes costly growing pains. Some work out and some don’t but any one would be hard pushed to say that a player cut loose by Arsenal during the Wenger era had not been given more than a fair chance.

In the case of Aaron Ramsey and the start he has made to the season, it looks like Wenger’s patience in this instance, is paying off in spades. It is early in the season and there are legitimate questions as to Arsenal’s staying power that will only be answered when the opposition grows stronger, the days darker and pitches a little bit threadbare.

But nonetheless, Ramsey has emerged as one of keys to Arsenal’s early impressive form. Even when the boo-boys were given it full throttle the one thing that Aaron Ramsey could never be accused of was hiding and not taking responsibility.

In fact, Ramsey’s sense of responsibility probably did him no favors. Wales manager Chris Coleman expressed a similar sentiment when he replaced Ramsey as the Wales captain with Swansea’s Ashley Williams last October.

Coleman felt that the pressure was too much for a player with a tendency to try and do everything when things were not going well. It also says a lot about Ramsey that he accepted Coleman’s decision and likewise for Coleman who had no hesitancy in asking Ramsey to takeover from Williams when the centre back was injured recently.

So often situations like this at club and the international level end with feelings hurt and toys being tossed out of the pram.

Maturity and experience has undoubtedly contributed to the “new and improved” Aaron Ramsey and this season he has ticked all the boxes required of a modern all-round midfield player.

His stamina and mobility are extraordinary and although he has trouble running away from the opposition over longer distances, his sharpness over the first few yards often puts the opposition under intense pressure and the ball is often easily recovered.

Central midfield is with the exception of goalkeeper, the most difficult position to master. I’m not talking of sitting in front of the defence with the ball always in front of you but a role that requires you to be constantly on the move, accessing angles for receiving and playing passes, pressuring the opposition and shuttling from deep positions all the way into the opposition’s penalty box and back.

And it is success in and around the opposition’s penalty area that really separates the great midfield players from the simply good ones.

There is an understandable tendency for goal scoring midfielders to drop deeper as they age. Steven Gerrard has also taken on a deeper role in the last couple of years but he showed he retains his goal appetite by scoring against Poland last Tuesday.

Frank Lampard who has been the gold-standard for Premier League scoring midfield players over the last decade is an anomaly – he has dropped deeper but still bags goals. Lampard’s scoring rate of a goal every three games through his Chelsea years is nothing short of phenomenal.

But for Gerrard and Lampard consistent goal scoring came after the other general skills of a central midfielder were mastered. Lampard and Gerrard started to hit their goal stride in their mid-twenties. Ramsey does not turn 23 till the end of this year but there are indications that he is beginning to master the art of a goal-scoring midfielder.

Nine goals for Arsenal (all competitions)  so far this season has already more than doubled Ramsey’s best scoring performance going into this season. But one thing is certain – Ramsey will not and cannot keep up that sort of scoring rate.

However, the composure that he is showing in and around the penalty box is a very encouraging sign that Ramsey is quickly developing into the  type of player that all clubs covet and desire – a consistent and prolific scoring threat from midfield.

But what is more, when an inevitable form slump comes for Aaron Ramsey nobody should doubt the character of the player, his resilience and his ability to battle through hard times.

Aaron Ramsey in Numbers

		Goals		Passes			Tackles
	Mins. Played	Attps	Scored	Made	Attps	%	Won	Attps	Ball Rcovy
Aston Villa	90	1	0	81	92	88%	4	5	9
Fulham	90	2	0	73	82	89%	1	3	9
Spurs	90	3	0	43	55	78%	8	12	10
Sunderland	90	3	2	81	88	92%	7	8	4
Stoke	90	3	1	66	70	94%	6	8	6
Swansea	90	2	1	55	69	80%	7	8	7
West Brom	59	2	0	35	44	80%	2	3	6
Norwich	53	4	1	51	56	91%	5	6	10
Premier	652	20	5	485	556	87%	40	53	61
Marseille	90	2	1	74	89	83%	5	7	5
Napoli	88	2	0	52	61	85%	4	6	4
Champions	178	4	1	126	150	84%	9	13	9
TOTAL	830	24	6	611	706	87%	49	66	70

 Statistics courtesy of Stats Zone