Aaron Ramsey is back. Sort of. At the very least, the first signs of the Ramsey of 2013-14 have presented themselves. Now may not be the perfect time to talk about his return to form—he limped off the field in Wales’ qualifier against Israel yesterday—but thankfully the injury doesn’t look too serious and, provided I haven’t jinxed it, he should be available to play for Arsenal again once the international break is over.
Last season, the Welshman had one of the best seasons any Arsenal player has had since the days of Thierry Henry; certainly since a striker whose name now escapes me—Rob or something—carried Arsenal to third place in 2012. Unfortunately, he was injured for three months, which effectively ended Arsenal’s title hopes that year, but he came back in time for the FA Cup final against Hull City to score the winner in injury time and deliver one of the most beautiful moments in Arsenal’s history.
Over the summer, positivity was abuzz around Arsenal. The signing of Alexis Sánchez first, followed by Mathieu Debuchy, Calum Chambers and David Ospina, caused Gunners fans to believe that, with a few more signings, they could finally win the league for the first time since the “Invincibles” were proving Arsène Wenger’s genius. One of the men at the centre of everyone’s positivity was Aaron Ramsey. Many fans believed that, along with Mesut Özil, Alexis et al, he could lead Arsenal to glory.
However, the signings Arsenal fans were dreaming of never materialised. Only Danny Welbeck came through the doors after the quartet who had arrived earlier who, despite bringing with him plenty of potential, failed to get the majority of Arsenal fans’ hearts racing—not like he did when he scored the winner at Old Trafford a few weeks ago, anyway.
The first half of the 2014-15 season was somewhat disastrous for Arsenal: they threw away points in the league with stupid defensive errors; lost in mad circumstances at home to Manchester United; threw away a 3-0 lead at home to Anderlecht and had to suffer watching Mathieu Flamini’s career fall to pieces.
Aaron Ramsey’s start to the season was not much better. Endless hamstring injuries meant that he missed all too many matches. When he did play, things did not quite go to plan. That is not to say that there weren’t some moments of magic: he scored in Arsenal’s Community Shield win over Manchester City, then scored late goals to win and draw Arsenal’s first two Premier League games of the season against Crystal Palace and Everton, and finished off 2014 with a sensational goal away to Galatasaray in the Champions League. But these moments were in short supply, compared to last season at least, and things didn’t seem to be working for him.
His passes went astray much more than one was used to, and the ever-threatening mastermind of twelve months ago seemed to have lost his train of thought. All of his problems caused the Arsenal fanbase to question their Messiah and the British media to label him a “one-season wonder.” It seemed that Ramsey would never match the heights of late 2013. Perhaps it was time for all to lower their expectations of him.
However, in the past few weeks, he has begun to return to form and quash the doubters. The emergence of his spark was first evident in Arsenal’s 5-0 win over Aston Villa at the beginning of February. Mesut Özil and Olivier Giroud in particular stole the headlines on that day, but Ramsey was in the background, quietly going about his business, making some wonderful passes. In March he produced his best performance of the season up until that point. Arsenal beat West Ham 3-0 and Ramsey, along with Giroud and Mesut Özil, ran the show. He scored a goal which, due to his bustling run into the box, was more than reminiscent of last year.
He has continued in the same vein since, and was instrumental in Wales’ crucial win against Israel, scoring a header relying on another of his trademark runs into the box, and brilliantly assisting a Gareth Bale goal. Should he continue to play like this, he will have put his recent turmoil behind him.
When Ramsey first burst onto the scene, at first glance his playing style was similar to that of Cesc Fàbregas. He had plenty of time on the ball along with great vision, and it seemed that Arsenal had another playmaker in their ranks. However, if he can stay injury-free and continue to improve, he will be something even better.
As well as having a great passing ability, Ramsey has a sensational work ethic and knack for scoring and creating goals out of nothing. There have been numerous occasions in the past few years where Arsenal have played the ball into the box and the most advanced man has managed to get on the end of the ball, but where one would expect it to be the centre-forward, it has actually been Ramsey. He is very quick and when Arsenal are attacking from deep he is able to get from one end of the pitch to the other in incredibly quick time. He refuses to give up on an attack and always does his best to burst into the penalty area, which does risk injuries, but makes him very hard to defend against.
In the first half of the 2013-14 season, Luis Suarez was the only player in the Premier League whom Aaron Ramsey was definitely not better than. Even though he had the genius of Mesut Özil to compete with, he was comfortably Arsenal’s best player. He has shown signs of returning to that form, and though there is a long way to go, he can become one of the Premier League’s best players once again.
Over the next few years, Arsenal have a huge chance to add to their thirteen league titles and win the Champions League for the first time. Aaron Ramsey will be at the forefront of their challenges, and his partnership with Mesut Özil could well become one of the most feared midfield duos in Premier League history. Jack Wilshere, who has had his own troubles of late, could well join them in a council of three, and alongside Alexis, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and the like, a fully firing Aaron Ramsey could become an Arsenal legend.
