Ramsey Steals the Show

Article by e-Arsenal Correspondent Kingsley Okiwelu

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Watching Arsenal put in a dominant performance to see off Hull City at the weekend, one was struck by an overwhelming sense of wistfulness for what could have been. As the gunners midfield purred once again with energy and invention, whilst in attack, they seemed to have rediscovered the efficiency and clinical finishing that had been a feature of their performances in the first half of the season, it was impossible not to ponder what could have been if only this Arsenal side had been less decimated by injuries just when the league was reaching it’s most crucial phase.

On the strength of his performance against Hull on Saturday, Aaron Ramsey undoubtedly was the player the gunners missed the most. Arsène Wenger’s charges have often been accused of being a little bit predictable at times, appearing one-paced and lacking players who are prepared to run without the ball and provide an outlet for the abundance of creativity and vision that they undoubtedly possess especially with the artistry of the likes of Özil, Jack Wilshere and Thomas Rosicky. With Ramsey (and to some extent Theo Walcott) in the side, the team becomes undoubtedly more dynamic as these two players are more prepared to do more running off the ball. Ramsey in particular adds a lot of unpredictability to the team’s movement as evidenced in his contributions for Arsenal’s first and second goals against Hull. For the the first goal, he started the move and found Mesut Özil whose brilliantly weighted pass to Santi Cazorla left the Spaniard with the relatively simple task of threading the ball through to the young Welshman whose impeccably timed run into the Hull City vital area enabled him to receive the ball with an excellent first touch and stroke it calmly past the inside of the Hull City goal. For the second goal, Ramsey was again instrumental, making a bursting run into the Hull penalty area to chest down the ball into the path of Lukas Podolski who rifled home with his trusty left foot. The Hull midfield was finding it difficult to keep up with the Welshman as he darted all over the pitch covering every single blade of grass and remaining as elusive as ever in timing his runs into the Hull vital area to perfection.

One other encouraging note to emerge from the game was the way the triumvirate of Özil, Cazorla and Ramsey linked up. Whilst the quality of the opposition has to be considered, the excellent passing and movement between these three portends great things for the future. Ramsey and Özil in particular seem to be developing a great chemistry and this will undoubtedly serve the gunners well in next season’s campaign.

Apart from Ramsey, the other outstanding player of the game was Wolciech Szczesny. The young pole served notice of his determination to feature in May’s FA cup final by pulling of a string of brilliant saves to deny the likes of Nikica Jelavic and Shane Long. Particularly impressive was the way Szczesny dominated his area, coming out several times to pick up dangerous crosses (particularly in the first fifteen minutes) and taking the pressure off his defenders. Arsenal now find themselves in the rather unusual situation in which their number one goalkeeper may have to watch from the sidelines while his understudy(who is leaving at the end of this season anyway) may feature in the club’s biggest game of the season. For Szczesny however, all he can do is maintain this level of performance till the last game of the season against Norwich and make the decision as difficult for Wenger as possible. The sentimental option may be to go with Fabianski who has performed creditably whenever called upon and was instrumental in getting Arsenal to the final, however, considering this is the Club’s biggest game of the season, surely it would be wise to dispense with sentiment and go with the strongest possible team?

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