Player Focus: Ramsey Enjoying Central Limelight Once Again

Aaron Ramsey’s goal against Aston Villa on Sunday could hardly have offered a better snapshot both of his performance in that game and of his wider qualities as a footballer. He won possession back with a tackle on Idrissa Gueye then surged 60 yards forward to be a few yards to Mesut Ozil’s left as he squared the ball, taking Brad Guzan out of the game. Ramsey’s finish into an open net was simple, but only because he’d made the run, which had taken him past six Villa players.

Arsene Wenger has developed a habit over the past few months of serendipitous discoveries, plucking the forgotten Francis Coquelin from down the back of the sofa, reinventing Santi Cazorla as a central midfielder and coaxing that majestic assist against Olympiakos out of Joel Campbell. Perhaps it was always apparent that Ramsey is a better player through the centre than on the flank, but that message has been reinforced in the past week, the injuries to Cazorla and Coquelin forcing Wenger to enlightenment.

"He had an outstanding performance today," Wenger said on Sunday. "I think of course he is naturally more of a central midfielder and I pushed him out wide for a while because I believe we have seen many times that when players are pushed against the line they need to shorten their technique. When they come back into the middle again, they are better players."

Perhaps Wenger did have the bigger picture in mind, but part of the reason Ramsey was moved out to the right was that it was the only place he could be accommodated given how well Coquelin and Cazorla were playing. Ramsey, though, is different to either; he is one of that rare breed, a true box-to-box player in an era in which the position has gone out of fashion – partly because of the sheer physical demands of the game make it difficult and partly because of the tendency for teams to be split into four bands (eg a 4-2-3-1) rather than three (a 4-4-2).

“It was obviously nice to be there and finish it off,” Ramsey said of his goal. “It was a great move from us, we’ve seen there was an opportunity to get forward, it was a great ball from Theo [Walcott] and then the vision of Ozil to play me in for a simple tap-in was delightful as well. It’s part of the job in the middle to win tackles, and I was happy to start [the goal] as well.”

 
Ramsey’s was an extraordinary all-round display. He had 97 touches, 31 more than Carlos Sanchez, the Villa player with the most. He completed 91% of his passes, more than any Arsenal player other than Hector Bellerin; one of them was a key pass. He got forward to have three shots; nobody else on the pitch had more. He also made five tackles and two interceptions; nobody else on either side won the ball back as often, all for a WhoScored man of the match rating of 8.15.

This is a return to 2013/14 when Ramsey started the season so well that at Christmas he seemed the outstanding candidate to be footballer of the year, only for injury to rule him out for three months in the new year. Only five midfielders made more tackles than him that season, while Yaya Toure and Steven Gerrard were the only central midfielders to score more goals. Moving wide last season brought his goals return down from 10 to 6 and his tackles down from 3.3 per game to 2.0.

Three games back in the middle – against Sunderland, Olympiakos and Villa – have brought two goals and two assists. The Ramsey of two years ago has returned and, in this most unpredictable and open of Premier League seasons, that might be enough to give Arsenal the edge. The complication will come towards the end of the season when Cazorla and Coquelin return. Until then, though, Arsenal can rejoice in necessity once again having proved the mother of invention.

Should Ramsey keep his place in the centre when Coquelin and Cazorla return? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below