It was early June in the year 2008 when a young Welsh lad
from Cardiff, a Manchester United fan who considered Ryan Giggs as his idol
decided to join Arsenal despite it being confirmed that he had met officials
from Man Utd as well as Everton. The reason was pretty straightforward - Arsene
Wenger’s impeccable record of polishing ‘rough-diamonds’ into World beaters.
The above reinstated my faith in Arsenal having the Best Youth Development
Policy, at least in England and that Arsene Wenger was the best in the business
at cherry-picking and nurturing the youngsters. I finally did have something to
brag about at home, with my brother, Tanmay being a Man Utd fan.
THE GROWTH
The
young Welshman who goes by the name of ‘Rambo’, was cut out for big things at a
very young age at Cardiff City. The fact that he was scouted by some of the
best Premier League clubs bore evidence to this precocious talent. He was
scouted and even approached by a Welsh Rugby team in his younger days! Terry
Burton, a former Arsenal player and coach, who was(at that time)Assistant
Manager at Cardiff City and was instrumental in Ramsey’s growth, recommended
him to Arsene Wenger. The rest is history.
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| Ramsey signs for Arsenal after rejecting a club he supported, Man Utd |
Aaron
Ramsey, a Central Midfielder, who according to Wenger is, "An
offence-minded Roy Keane", started developing at Arsenal in typical Wenger
fashion, i.e., making substitute appearances in the Premier League and
Champions League and being a regular starter(as well as the Key Player)in the
Carling Cup. He scored his first goal for Arsenal in their 5–2 victory away
against Fenerbahçe in the group stages of the Champions League becoming the
fifth youngest scorer in Champions League history, and only the second player
born in the 1990s to score a Champions League goal. Subsequently Ramsey started
more games next season, growing in confidence and stature with every
game. Wenger started speaking of Ramsey in press-conferences as "a player
with a fantastic engine, good build, good technique and good vision".
Ramsey made his début for the Wales national football team aged 17, breaking
the record as the youngest Welsh international.
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| Ramsey scoring against Fenerbahce - Wales Captain at the age of 20 |
THE UNFORTUNATE
It was
the 27th of February, 2010. Ramsey had started establishing himself in the
Arsenal XI. On that day, Ramsey was given a start against the ‘rugby- like’
physical Stoke City at The Britannia Stadium. In the 66th minute of the match
lightning struck, life came to a kind of stand-still for ‘Rambo’. No, ‘it
wasn’t a tackle, it was a scythe’ by Ryan Shawcross which caused a double
fracture (broke his fibia and tibula)in Ramsey’s lower leg. Everyone on the
pitch could not believe their eyes on seeing the dreadful sight. Shawcross, too
realized his folly and had tears in his eyes while getting off the pitch. It
was a sense of ‘Deja Vu’ for the Arsenal fans, having already endured Eduardo’s
double fracture. And what was more frightening was the fact that Eduardo was
never the same player after the horror injury! Arsenal.com was flooded with
‘hope’ messages for Rambo. Even I prayed for his recovery and hoped that he
would come back strong!
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| The 'Sorry Sight' - The 'Double Fracture' |
THE RETURN
Slowly,
but steadily he started walking without crutches and returned to training in
October, 2010. He started playing for the Reserves and got sent on Loan to
Nottingham Forest and then to Cardiff City to regain match fitness.
The
special ‘return’ moment arrived. On 1st May, 2011 Ramsey scored the winner
against Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium, marking his first goal for
Arsenal after returning from the horror injury. And what an opponent to score
against!
THE FALL
The
‘mental scars’ of the injury were more difficult for Ramsey to overcome than
the physical ones. He seemed to be afraid of venturing into 50-50 tackles. He
seemed to lack the incisiveness, the sharpness, the crispness in his passing.
The lack of confidence and the dent in his bravery were the obvious reasons for
the above. It was not as if Ramsey had ‘lost’ the skills. It was more about the
‘mental scars’ being too deep, making it uncomfortable for Ramsey to play
confidently. His first touch started deserting him, his pace, too was not top-notch. He was being held guilty for losing the ball to the opposition pretty easily. His final
balls started going astray and his Shots weren't going on Target.
The
Arsenal fans started losing patience with this Welshman (I didn’t). Ramsey started becoming the ‘average’ Arsenal fan’s favourite scapegoat. They started getting
onto his back. He began getting a lot of stick from the fans and once was apparently
heckled when he was getting ‘subbed-off’. That is not what Ramsey would have
asked for, a year into his recovery. Ramsey needed the support of the
Management as well as of the fans, more than ever before. He got pretty much
none from the fans and partial from the Management. Partial because he was
given playing time on the pitch but was more often than not deployed on the
Right-Wing, which is certainly not his natural position. In fact once, the
Arsenal team-sheet was tweeted out and many fans straight away responded by
saying Arsenal will lose because he is starting. Absolutely madness! This
started drawing absolutely frustrating comparisons with the perennially
back-passing, ex-Arsenal counterpart, Denilson. He endured a particularly
frustrating first half to the 2012-13 season.
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| Looking hapless |
THE RISE
Finally
the Almighty decided to show some mercy towards this hard-working Welsh lad.
Abou Diaby got injured(very unfortunate)and Jack Wilshere too started showing
inconsistency with his match fitness due to his recurring ankle injury. This
made Wenger give a consistent run to Ramsey in the centre of the park. Ramsey
responded to this, and how!
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| Aren't they phenomenal shifts put in by Rambo! |
Rambo
started churning out combative and industrious performances every match. Taking
advantage of Mikel Arteta’s discipline in the ‘Deeper-role’, Ramsey started
dictating the tempo of Arsenal’s play. He started making the ‘Box-to-Box
Midfielder’ role his own. The bite in his tackles started returning(has the highest % sucessful tackles in the Premier League), his passes got crispier and
his undoubtedly phenomenal Work Rate(take a look at the heat map above) gained
prominence. The way he distributed the ball reminded me of Michael Carrick –
Neat & Immaculate! Always there to press and close down when the opposition
is on the ball, not afraid to tackle and always there in a position to receive
the ball. He acted as a perfect ally to his two midfield counterparts. He
managed to win over the Arsenal fans and also silence some of the ‘boo-boo’ boys
by his tireless displays in the midfield. Ramsey has been nothing but superb in
the last few weeks for Arsenal and has won praise from both Arsene Wenger and
pundits.
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| Ramsey won Arsenal Player of the month for April |
According
to me he was one of the MoTM candidates in at least 5 of the last 7 Arsenal
matches.I think he more than deserves to keep his place in the Starting XI even
after the likes of Wilshere and Diaby return. I feel very proud for Aaron. When
everyone slated him, I loved him. When everybody likes him, I love him even
more! And that is the reason I am proud of myself too for having kept faith in
this guy’s talent.
Let us
not forget the guy broke his leg as a 19 year old. For a centre midfielder,
whose job it is to get stuck into tackles, to break their leg and come back,
takes a lot of mental strength.
Ramsey might not be the most technically gifted, but he's
definitely one of the most passionate and fans should really get off the guys
back, especially when it's undeserved.
Aaron ‘#Rambo’ Ramsey
(P.S.- By the time you have read this I hope Rambo has again
contributed immensely to an Arsenal victory over Wigan taking us closer to
Champions League qualification and his MoTM ratio increases to 6/8!)
