Today we have the first in a series of blogs on the rise and rise of Aaron Ramsey, which with a bit of luck will see some new bloggers popping their cherries.
I’m not ashamed to say that I wasn’t always Ramsey’s biggest fan. For a long time I quite simply though he was bad. In fact I was positive that he wasn’t good enough. When we discussed the deadwood that needed unloading, I lumped Ramsey in with Park, Djourou, and dare I say it, the great Lord Bendtner. He was a waste of space in my eyes; someone who would hold onto the ball too long in midfield and couldn’t win it back when he lost it. Don’t even get me started on when he played on the wing. There weren’t and still aren’t many footballers that really get my blood boiling. If Arsene bought them they must have something about them. I supported Arshavin for longer than most and was disappointed when both Eduardo and Vela were sold. All of them had shown flashes of brilliance, but dulled for some reason or another; injury, failure to adapt to the Premier League etc. To this day I still believe Arshavin just got too old and lost his fitness. However, something about Aaron just didn’t click with me. I cut him some slack, as I think we all did, after the terrible challenge from the Orc King that could have cleaved Castle Grayskull itself in two. However, by the 2011/2012 season I was frustrated with his lack of progression and felt he would never achieve the heights we had projected for him.
The paragraph you’ve just read was my opinion for about a year. My friends will never let me forget it.
One very important factor in the rise of Rambo is Arsene Wenger. He had potential when signing from Cardiff sure, but potential doesn’t always make a great player. Jay Emmanuel Thomas had potential too. I always saw Jack Wilshere as more talented, and more likely to make it. But Arsene always knew. Before paying 5 million pounds (for a 17 year old from Cardiff that’s nothing to sneeze at) Wenger reportedly flew him out to Switzerland to discuss his future. The boss was commentating at Euro 2008 at the time. Wenger spent over a month watching the best players in Europe and flew Aaron Ramsey out to convince him to join Arsenal. That shows you the belief Wenger had in him right from the beginning. While Ramsey was recovering from injury in 2010, a career threatening double leg break, Wenger signed him to a new long term contract. When others would have abandoned him, Wenger reassured him that he had a future at the club. The following season Jack would have one of his best performances for the club, in the 2-1 win over Barcelona at the Emirates. Aaron who? But Arsene always knew.
We’ve all heard that quote from Wenger: “Once Aaron Ramsey starts scoring he won’t stop”.
And he didn’t. Right up to the final moment of our last and most important game of the season, Aaron Ramsey didn’t stop scoring. But Ramsey’s rise (I’m enjoying the alliteration here) didn’t start in 2013/2014 season. That was just when he finally reached the top of the mountain. That F.A. Cup final goal sends Aaron Ramsey down in Arsenal history. Aaron Ramsey; Drought-Breaker. But it didn’t start there. In December 2012, Ramsey signed a new contract as part of our so called ‘British core’ along with Jenkinson, the Ox, Wilshere and Gibbs. Another show of faith from the boss. He never looked back. At this point I was still unsure of Ramsey’s future at Arsenal. In my eyes he still held the ball for too long, and tried clever tricks in areas of the pitch where he really shouldn’t have. But I began to see a change. Ramsey became very solid defensively. He didn’t score a mountain of goals in 2012/2013 in fact we only saw 1 premier league goal. What we did see however, was the start of the great Aaron Ramsey Engine. He started 17 of our last 20 matches, having previously started only 12 all season. From January onwards, he was indispensable, next to Arteta in midfield, becoming a true box to box player, running the ball between our defence and attack. This was when Ramsey finally set upon his climb with vigour. More and more I found myself admitting Ramsey had played well, had had a good game, had been man of the match. His rise was gathering pace.
Just before the start of last season we got a glimpse of what Ramsey would do. After a great pre-season, Ramsey topped it off with a lovely run from deep to score against Man City, as well as assisting a great goal from Theo (Oh what could have been). He also scored 3 times against Fenerbahce across two legs. It was something we would get used to. He scored against Fulham, Sunderland, Stoke (delightfully), Swansea and Norwich; 5 goals in the first 7 premier league games. By this point in the season we had already run out of superlatives for him. He didn’t have a part in Arsenal’s goal-of-the-season wonder goal against Norwich, so instead took it upon himself to dribble past the entire Norwich defence and score (leaving half of them on the floor behind him). It was Messi-esque. And yes I just made up that word because there are no words to describe how good Ramsey had become. Clearly my opinion has now completely changed. That’s not me back tracking or denying what I had previously believed. Quite simply I couldn’t be stubborn and ignore what was right in front of me. Despite the signing of Mesut Ozil, Ramsey had become Arsenal’s best player, our talisman, our driving force. I’ve not seen a player play like this in midfield for Arsenal for a long time. Fabregas was great he really was, but Ramsey had resurrected the spirit of Patrick Vieira to play at Arsenal’s heart.
What was Ramsey’s best moment of the 2013/2014 season? The goals against Norwich, Liverpool and Dortmund all stand out in my memory, but surely the F.A. Cup final goal takes the crown. His goals had dried up a little in the final moments of the season but when we were desperate, when we really needed someone to pull us out of a hole, Ramsey was there. I remember sitting right at the top of Wembley stadium and feeling despair when we were 2 nil down. I had been at Birmingham too. Surely this couldn’t happen again. Slowly but surely we clawed our way back. Ramsey didn’t have his best game, far from it, but in typical Ramsey fashion he never gave up. I remember a number of shots from outside the box, going high, going wide but inching closer every time, and I vividly remember turning to my dad saying, “I don’t care if he misses, they should keep giving him the ball. Let him shoot”. It was a massive change from my attitude towards Ramsey 18 months previously, where I would groan whenever he touched the ball.
Shoot he did. And score he did. Aaron Ramsey, after his best ever season, after being the best midfielder in England for 12 months, scored the winning goal to win the F.A. Cup for Arsenal. Drought-Breaker. Ramsey has climbed an Everest of injury, abuse and negativity, lots from his own fans. But he never gave up, and now he’s standing at the highest peak with an F.A. Cup winner’s medal and fistful of names he’s proved wrong, including a certain Dutch ex-captain who wanted him sold. He proved me wrong too. But he wouldn’t gloat because he’s not like that.
Aaron Ramsey has made a humble football fan of me. After his last 18 months I never feel I can write any player off no matter how bad they are. People have consistently written off Jenkinson, but I did the same with Ramsey. People wrote off Giroud, but I did the same with Ramsey. Hell I even don’t feel I can write off Tom Cleverly. Don’t get me wrong, I really think he’s shit. But once upon a time I said this guy wasn’t good enough for Arsenal Football Club and I had to eat my words. His name is Aaron Ramsey; Drought-Breaker.
By Tom Papaloizou @TomPapaloizou
Positively Arsenal 
Tom, its good that you acknowledge you were wrong-in so far as you’ve gone.
But I believe you were wrong on a much more basic level. Aaron was never bad. Just like Ozil is not bad,despite what the media and associated halfwits would have us believe.
Arron might have struggled at times, but he was never bad,ever, not even once.
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I always saw him as an average player who was lucky enough to play under AW but his recent ascent to this stage was only seen coming by his manager.I believed Ramsey was motivated by two factors; GARETH BALE & MESUT OZIL. He started having such confidence and belief in himself coupled with hardwork and determination,and it all paid off.However, a sustained success only comes from an effective succession and hopefully,he’d continue where he stopped…Hat off.Rambo!
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You’re right he wasn’t bad he just made mistakes. As a younger football fan it was something I had to learn and I couldn’t have been taught a more humbling lesson
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From the very start I believed Aaron was our brightest young star and he hasn’t disappointed me.
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oh well thiese things tend to happen when people/public/media judge a footballer as if he is the finsihed article at ages 20-21-22.
the time for arsenal fans and media to judge our footbalelrs woudl have been past their 25-26 years of age..thats when they would have been fully developed, but no we kicked our toys out the pram when 19-20-21 and 22 yearolds coudlnt beat world class superstars and players aged 28-31.
as for people getting annoyed and lecturing wenger as to where ramsey should play , its best they keep their mouths shut for an integral part of a modern mdifeilder is the ability to play all over the midfield the germans yesterday : kehdira, schweinsteiger, kroos …identical…tall, strong, authoritative, skillfull, intelligent and constantly moving with or without ball. who was def mid and who the b2b and all these hipster bollocks going around? can anyone seperate? i cant…… they can all press, tackle, pass, shoot play wide, play short, dribble, create…. and thats what ramsey was learning to do under one arsene wenger
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Tom P: thanks for this great post, which I really enjoyed. It is beautifully written and contains real insight about the development of both Ramsey as a footballer and you as a commentator. Hope you have plenty more like this in your locker!
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Great bit of writing Tom andI think a lot more to come from Aaron – and he’s tall – we need height in midfield
One thought though – If Cesc had not found his DNA, and if Samir had not found his was to the Etihad, and If Abou had not the grimmest injury record in world football – would Aaron have had the same chance to develop as a player ?
I wonder, I wonder
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oh yeah aaron was playing along cesc till he got injured…i think he had already overtaken denilson in the squad at the time of his injury
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George dead right, from the days of him controlling the Swansea midfield you could tell he was going to be special. Jet’s attitude was often questioned, that was never the case for Aaron. When Arsene and Alex are fighting for you its also an indication of character as well as technique and when the decision a young player makes is more about football than immediate glory then you know he has his head screwed on. Far from cutting slack when he was assaulted at stoke we should remember he was just starting to influence games at that time. When you are just trying to stamp your authority on a top team in a top league it was probably the worst time to get injured. Aaron didn’t start to return to top form last season but the last 10/12 games of the season before only it wasn’t recognised on a wide basis. The erratic form on his return from that injury reminded me of a young Ray Parlour and dare I say it Brian Robson. I love Jack but Aaron is more of a captain than Jack will ever be. Even when not on his best form his work rate was still excellent and he always wanted the ball quite simply the boy has BALLS. However the main thing to acknowledge about this situation is not that fans were wrong about Aaron but are wrong about players who are playing badly in general. You don’t get to play for the top sides in world without being good players and although circumstances mean some players don’t fit either immediately or long term judging players early is extremely naive
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Swansea ?????
He’d go mad AoB !!
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hahaaa
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his7orico
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I always find the Jack or Aaron for captain debate interesting. Just 12 months ago we were all saying Jack was perfect for the role, and now lots of people have switched their opinions. I think it’s important not to forget that being captain is more than just your attitude and ability on the pitch. It’s about inspiring and encouraging your team, supporting younger players and representing the club with passion as well as ability. I’m not saying Aaron doesn’t have that, but on the whole I always think it’s hard to judge as we can’t see what’s happening inside the dressing room
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Great stuff Tom,personally I never doubted him and only last night whilst driving around London I was thinking about him and whether he can get even better this coming season? If he can,or the Ox,Jack or Serge have a similar breakthrough season,I think we’ve got a right chance in the Title race.
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Aaron is 23,he effectively lost 2 years to the injury, so in development terms he’s about 21. Too fucking right there’s more to come.
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“My friends will never let me forget”.
And neither will I, Tom. I didn’t read the rest of your post because it took me and others like me a few touches to know Ramsey was going to be a star. You’re no different than the dude who laughed at me when I told him David Luiz was a shit defender. By the way, why would you put Johan Djourou on the deadwood list? He’s the main man for one of the best defences on the planet.
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Laro: “I always saw him as an average player who was lucky enough to play under AW but his recent ascent to this stage was only seen coming by his manager.”
You remind me of that guy who thinks David Luiz is better than Johan Djourou.
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Morning Gains. Have you got up feeling hungry for fresh meat?
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hehe gains … it would be nice if you could support your claims even at 50% of how i support mine….
just throwing your personal ideas around dont count for much ……
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well george if he can elaborate on his one sentence claims….. we shall see who is meat ……
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as things stand
– luiz has played in bigger clubs and played in big games and occasions and demands transfers from 20-50m and the other one is from loan to loan……
– using a humiliating defeat as a gauge is pathetic and indicative of low football knowledge/understanding.
– calling hummels and luiz shit and claiming djourou is better than both is somehting not even djourou’s mother would say….
– noone called luiz beckenbauer just better than the selection of a biassed fool.
i count that as a 4-0……
just like you said george……fresh meat……
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Gains: talented players have fallen by the wayside before. How many so called superstars have come through at arsenal that turned out to be average players? Raw talent always doesn’t equate to becoming world class
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I like to think that there will come a time when it isn’t a case of whether Jack or Aaron is better but they are both recognised as outstanding players who fortuitously (but you make your own luck in this game) happened to be playing for The Arsenal during its astonishing five year domination of European football between 2015 and 2020.
Jack has had significant injury issues for sometime now, but there were glimpses of a return to his best in the build up to the World Cup and I hope that will continue.
And as I keep being told that we need another midfielder and that we are in the market for Bender, or Shneiderlin or Khedira, could someone tell me who I should be hoping for. I watched Khedira very carefully last night and liked the way he linked with Ozil. I haven’t seen anything more than highlights of the other two.
I suppose Pogba is out of the question?
And Gains, I really think you should read the whole article.
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Seven goals the night he’s handed the helm, Hunter. I’m watching Germany’s second goal and it’s astonishing how easily they got around David Luiz.
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plus the hummels luiz djourou …its the stats career and acheivements that speak themselves …i dont have to say/think anything….
unlike the ‘expert’ who just writes one sentence claims..does not support them… and then dares to have cheap shots using isolated incidents / historic humiliations ……. which again if we analyse we will find that the ones mostly responsible for the goals were the fullbacks and the midfielders who were non existent plus dante ebing on another pitch……..
and i have plenty more reality ‘slaps’ to give should he or anyone want to continue this way….
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whats the matter george? you hiding him ? lol….. is he not hungry anymore..? .maybe he is stuffed and needs to digest… 🙂
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Hunter “fresh meat” was in relation to the new posters. Are you a new poster?
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This 7-1 is made more sweet when you learn that the Brazil is ruled by two factions. The evangelical Chrsitsians headed by David Luiz and Thiago Silva and the non-Evangelicals. While they were doing all their praying before the game, the Germans were discussing tactics. Et voila.
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Seven goals the night he’s handed the helm, Hunter. I’m watching Germany’s second goal and it’s astonishing how easily they got around David Luiz.
the second goal is klose’s right? …where luiz and dante rush up for offside but marcelo is doing a clichy?
whats your next idea/claim ?….
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wait wait lets put some fucking context cause youre throwing the ball outside the court…not only moving goalposts……
1) hummels and luiz worse than djourou
2) blaming luiz for the whole of the brasil team’s collapse and humiliation and suggesting its his fault for the goals conceeded.
Just try and stay on these two subjects you have opened up with your one sentence claims and nothing to support them……..
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Hunter Luis is average at CB, at best.
Thats average for good teams, he’s be shit hot for Accrington Stanley.
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the 7-1 is sweet because in every world cup they are hyped to the point of disgust and because it has happened by a european team inside their home …plus for me personally its about revenge for r.baggio.
besides that though, when someone talks utter crap about individual players abilities/careers and achievements you go with records and data and other alike values and not your own personal idea/bias/farts in the air…..
what has the evangelical whatever faction got to to do with anything? lol….
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lora
ramsey has been playing well before ozil. and who the hell is bale? ramsey was already made captain of wales before the monkeyman became spud’s main man. if i can remember, ramsey has been our best player since the second leg of our cl match against bayern. he hasnt looked back since then. he brought the best out of the players around him. arteta, ozil, giroud, cazorla and even our defenders. i still remember his partnership with jack against newcastle. that was the best i have seen of jack since cesc was here.
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george i dont care if he is average as a cb in comparison to say nesta … …he is better than the one sentence biased suggestion of djourou thats for sure…which is the topic of the comparison ..not where he stands on a world rank system but between them two only. and hummels
plus he can also play midfield which shows versatility…
now lets see what kind of an “eye” gains has or anyone else when watching the goals conceeded last night …….
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a or b
fergi can fight over anybody though, remember he won the battle to sign bebe
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George : Thats average for good teams
oh right ..because djourou is wanted by madrid milan and all top clubs of this world…. …….
george come on…lets not move goalsposts ….the topic is well defined – “hummels and luiz are average and djourou is better than both”
thats whats being challenged……
NOT accrington stanley
NOT brasil’s humiliation
NOT how he would compare to the greatest centrebacks of the world
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Well I tend to agree,ish.
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you can agree with him all you want ..it doesnt change the fact youre both wrong on this issue
the two you dont hold in regard have done things in football while the one you hold as better has done NOTHING…
hence i asked …is that statement an informed football statement or just the opinion i.e fart of one biased person?
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I blame David Luiz for not being able to organize his defence.
Marcelo didn’t do a Clichy for the second goal. Özil made a little run which took Daid Luiz completely out of the play and the German strikers practically walked it into the goal.
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i dont particuarly like luiz either, not like a dream of him playing for arsenal you know….. but i wont tolerate horse-shit from a biased fool who just throws things around unable to support them and then comes to have cheap shots even though he is wrong………
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I blame David Luiz for not being able to organize his defence
why when was he ever the organiser? he has always been the kosncielny of his teams the one to go at ball, not the organiser……..you dont know shit mate……constantly movign the goalposts
anything to say about scolari’s inspirations…maicon and marcelo instead of alvez felipe?
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Hunter, being wanted by those big clubs means fuck all. If that’s the only requisite for being a good player, then Christian Karembeu and Winston Bogarde are extraordinary players.
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lets blame giroud for not dribbling and killing inside the box ( first time asked…not third and fourth) ……
thats the equivelant of what you just said on luiz/organiser
blaming him for an attribute which was never in his skill-set/repertoire…..very clever of you…
you know what gains..you move goalposts and then when that doesnt work you take the ball and throw it out the court…..
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what you didnt like/approve of christian carembeu either ?
ok he was no vieira but certainly not bad……
Hunter, being wanted by those big clubs means fuck all
??? i dont get that….. you suggesting you know better than the people working for those clubs then?
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Last night he was the organizer and the club who just paid £50m for his services expects him to be able to organize a defence as well.
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who says he was the organiser? you? phil scolari? bbc? WHOOOO?
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and the club that paid the 50 already have the organiser ( thiago)….
so much you know so much you say…
why didnt they look at djourou then? lmao…..
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Yes I’m suggesting that I know more than the people at clubs who think David Luiz is a good player. If PSG had consulted me, I would have advised them not to buy David Luiz. I would have told them he’s the Tim Tebow of football.
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hey dont be sad ….
now you have the ball “organiser” to play with …. lol
has david luiz ever been the organiser in any team he has played? so why would you use that? poor choice mate…….
look if youre too dizzy from the reality slaps you can tell me to take a break…we have all day after all….
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Hunter
You really are a piece of work aren’t ya! You do yourself no favours with these rants. I skip over most of them, and I’m sure maybe others do to. So what could be an intellegent and poignant remark and useful to the conversation, instead just gets said to fresh air! Just an observation mate!
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