Tag Archives: Aaron Ramsey

Defending Wilshere; Attacking Ramsey

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So I wrote a blog on Wednesday after, scheduled for 8:30am Thursday morning. The jist was simple. It has all gone quiet with Jack Wilshere. 20 minutes before the blog was due to go live, news started to break over some comments made by Wilshere on England duty.

I was proper mugged off.

Before getting into things fully, I feel I need to address something about what Wilshere actually said:

“He gave me the opportunity [to leave] with three or four weeks left in the transfer window,” Wilshere said. “He said, ‘I am going to be honest with you and at the moment we are not going to be offering you a contract, so if you can get a contract somewhere else, you can go’.

The situation Wilshere was talking about was not the present, but the past. He was talking about what happened in the summer. And this has then just exploded onto Twitter and other social media as if it was happening today.

It was not exactly breaking news that Arsenal had told Jack that he could leave in the summer. It was fairly well know, a badly kept secret. Arsenal had told him he could leave, a few offers came in that were accepted, but the ball as always in his court. He decided to turn down a move, stayed at Arsenal and fought for his place.

He is talking about it now, but it is the situation last summer he is talking about. Whilst he is yet to sign a new deal, I believe Arsenal’s position has changed. The club, and Arsene Wenger, no longer wish him to leave any time soon.

As with everything, it has created a lot of fuss, a lot of fuss about nothing.

But what it has done is expose something that I have felt for some years.

When it comes to Jack Wilshere, a lot of fans think with their heart rather than their head. They see Wilshere (wrongly) as one of them, one of the fans, a local lad and the club should do everything they can to keep him.

The reality is somewhat different.

Wilshere has struggled for fitness throughout his Arsenal career. He is now 26 and has played a little over 120 Premier League games for Arsenal. Whilst his injury record has cleared up this season, you still wince every time he go’s down.

He is a good player, delightful on the ball, that is clear. But you could also question if he is good enough? If we are dreaming about the player he could have become when he broke through at 17, rather than the player he has become at 26.

Since his return to the Arsenal first team, he has put in some very good performances. But he has also put in some poor ones.

He does not escape criticism from the poor team performances against Bournemouth, Ostersunds FK, Manchester City and Brighton. In those games, he was not a shining light in a poor team, he was as culpable as Mesut Ozil, as Alex Iwobi, as Petr Cech in the defeats.

Wilshere has earnt a new contract, that is not an argument to be had. The argument is on whose terms does he deserve it.

He has been at Arsenal for a long time. Up until last summer, Arsenal had stuck with him, rehabilitated him. He failed to play a league game in 2011/12. Played just 3 in 2015/16. And Arsenal stuck with him.

We want to offer him a deal where his basic is lower, but appearances fees take him above and beyond what he is on now. A fair deal with his injury record. He seems to be holding out for at least parity in basic on what he is on now, some rumours say he is expecting an increase.

A debate can be had either way on what should happen, depending on if you are thinking with your head or heart. And it is the heart that I am about to discuss.

Wilshere get’s an easy ride with the fans. He is English, been at the club since he was 9, “loves” the club and his passionate. It is easy as an Arsenal fan to love Wilshere.

So let’s take Jack Wilshere out of the scenario.

Imagine it is another player currently in contract dispute with the club. He has had an injury wrecked Arsenal career, put in some great performances, as well as some poor ones. What should we do?

Say that person is Aaron Ramsey.

Ramsey is injured once again. He seems to pick up one muscle injury a season ruling him out for about 10 games. He is occasionally brilliant, occasionally poor, often somewhere in between.

The Welshman’s contract runs out in 2019. And the differing views between Ramsey and Wilshere is stark.

Whilst many defend Wilshere, say the club should pay him what he wants, they also abuse Ramsey, say the club should get rid, that he is no good. They say Ramsey is greedy for being in his current contract situation.

But when you look at both Wilshere and Ramsey’s career, it is Ramsey who has done more for Arsenal than Wilshere. So the criticism of one (Ramsey) and support for another (Wilshere) is just a little odd.

Premier League Minutes (last 4 years)

Aaron Ramsey: 7353 minutes
Jack Wilshere: 3840 minutes

Wilsheres minutes include the 27 games he played for Bournemouth. For Arsenal he has played less than 2000 minutes of Premier League football in 4 years. Ramsey might have his injury issues, but Wilshere’s are clearly worse.

Premier League Goals

Aaron Ramsey: 35 goals
Jack Wilshere: 7 goals

There is no argument, Ramsey is the bigger goal threat. He also has double the assists. He is a threat, Wilshere is not.

Of course, Wilshere’s game is not just about goals (I am not going to start talking about second assists), but everything you look at – distance covered, tackles, interceptions – Ramsey is superior.

It baffles me why people defend the inferior player. The only reasoning is that they are thinking with their heart, not their head.

Ramsey should be an Arsenal hero, borderline legend status.

Before you spit your tea out, hear me out.

Aaron Ramsey scored the FA Cup winning goal in 2014. He repeated the feat in 2017. He has played every minute of all 3 FA Cup Finals. 300+ minutes of FA Cup Final football. In comparison, Wilshere has played 27 minutes over the two finals he was at the club for.

Ramsey was rumoured to be fed up with the way fans treat him in comparison to Wilshere. Whilst I think it is bollocks, you can kind of see why.

It will always baffle me how a fan can sit and defend Wilshere one minute, then the next go on the attack against Ramsey.

Finally on Wilshere, if he does leave Arsenal ,where will he actually end up?

What club will want to spend £120k a week on an injury prone Central Midfielder?

We used to mock Darren Anderton in the 1990s for being sicknote. He averaged 25 league games a season for Spurs. Wilshere is averaging 18 league games a season for Arsenal since2010. What top club will want invest a player who is only available 50% of the time? Maybe Liverpool, but they are stupid.

You then look outside the top 6. Leicester City, Everton. Those sort of clubs. Wilshere will fit right in with them. It is probably his level at the minute. Top half / mid table sides. That is where Arsenal are the minute, it is probably where Wilshire belongs.

But at £120k+ a week, sides will want to be a team around him with Wilshere as the centre piece, the lynch pin. But with his injury record, will they be willing to invest that sort of money into someone so injury prone? Who knows.

The fact that last year Sampdoria were the nearest to his signing shows the level he is at. Rumours of Juventus and AC Milan, I just can not see happening.

Clubs will buy Wilshere using their head, not their heart. And the head will show that he is an inconsistent injury prone player. I imagine they would much rather sign Aaron Ramsey over him.

For Arsenal to win the league, we need to buy better than Jack Wilshere.

The argument of “it will cost more to replace him” is pointless when we need to buy better than him even if he stays. We need to spend big on a central midfielder this summer. Wilshere staying does not change that.

If Wilshere does go, it will be a sad day. I will look back at the player he was in 2010 and think what a talent has been wasted.

8 years of bad tackles and injuries. He has never reached the potential he showed and, at 26, will probably never reach that potential.

I want Wilshere to stay, but if his Arsenal journey is over, so be it. We move on. The heart might cry but the head will say his time is up.

Keenos

Ramsey and Wilshere in stand-off

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Contracts are all about negotiating the best deal for yourself that you can get at the time.

A few years back, Theo Walcott got himself a big new contract mainly due to other senior players around him leaving. He had 8 months left on his deal and with the club already having lost the likes of Robin van Persie, Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri and Alex Song, they could not afford to also lose Walcott.

The result was Walcott becomes the highest paid player in the clubs history, all due to the circumstances of the negotiations.

At the moment Arsenal have both Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere in a sort of contract stand-off with the club. Ramsey has 18 months left on his deal, Wilshere under 6 months.

Whilst it is the club they are currently in stand-off with, they are actually playing a game of poker with each other, it seems.

At the minute, both are competing for the same position in the starting XI. I read somewhere that the pair have played something like 69 minutes together in the league this season.

This then creates a situation where both players become important to each other when it comes to contract negotiations.

Lets paint the scenario…

Arsenal can not afford to lose both Ramsey and Wilshere. They would prefer to keep both. But if one were to leave before the other has signed a new deal, the remaining player will be in much more of a commanding position to demand higher wages.

If Wilshere continues his stalemate with the club and leaves in the summer on a free transfer, Arsenal could not afford to sell Aaron Ramsey in the same window. Likewise Arsenal would not want to then risk losing Wilshere on a free one summer, then Ramsey on a free the next.

Wilshere leaving would allow Ramsey to almost write his own cheque when it comes to salary.

Then switch it on its head.

Ramsey informs the club that he will not be signing a new contract, and the club start to plan to move him on in the summer. Wilshere gets a sniff of this, and suddenly the club need him to stay. They could not afford to sell Ramsey and lose Wilshere on a free transfer.

Therefore, despite his injury record, Wilshere then moves into a position of strength with his contract.

Whilst both are not signing, neither knows how strong their own hand is. They need the other to decide their own future before negotiating their own one.

Then we have the scenario of if one signs a new contract.

If Wilshere were to sign tomorrow, I am sure the Ramsey one will follow shortly after. The Welshman will still command a huge wage, more than justifiable, but his importance to the club and therefore his negotiating power will be diminished.

Likewise if Ramsey signed at the end of the month, Wilshere will soon sign as the bargaining chip of Ramsey not being at the club will be off the table.

The clubs ideal scenario is that both stay, and compete for the same place.

They might be in a stand-off with the club, but they are actually in a stand-off with eachother as they attempt to maximise their earnings.

Keenos

 

Arsenal to revert to 4 at the back?

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It was early April 2017 when Arsene Wenger made the move from 4 at the back to 3 at the back.

We had just been taken apart away from home to Crystal Palace, and were on a run of just one win in 8 in the Premier League. We had also been knocked out the Champions League 10-2 on aggregate by Bayern Munich. Things we bleak.

Against Middlesbrough, Wenger tried out 3 at the back. We were unconvincing in a 2-1 victory.

The next game cemented the formation change, as Arsenal beat Manchester City in the FA Cup. A victory against Leicester followed before Arsenal went to White Hart Lane and lost to Spurs. That defeat would prove to be Arsenal’s lone loss post-Palace as the side won 8 out of 9 games, including the FA Cup Final against Chelsea.

Fast forward 8 months and it feels like we are at a crossroads once more. Having failed to win 7 out of 16 games, Arsenal are out of the title race by December.

It is not just how many points we are behind Manchester City that it is a concern, but how many games where we have looked shakey at the back, and toothless upfront. Even games which we have won this season, many have been unconvincing victories.

Is it time that Wenger dropped 3 at the back at returned to 4 at the back?

There are many things to consider

Nacho Monreal

One of the losers in the switch will be Nacho Monreal.

The Spanish full back has been one of our players of the season playing on the left hand side of a 3 man defence, but playing in a 2 man partnership is very different to playing in a 3 man partnership, and Monreal will lose out.

Sead Kolasinac has also been a stand out performer, and it would be illogical to drop him for Monreal.

Hector Bellerin

On the other side of the pitch, Monreal’s international team mate would actually benefit from the switch.

Bellerin has been poor this season. He has neither the skill level or crossing ability to be our main outlet out wide.

In the back end of last season, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain excelled at right wing back, as he bought an attacking players ability to the wing back position. Bellerin is better in defence, but not as good going forward.

Returning to 4 at the back would see Bellerin play a less important role going forward, and this will be a positive.

Who in the middle of the defence?

Shkodran Mustafi and Laurent Koscielny looked shakey in a two together last season, and time is winding down for Per Mertesacker. Rob Holding and Calum Chambers look further away from the first team than at any point in their Arsenal careers.

That would lead to Mustafi and Koscileny being the only option. But is it solid enough?

Formation, formation, formation

If we go to 3 at the back, there is a huge debate to be had as to the make-up of the midfield.

Once view is to go 2 up top. Play Alexandre Lacazette and Olivier Giroud together. Mesut Ozil in behind, then a solid midfield 3 of Grant Xhaka, Aaron Ramsey (who is now injured) and Jack Wilshere.

Whilst the midfield 3 would certainly provide more cover, the midfield would end up very narrow. And then what is the point of playing Giroud with a narrow midfield – he relies on service from out wide.

The answer would then be that the full backs provide the service, but that in turn exposes the defence which at that point will have two central defenders rather than the current 3. And it brings Bellerin back to being the main creator on the right.

The second option would be to go back to 4231 with Danny Welbeck, Alexis Sanchez and Ozil playing in behind a loan striker. There is some debate as to whether it would be better for Lacazette or Giroud to be that loan striker.

4231 would also see old problems be exposed as Aaron Ramsey and Granit Xhaka are incapable to shielding the back 4.

A final solution could be the old Christmas tree. Play Ramsey, Wilshere and Xhaka in central midfield, with Ozil and Sanchez ahead, then Lacazette up top on his own.

Whilst this would put expectation on the wingers once more, Ozil and Sanchez would be able to drift out wide to assist them – Like they have done this season when we have bought Giroud on to chase games. Also the lack of Giroud would mean that our game is no longer all about getting the ball out wide.

And what if someone leaves?

Ozil or Sanchez leaving (and depending on who would come in) could also alter the decision making process.

Someone like Thomas Lemar is an old school winger, he will get quality balls into the box. He would suit someone like Giroud.

Whilst the likes of Julian Draxler and Leon Goretzka are more centrally based players who would suit the narrower formation of playing Lacazette, and the flexibility to drop into wide positions when required.

Time to sacrifice the league?

Maybe the long term solution will be to sacrifice the league this year? We are not going to win it, so perhaps we should use the Premier League to experiment and prepare the team for the Europa League and FA Cup.

We have 7 games until Nottingham Forest away, and then another potential 8 games until we face Ostersunds.

That is plenty of time to decide on, train and implement a new formation to concentrate on competitions that we still have of winning.

One thing is for sure, it is not going to be as easy as simply going to 4 at the back. There is plenty to think about.

Keenos