Aaron Ramsey is to leave Arsenal after 11 seasons with the club. The former Cardiff
City player, who joined Arsenal for the 2008/09 season, has been a central cog in the Gunners’
midfield, playing either as an eight or a 10. He blends technical ability with physicality,
a strong pressing and tackling game, and has weighed in with goals, scoring five or more
in the Premier League in four seasons.
So why are Arsenal letting him go?
The obvious answer is money – while Unai Emery looks to put his stamp on things, the
club’s wage bill is hampering him and Ramsey, who would both ask for and deserve a hefty
contract, would add to that burden and further tie Emery’s hands in the market.
In addition, Arsenal have faced a behind-the-scenes power struggle that have seen the departure
of Sven Mislintat’s analytical approach and the consolidation of Raul Sanllehi’s
position. Sanllehi, who according to respected commentators like Rafa Honigstein values big
name players and existing relationships over unearthing undervalued prospects, reportedly
did not see the worth of keeping Ramsey. With Mislintat gone, Sanllehi’s view has won
out and Ramsey is off to Juventus.
And by letting Ramsey go, the Gunners have made a mistake. Unai Emery’s Arsenal have
largely reverted to his favoured 4-2-3-1 after experiments with other formations, and the
key to his structure of play is the creation of overloads out wide. Key to this is the
ability of the full backs to push up in support of the inside forwards, to create overlaps
or for the ball carrying player to drive towards their man.
The aim is to create a situation where either the ball carrier can beat his man and then
has options outside or inside to create a crossing opportunity or a shot, or where the
player creating the overlap can then pull back a cross or drive closer to goal to cross
from nearer or shoot.
This approach, however, can break down. Without incisive runs off the ball, Arsenal can, as
they did against Manchester United in the recent FA Cup fixture, end up creating little
passing triangles out wide without generating any penetration. This is especially fruitless
if one of that triangle is the centre forward, as there is then little movement in the box
either.
This is one of the facets that Ramsey brings. With his athleticism *and* ball control when
running at pace, he is ideally suited to be either the runner who adds the dynamism – just
look at his overlapping run for Arsenal’s goal against United – or the man who arrives
late in the box to put the defence on the back foot or carve out a shooting chance.
Arsenal’s issue is that they need a link player in attack, someone who makes the late
run, or bursts wide from a position that is unexpected and therefore adds the degree of
uncertainty that creates chances and causes the opposition defence issues. Pierre-Emerick
Aubameyang and Alexnadre Lacazette are good forwards, but leaving only one man up, or
relying on that man to drift over to assist with the creation of an overlap, means marking
is easier and there is no surprise option from deep to cause problems.
Ramsey is the only Arsenal player who can consistently deliver that form of link-play
– Alex Iwobi has some of the attributes but is less reliable and is often used wide
anyway. Mesut Ozil is more creative, but less dynamic. Henrikh Mkhitaryan is an alternative,
but the foundation of Ramsey’s natural game is exactly this sort of movement, and he’s
more of a physical presence. Arsenal’s other midfielders, Lucas Torreira, Granit Xhaka,
and Matteo Guendouzi, are all defensive; while Torreira *could* play in a more advanced role,
that would sacrifice his defensive capabilities, something Arsenal can ill afford.
And Ramsey also adds something defensively. Arsenal are a pressing side under Emery, often
looking to shift the opposition into a wide area with ball-orientated pressing, leaving
the opposite flank more open. This then allows them to switch play once they’ve won back
the ball, and attack in Emery’s favoured way.
Ramsey is excellent at leading the press in the midfield area. He’s positionally aware
and his stamina, combined with his tactical intelligence either as an eight or a 10, mean
that he can provide real impetus to Arsenal’s efforts to win the ball back high up the pitch,
either in a direct counter-press when an Arsenal attack has broken down, or if the opposition
are seeking to play the ball out from the back.
His eye for a quick, long pass also perfectly complements particularly Aubameyang’s yen
for breaking past the last line of defence at pace, and this can be lethally effective
for Arsenal on the counter; in addition, Ramsey can play as the fulcrum of the switch from
one side to the other when Arsenal look to shift play and then, crucially, break forwards
at pace to support that attack.
The departure of Ramsey to Juventus therefore leaves Arsenal with problems to address in
both defence and attack, and the transition from the former to the latter. The Ramsey
absence is both an absolute and a relative issue: absolute, because Ramsey is very good
at things that are key to how Emery wants Arsenal to play, and relative because he is
better at those things than anyone else Arsenal currently have.
Of course, his departure, and Ozil’s rumoured leaving, could free up funds to sign a younger
replacement but it begs the question – if you already have Aaron Ramsey, why not just
keep him?