This coming Wednesday is sure to be a poignant anniversary for Aaron Ramsey. On February 27th 2010, the Arsenal midfielder broke his fibula and tibula in a gruesome challenge by Stoke’s Ryan Shawcross at the Britannia.
In the initial moments while Ramsey lay on the turf as Ireland’s Glenn Whelan commendably tried to keep him calm, the lower portion of his right leg was literally hanging off at such an angle that you would have had to doubt his future career prospects.
And in those initial months of his recovery, fans – not just of the Arsenal persuasion – sent him plenty of good luck messages via social media and other forms of communication.
Yet those “Get well soon Rambo” messages are well and truly ensconced in the past. But not because Ramsey has been back playing for just over two years. It has more to do with the fact that many Arsenal supporters are losing patience with him as he tries to regain the confidence which typified his trajectory prior to the Shawcross tackle.
Tempo
Last season was his first full season back in the first team but he was pinpointed as a weak link who slowed the team’s tempo down. But that was to be expected from someone who had been the victim of such a horrific injury and without significant time on the pitch, regaining some semblance of his original form would be become much harder.
Despite showing admirable faith in the 22-year-old, Arsene Wenger did not help Ramsey’s cause earlier this season by playing him in an unfamiliar right wing role – a position he also took up against Bayern Munich. It is not a position that the former Wales captain is accustomed to and it is no surprise that he has improved since Wenger moved him into the centre more regularly – although in the more defensive role that Mikel Arteta occupies when fit.
Strangely, Ramsey has claimed that he is only starting to feel confident when he puts his foot in for a challenge when his tackle completion rate is actually incredibly high at over 90 per cent – second only to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain this season. However, judging from his interception stats, his reading of the game has not reached Arteta’s level.
But nevertheless Wenger may be wise to persevere with the Welshman in that withdrawn role as he gets up to speed with the pace of the game, particularly given his passing accuracy which is second only to the Spaniard among Arsenal’s midfielders.
And despite the doubters, Ramsey’s stats show enough potential to warrant the long-term contract he awarded alongside the rest of Arsenal’s “British core”.
However he also requires patience from those same fans who were wishing him a speedy recovery this time three years ago regardless of Arsenal’s current plight.
