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 
Gains
“Honesty is not banned, you old prick.”
I’d like to see you say that to me face to face. But that’s why you said it…. there isn’t a chance that you would.
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Gains,
honestly I don’t care about a footballer who doesn’t play for Arsenal and is just a gimp for his third party owner, whoever they may be. I do know that Arsenal have three better CBs on their books, at the least, maybe more (definitely more when we had Sagna). That is all that matters.
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Piers Morgan: David Luiz will drive Brazil to victory tonight. He’s been my star of this World Cup. Such passion/commitment/determination.
Hahahahaha.
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I’ve been called a prick many times., doesn’t bother me………. but calling me old, you’ve fucking crossed the line.
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Gains @ 4.13
But I should add that surely Luiz’s antics for the seventh were the worst?
Loitering around, completely int he wrong position standing ahead of Gustavo with his ice cream in hand, as Germany took the throw in and released Muller he stands still, checks the time, reads the paper, looks back and sees Gustavo struggling to catch up with Shirley, decides to run now that the attacker has a comfortable head start, seven-nil. Terrible scenes if you are a fan of Brazilian football. In a World Cup semi-final. A crime against football!
There can be no defence for such defending.
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Oh, fuck off, NB. Who the fuck are you to be puffing your chest and telling people how to behave?
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The third, fourth and fifth goals saw David Luiz charging wildly through the middle chasing after Kroos, Khedira or Ozil at any given time
no they are not…..
1st goal- corner ….germans screening on purpose to release one of their own…three brasilians are standing with noone following mueller run other than luiz who has been SCREENED by 4-5 german players on purpose …well worked corner…personally i feel cesar could have done a bit better
2nd goal – klose …. mueller is far right and passes horizontally to either shwein or kroos. had youknown football yuo would know that the def mid does not allow horizontal passes from the side lines to the edge of the box…WATCH FERNANDINHO…then watch luiz and dante playing the offside whiel marcelo does a clichy….
3rd goal – kroos …ball comes from the right side ( marcello sleeping again) and the def mid in the brasilian box MISS IT again ..ball falls to kroos connects well..goal
4th goal;- fernandinho loses possession at the edge of the box ..the germans play aquick one two with khedira – mueller and the latter scores….
5th goal…..THIS is where luiz does his kamikaze run …..AT GOAL 5 !
the game is over though from goal 2 or 3……..
so either you are both blind or you dont know what youre watching…either is fine with me just stop bullshitting………..
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Lol @ NB
Gains is just grumpy because he didn’t take the advice to ignore you know who arguing about, I don’t know, aggressive tackles, the name of the day, the colour of the sky (it changes!), upon a blog where everyone “gets it”.
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lmao ..quoting morgan now. ??….how much lower gains???
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I’m not grumpy, I have always been very terse with people who are quick to go negative on young players and call our players deadwood. I’ve always been like that.
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Gains
You’ve been puffing your chest all afternoon……… but talking bollocks. Write a blog like Tom and have the dangloids to put yourself on the line and have people criticise what you’ve said. It’s fucking easy to keep making little comments here and there, but do it and let everyone pull you apart. Actually, I give Hunter more credit than you.
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Gainsbourg69
July 9, 2014 at 4:17 pm
no i dont agree with you at all. psg is not the issue here mate……
your claim that djourou is at a better level than luiz and hummels
what do you have to prove your nonsense claims then?
oh and dont use arrigo again mate lol……..arrigo talks about luiz alone..he is not comparing luiz with djourou…….. or hummels
try and stay in one place this time…..
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It’s fucking easy to keep making little comments here and there,
no let him make as many cheap shots as he likes…i have busted him in all of them and will keep busting him all day and all night….. easy….i talk specifically and in a context while he is all over the place…an embarassment.
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I haven’t been puffing my chest, I’m simply taking the piss out of another fan who talked up a particular player. That’s it.
I know you give Hunter credit. You and him share a proclivity for glorifying over-hyped players at the expense of those who play at Arsenal.
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I’m not grumpy, I have always been very terse with people who are quick to go negative on young players and call our players deadwood
thats not what happened though….
you made a nonsense claim and mocking players who piss all over djourou anyway you look at it…career wise, stat wise, acheivement wise, value-wise…..
this has nothing to do with arsenal or deadwood …this is about you getting caught being overconfident in your supposedly football “knowledge”……….
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I’m sorry chaps but this discussion has deteriorated to a level similar to LeGroan and that is not good….
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David Luiz and Hummels may be good on the ball and keep themselves busy on the pitch, but their defending leaves a lot to be desired. I happen to think Djourou is a better defender than either of them.
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Gains @4.13
Nope. It’s the fourth goal that’s the worst. Sure, the ‘tactics’ were that one of the CMs was meant to sit back as the FBs pushed up but here from the kick off , ( from the kick off!) our genius runs to the RB, instantly removing an obvious safe pass for Fernandinho who also obviously messed up, and clearing a path for one, no two, no three German players to score a five-a-side goal.
Almost as embarrassing as the edit above that makes in mention of it! Hehe. Luiz has entered into Dawson territory (the speedy F-Word ran around Dawson about three times for fun when he scored his goal from a kick off).
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I’ve got a new description for Hunter……… he’s like a fucking mosquito, no matter how much you swipe at him, you miss every time and he comes back for more blood.
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Sorry, Georgaki, I can get a bit obnoxious with my gloating. I’ll stop now. I mjean, Brazil lost 7-1, it’s sunny outside and the wind is blowing just enough to go out for a sail. It’s a good day. Oh, and the Dutch play Argentina in a real semi-final.
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GP
I’ve been saying that for days. *hic*
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I haven’t been puffing my chest, I’m simply taking the piss out of another fan who talked up a particular player. That’s it.
lying again?
were you not the one who started the “underrated hummels and luiz” ?
shall we go back and check?
i simply challenged the validity of your comment…im no luiz or hummels fan, but cant let you talk such crap and then talk us down as if were the ones who dont know…. 😉
how the hell do you take the piss out of someone who has been schooling you the last 24 hrs? you think very highly of yourself mate…that why you deserve these reality slaps…..
secondly :
you and fins made a claim about luiz being responsible for the goals conceeded…its been proved wrong! shhhhhhhh .
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Sorry, Georgaki, I can get a bit obnoxious with my gloating
but thats the thing…you have nothing to gloat about….you either just moving goalposts or talking pure and utter nonsense…youre confused.
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OK… enough is enough, fun is fun, and it needs to stop somewhere. Georgaki and Fins are being reasonable and this is not Le Groan. My only issue was that Tom posted an honest viewpoint of his assumptions about Aaron and then assumptions were made about his post. Poor bugger, probably won’t ever make another post. Don’t worry Tom, some of us understand and support you.
Where’s the fucking referee George the pedantic when you need him. 🙂
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This is my last comment on David Luiz and I’ll stop posting for the afternoon.
When given the captaincy and the responsibility of anchoring his defence, David Luiz failed spectacularly. One would think that a player worth £50m could be trusted to take control of a world cup sei-final no problems. At 27 years of age, this player shows no signs of maturity or level headedness. He’s rash, irresponsible and selfish. As I’ve said before, his athleticism bails him out of a lot of sticky situations, but he lacks the defensive awareness which is abundant in good defenders like Johan Djourou. In short, he’s a shit, overhyped player who isn’t worth £10 million.
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Yeah, I’m moving goalposts. Hahahahahahahahahahaha!
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Great stuff, Tom – brought back a lot of memories and it’s good to see someone brave enough to admit having been wrong about a player. For the first couple of years, I couldn’t see what the fuss was about with Ramsey, and I would grit my teeth and clench my buttocks waiting for him to lose the ball. But I did have faith in AW’s judgement and since he had faith in Ramsey, I trusted that Rambo would come good.
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I am delighted that Germany are through, I really hope they beat Argentina (assuming and hoping Argentina dispatch the Neths) and lift that beautiful trophy. I love their style of play, along with the French, they are the team most similar to us and they provided a sublime advertisement for controlled attacking football last night.
I feel very sorry for Brazil – as a supporter of a team which has got spanked in a similar way four times in recent memory, I can feel the pain of the fans and the squad. However the right team won.
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lol georgaki …ma einai axristos kai leei malakies !! haa
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One thing I always knew about Aaron was that he was mentally strong. Even aged 17 you could see that.
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Mourinho after he sold David Luiz for £50m
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I’ve never been able to move a goalpost in my life…. have you ever tried!
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When given the captaincy and the responsibility of anchoring his defence, David Luiz failed spectacularly.
lol ….first of all who says these things about responsibility .??? .do you have scholaris quotes please ? he was just captain…. tommyv and arteta are our captains but its someone else organising the defence …….
secondly:
what if the one who gave him the responsibilty is a lunatic? not knowing his players and their fortes/attributes
OR
does the same apply when djourou was given the responsibility to anchor his defence at o.t?
as for the rest of your comment it is non relevant in the djourou vs luiz+hummels comparison up of yours 😉
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David Luiz is better than Djourou.
Matt Hummels is better than both Luiz & Djourou and would probably start for ANY country on the planet.
I always liked Johan’s professionalism & temperement but I hope AW’s sold him to Hamburger SV regardless of how well he kept Messi at bay!
There was way too much pressure on the Brazilian team.
An extroverted country with so much emotion-laden dark history trying to come into the modern light placed way too much expectation on 23 young men and an old coach.
Based on how they played all tournament, it was an inevitable implosion.
For me Scolari was not the man to guide this group they needed big-but-fresher, younger cajones to deflect all that energy from the players.
The whole team was a shambles last night.
They lacked calmness & poise.
Too much samba, too much noise.
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OR
was it only luiz who failed spectacularly last night ?
did the rest cover themselves in glory then ?
listen mate for this is the final word :
the brasilians yesterday got humiliated because their fullbacks and defensive midfielders were on another pitch and the dante-luiz partnership never worked.
but sure you can have cheap shots at luiz or me for busting you talking bullshit…..
enjoy your afternoon……
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Right, Gains has gone to watch River Plates training session at a university near him, and Hunter has spoken his last word. It is now safe to come out of the closet and make a comment. This is also my last word. And when I say that, I mean it.
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lol nb… i just gave the final word on the brasil humiliation matter which for some reason is passed on as the fault of one player…..i never said anything about final words in general.
man what did you expect me to do? let that useless fella talk bollocks and then taking cheap shots based on his delusions ?
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no aman ..it was all luiz’s fault….lol…. nevermind the first 5 goals have nothing to do with him
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4*
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I don’t keep this blog going for this shit.
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northbank1969
July 9, 2014 at 3:57 pm
“When arseholes like you make people feel innadequate and fearing some idiot remark from an idiot like you and hunter.”
when you say something better support it…. show me who/when have i ever talked down anyone or their comment or blog entry for his/her opinion ?
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I don’t keep this blog going for this shit.
nor do we come here to get patronised with cheap shots by arseholes like gains who aint got a clue what they talk about ….
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I was probably a bit more cautious about Aaron after he returned from injury as the return of Eduardo after a similar long lay off. There were flashes of the old Eduardo but he did not show enough to get him a regular start. Whether it was physical or mental or a combination of both his return was not successful and lurking on the fringes of the Arsenal squad is no place for a talented player.
Aaron, thankfully, enjoyed a full recovery and return of confidence. While it took probably a year for him to get right back into the groove when the chance to play came he always grasped it.
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Aaron looks quite handsome with this new look on the dot com
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He is quite handsome, but his streaked hair is an abomination.
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I assume and hope the Debuchy & Sanchez signings become official tomorrow.
Hope by next Friday we’ll have a new GK and CB/DM to complete the roster.
Don’t really care who wins tonight….though the Oranje just shade Messi inc. in the sentiment dept.
Wouldn’t be too bad if Per,Oz & Poldi return as champs of ze Vorld would it
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An abomination like the Arse in puma George?
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Oh, does anyone know what happened to Maarten Stekelenburg’s mojo?
Is he worthy of arse-conscription?
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(Feel like I’m alone in a pitch black cathedral)..
Hello is anybody here?…….now that swords have been sheathed
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