exactly. without the baptism by fire Song endured, he probably wouldn't be the same Song we see today.
Rambo's got no options to pass too in the final area. If RvP isn't available Theo's movement is comical, and the other wing's not been consistent without Gervinho. Also without fullbacks the space is constricted. Still think he's having a great year in terms of development and seeing things. The goals will come.
I am quite certain we would have played a Song/Flamini/Cesc midfield eventually and the other 2 dross wouldn't have gotten a lot of play time. Yet replace Ramsey with Rosicky and you can see the big difference. Rosicky isn't Cesc but at the very least he can make simple passes, work well with the other 2 midfielders and make sure our attack doesn't break down because of him. While Ramsey frequently gives the ball away cheaply because of poor touches, bad decision making and stupid flicks. I think the problem with him is that at the moment we don't need a player like him, he's essentially a Steven Gerrard, a great engine who can be everywhere on the field and hustle our opponents. But at the moment we are struggling to make up for Cesc's lost, and Wenger seems to be trying to play Ramsey as a Cesc replacement, the guy trying to make goals for Walcott/RVP/etc. And he's just not up to the task at all. I think when Wilshere returns and we get to see a Wilshere/Ramsey pairing we'll see a different Ramsey, because Wilshere is closer to the Cesc-type of player who can control the midfield. But yeah that will bring questions of why he should be playing ahead of Arteta.
See thats why eyewitness testimony is the least reliable. When you see Rosicky I see him as ticking over the play. The guy attempting most passés today was Arteta, not Rosicky, Rosicky was basically a sitter. So the true replacement for Ramsey was really Song who tried 7 thru balls, or those stupid passes you accuse Rambo of making and completed 3. Imvho Rambo is a sitter/passer, not a passer/attacker, but he's playing that way because there's no passer/attacker, well there's Song but he's deeper with Arteta. Today he was more advanced and Rosicky circulated and dropped along with Arteta. Again, I'm not going to piss on Rambo when he's coming back from an injury and essentially carrying the creative load. He can do better, but I don't buy into this "OH Jack will safe us" because frankly Jack will be the 2012 Rambo because he's going to be returning from injury and then people will say he's trying stupid passes, and etc etc.
I love how Ramsey is the scapegoat of the week. People were even moaning about him in today's match thread. It's especially funny watching him being compared with Rosicky, who the football geniuses proclaimed utter shit a few weeks ago. People here have all the historical perspective of a lab rat with a crack button.
I am not pissing on Ramsey, you need to read again what I have written. My point is basically the same as what you have posted, he's a victim of Wenger being clueless about our tactics. He's a sitter/passer, not a passer/attacker but Wenger is playing him as a passer/attacker because he imagines Ramsey as a replacement for Ramsey. Which is ridiculous. I think even without Wilshere swapping the roles that Arteta and Ramsey are playing would have done wonders to our midfield, since Arteta can do everything and I am sure he will do the passer/attacker role better than Ramsey.
I think Ramsey's just exhausted. Let him rest for a couple of weeks. He's never played this many games before. Slightly off topic: There's some analysis in baseball that talks about the number of innings young pitchers through in a season, and suggests that too big a jump from one season to another substantially increases a player's injury risk, and is a major potential detriment to a young player's career. I wonder if there's something similar for soccer, in terms of minutes played.
rosicky is shite, let's see us against a semi decent team before we are a 'top side' again don't forget we drew 0-0 with bolton, lost to utd at home and swansea away before this and a comeback against an aweful villa team that newcastle beat with a player we should have bought
Ramsey is a victim of wenger, nothing else. The ox is an example of what having depth at a position can do for you Ramsey is an example of poor planning and directly against how wenger treats young players with high potential. He is young and super incosistent, coupled with the fact that at a team like arsenal he holds on to the ball forever..like a young player.
It's funny how much smoke people were blowing up Ramsey's ass a few months ago. Now that he's hit a bad patch, those same people scapegoat him. So sad.
right around when he hit that winner in the CL and chasing everything down and was proclaimed the next coming? it's about as funny as the people who shat on koscielny when he was signed or when he had a bad patch and is now falling all over themselves over him.
A lot of that has to do with how we are at a knife edge in our league position ATM, and we don't have the luxury to wear our rose tinted glasses for any of our players. Wenger doesn't have that luxury too, and we wouldn't have been so hard on Ramsey had Wenger taken him out of the firing line earlier. Ramsey's bad patch has been going on for way too long, it has been a long time since I last remember him giving a standout performance.
"GREAT"? I don't see what he's done that's great. He's scored a couple, assisted a couple and that's about it. Really watch his play and you should see that there's something about it that's not very "Arsenal" IMHO. It's too slow. He dribbles way too much, constantly has his head down and really slows our attack down. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying he's horrible, but he's basically a "lesser" Arteta...they are too similar...we should only start one or the other. With the two of them, we are way too slow in build up. We should play one of Arteta/Ramsey and Arshavin/Rosicky with Song in the middle, but never both Ramsey and Arteta. Ramsey is basically like Diaby...talented, skilled, but way to slow for the Arsenal--not in physical speed but in footballing terms. Our Ideal middle-3 would be Arteta, Song and Wilshere. Rosicky slots in better for Wilshere than Ramsey so he should take over. If Arteta sits, then Ramsey should come in.
Here's some perspective. Through 22 league matches (the most recent stats available to me): -Ramsey has attempted the 4th most passes in the league, and has had an 87% success rate. Compare these numbers to Luca Modric, who's attempted 4 fewer passes (5th most in the league) with an 88% success rate. Good company to be in for a playmaking midfielder. -Ramsey is in the top ten in the league with 6 assists (he is in a tie for 8th). Only David Silva has more than 8. -I can't find a free source for chances created, but I know he was leading the team in this most underrated stat for a while and I believe he still is. I wouldn't bet the house on that last one being correct, but even if it's wrong the others speak to a player carrying the creative load and doing a damn fine job of it.
I think stats say something about the game, so I'm not going to dismiss this like some will. Although, I'm not sure where you are getting that. By my research, he has 4 assists and 1 goal in the league--not exactly "great" considering his minutes played but not bad. You'll also have to show me the data on the chance creation bit, although I know he puts in some good balls here and there and that's not my criticism in the first place. I know he's a good passer and that's not my point. Don't get me wrong, he's not a bad player and I'm happy to have him. I'm just saying that he's not what we need at the moment. Consider these comparisons--anecdotal I know, but they illustrate my point. The first is a comparison btw Ramsey and Wilshere (guardian fcuks it up, it says wilshere on both, but trust me the top is Ramsey). Look how Ramsey is all over the place (not that that's bad) whereas Wilshere is more focussed and clean indicative of quick passing. The second is a comparison between Ramsey and Arteta (Ramsey at top). Very similar, they both hold the ball and spread it around (again, not a bad thing). But, IMO, we only need one of these two in midfield along with the complement of Song and someone else. The third shows Rosicky and Arteta (Rosicky top) in the Blackburn match...notice how they are different in the same fashion that Wilshere and Ramsey are different--complementary if you will. This is what we need. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/chalkboards/eab71g40reJk2557ROzQ?commentpage=all#comment-14522336 http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/chalkboards/xyb7q26262zH048Q4FdC?commentpage=last#end-of-comments http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/chalkboards/4Wz0pyOM06mg6B3ydP0g?commentpage=last#end-of-comments
Wilshere was in a midfield with Cesc that day the one thing that Ramsey needs to do is "let his hands go" like they say in boxing or just let the ball go quicker. In saying that, this criticism of Ramsey is what I expected to happen a year ago when people were busting nuts over his return while critiquing other players. It takes time for a YOUNG player to return to their form. Even more so in their first full premiership season. And on top of that he hasnt played badly at all. We will see the same for Wilshere next year as well. Thats how this always goes.
ramsey isn't like arteta at all imo he is a good prospect, but we need a playmaker there or even a guy like chambo for the future who drives the ball forward aggressively and creates chances from that rather than a perfect cesc esque pass which suits the league more, a ss if u like
Yes. I agree. "let his hands go" or whatever. But he doesn't play with his head up so I don't see this happening. AOC, Wilshere, Cesc play(ed) with their head up from early stages. He has talents, but I don't see him playing fast. Not to say he's not good or we can't use him. They are alike in the pace they bring to attack in midfield. The ball comes to either of them and they work the ball a lot to get angles, holding possession rather than looking for the quick pass. We only need one player doing this, the other needs to be more quick and decisive to keep the defense from getting organized. We are on the same page in that we need something different so don't think we really disagree.