Experience Arsenal…inside out

Amidst all the hype and excitement of the Premier League and other festivities, you might have forgotten about a player named Aaron Ramsey. After signing for Arsenal from Cardiff in 2008, Aaron’s career had never flown off. Hindered by injuries ‘Rambo’ failed to snap up a place in the starting lineup which could have been his by now.

A huge obstacle in Ramsey’s football life has been a career threatening injury which he suffered during a league appearance at Stoke on February 27, 2010. Ramsey suffered a double fracture in his lower right leg and Shawcross was sent off and left the pitch in tears. The injury was and is still considered similar to Eduardo’s injury which he (Eduardo) never fully recovered from. Eduardo’s career went downhill from there onwards and he eventually left Arsenal for Shakhtar Donetsk in July 2010. It is this fear that still haunts us Arsenal fans. Will Ramsey suffer a fate similar to that of poor Eduardo??

Whether Ramsey will cope with his injury depends on his mental strength. In my opinion the lad can make the grade but it has not been proven yet. Preliminary results have been promising. The Welshman had been sent to Nottingham Forest for rehabilitation and appeared in five matches with the team. Arsene Wenger would have liked him to have played a little more than just five games but bad weather had prevented this from happening. In the few matches he played with Forrest, he did nothing out of the ordinary. That’s expected, he did not go out on loan to do a Messi; he went there to train. During the matches he was a bit cautious as expected but he did not hold back in training. According to Nottingham Forest midfielder Chris Cohen  the fact that Aaron is Arsenal quality showed while they were in training together. After Ramsey started his first game for Forest, Cohen was full of praise for him. He said:

“He’s fantastic. He’s obviously just coming back from a very bad injury but the bits in training he does it makes you feel a bit like you shouldn’t be playing with him sometimes.

“He’s brilliant. Coming back to fitness is always going to be hard. He done well last night, he obviously got tired and came off after about 65 minutes. That’s not because he was doing badly just because it was his first game back.

“But you can see he can be a superstar in the future if he keeps progressing the way he has since he come from Cardiff. He’s fantastic and a really nice down to earth lad – he’s fitted in brilliantly with the lads as well.”

But that was a few weeks ago. Arsenal have decided not to extend Ramsey’s loan and he has finally returned to Arsenal. This, according to Wenger, is due to Arsenal’s injury to Diaby who is out for over a month. In a similar manner to Coyle wanting to keep Wilshere after his loan to Bolton, Davis (Forest’s manager) wants Ramsey to stay at Nottingham but admits that it will not be possible. He said:

“If that’s the case [the loan not being extended] it’s a pity we never got more use out of him. He has certainly been a joy to work with and a credit to himself and club.”

But the loan not being extended is certainly not bad news in anyway for Arsenal. Wenger has reassured the fans that Ramsey will return for the good and is not far away from making his first Arsenal appearance since February. He insisted:

“Ramsey will definitely come back. He did not get the number of games [at Forest] that he, or we, wanted because of the snow. He’s not completely ready yet but he should be in February.”

There you have it. February is just a month away.

But have you ever wondered what would have happened if Ramsey never got injured?? I had. The first thing that sprang into my mind was that Jack Wilshere would probably not be in the starting lineup this season if Ramsey had never gotten injured. Ramsey and Wilshere are two completely different players but I think Wenger would have made Aaron the priority since he is older and even more talented (in my opinion).

Aaron’s a fantastic talent. He is a physical player and whom I would actually call a complete midfielder. Could Ramsey play the role that Wilshere is playing now? Yes, I think so. He can possibly do it even better than Jack. I am serious. Ramsey can be every bit as physical as young Jack can be, so that’s not a problem. He probably cannot dribble as well as Wilshere but he isn’t bad at it either. Furthermore Ramsey is much better a passer than Wilshere. Like Fabregas and unlike Wilshere, Ramsey is not afraid of making long incisive passes to players. He distributes the ball much better than Jack also. Another immense quality that Ramsey possesses is that he can finish very well for a midfielder. I may be mistaken but I think he can finish better than most and possibly all of our midfielders. Taking long shots is not a problem for this guy, as was proven in the few matches he played for Arsenal. It’s a shame that he got injured because he would have developed a lot during this time.

In the near future, I can see Ramsey becoming a regular for Arsenal. When and if Fabregas leaves Arsenal, Ramsey will slot in there directly. No questions asked. Even if Fabregas never leaves Arsenal, I still believe this guy will earn his place into Wenger’s lineup. Who he replaces? I do not know. Wilshere is not a natural at the position he plays. He is more of a nasri-type player. He will inevitably take up a free role on the field- moving about the pitch, linking up play, scoring goals etc. Arshavin will be one player who is likely to lose his place and Jack might just be the perfect replacement. Ramsey will possibly play beside Fabregas and the two will cause havoc and dominate the midfield irregardless of the opponent at hand.

But what the lies in the future, no one knows. And, I am no psychic but I can predict that in the not-so-distant future, Arsenal fans all over the world will be wishing that football be played with twelve men instead of eleven because there is no way in hell a player of Aaron’s caliber can rest on the bench!!

Here’s a nice video of Rambo’s I found on the internet. Enjoy: