With the season opener against West Brom less than a month away, Arsene Wenger is facing the dilemma of who will partner Cesc Fabregas in the heart of the Arsenal midfield after the departures Mathieu Flamini and Gilberto Silva.
If you read into Friday’s reports, it looks like the answer could be the club’s first summer signing, Aaron Ramsey.
The Gunners fought off a host of Premier League clubs for the promising Cardiff City midfielder’s signature, with both Everton and Manchester United reported to be interested in signing the teen prodigy.
United had even released a statement on the club’s official website claiming that a deal had been struck to sign the versatile 17-year-old, who can play anywhere across the defence or midfield.
However, this wasn’t the case as Ramsey signed for Arsenal, citing the influence of Arsene Wenger as the key reason for him choosing The Gunners.
Cardiff City chairman Peter Risdale later revealed that Manchester United was the club’s preferred destination for the player. His reason was that the United had agreed that the midfielder would move back to the Championship club on loan for the following season.
However, Wenger insisted that if Ramsey were to sign, then he’d be a part of his first team plans for the season ahead. There is no doubt that the dangling carrot of Premier League football was what persuaded the player to move to North London.
As an Arsenal fan, I assumed that this meant that the player would face the usual task that every youngster at the club seems to face. This, of course, would be the chance to impress during matches in the Carling Cup, accompanied by a host of substitute appearances in the league and the occasional start in the early rounds of the F.A. Cup.
This would show that the player has what it takes to become a first-team regular. It’s a tried and tested method for Wenger, and over the past couple of seasons it has separated the men from the boys.
Taking this into account, it was a surprise to see Wenger’s comments, stating that Ramsey, who made his first team debut in the annual pre-season fixture at Barnet, is set for a key role in the Arsenal team this season.
Now, not to misquote Wenger—he hasn't said “Ramsey will start”—but Arsenal fans will ask if this is the right time to gamble with even more youngsters?
It has been well documented that Arsenal have now gone three seasons without a major trophy, with their last success being the F.A. Cup win in 2005.
After coming so close in the Premier League last season, the fans will now feel that this is the season for silverware, but again, Arsene Wenger’s faith in youth may hinder Arsenal’s chances to achieve this.
So with regards to his comments about Ramsey, should Arsenal fans be worried?
Last season, Flamini, whose name raised eyebrows when it appeared on the team sheet at the start of the season, was to partner Cesc Fabregas in the heart of Arsenal’s midfield.
Of course, fans thought that this was a short term measure, as the reliable Gilberto Silva was given extra time to recover after representing Brazil in the Copa America, but when Flamini managed to string together a number of impressive performances, the Brazilian had to settle for a place on the bench.
5 comments Last one added 11 months ago — Leave a Comment
Amartey Armar 11 months ago
Not sure if we need to buy here at all... look at at the progress Flamini made last year when given the chance. he's not hte only player with the right mentality at the club... maybe that's what Wenger was alluding to when he was talking about killing players by signing others?
I think Denilson's lack of pace, not his similarity to Fabregas (he's more defensive-minded than Cesc), may have him as Fab's backup instead of his partner. Cesc for all his attributes is not very quick, and to have 2 centre-mids who can't get up and back quickly enough may put too much pressure on the back 4. Flamini covered a ridiculous amount of ground for us last year, and you're right - Diaby looks like the best candidate for now. He is actually a former DM, and his vision and the defensive side to his game is what won him that place as backup on the left hand side - to help Clichy defensively, and with his clever touch and ability on the ball he was often a threat going forward.
Don't write Denilson off though, he has vision and an eye for goal... and may be able to launch attacks from lslightly deeper than Cesc if he has to take on a more defensive role. Ramsey may well be a long term option but I doubt very much he'll start there this year. If he does it'll be fantastic though!
Song is now a CB as far as Wenger's concerned.
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Shyam Parthasarathi 11 months ago
Aaron Ramsey has potential but I'm sure that AW sees him as a Carling Cup player for now. He cannot start games in the Premier League for sure, so that leaves us with Denilson and Diaby to start alongside Fabregas - and I feel that the latter will be a better choice of the two.
But, Wenger has suggested that he will be bringing "one experienced" player in and looking at our squad, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out where that's going to be.. so I see a midfield arrival very soon, probably in 1 week-10 days time.
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Arran Dutton 11 months ago
Thanks for your comments. I definitely agree with you that Denilson is slightly more defensive minded, but I do think that they are both more suited to the attacking side of the central midfield role. That's just my opinion though.
I also agree with what you are saying about Diaby. I do really like him as a player, but I personally believe that he has the tendency to be a bit clumsy and the defensive side can let him down, the amount of times i've seen him lose the ball cheaply and then dive into a tackle with his eagerness to win the ball back worries me as we don't want to be missing a central mid through suspensions. Hopefully with games he will improve on this.
I did read afterwards that a midfield signing is on the way, I think it is needed.... But I don't think it will be Barry.
Let's hope it's a good season for the Arsenal. I'll be at the pre-season match against Real Madrid, hoping that the boys are looking good for the start of the season!
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Ismail Ayub 11 months ago
I think the experienced player Arsene is going to buy will be a Centre Back.
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Benjamin Rogers 11 months ago
we will see who wenger brings in before putting hopes in ramsey he is good player who has great potensial. but we have great players like danilson and diaby as back up and are midfeild is only needing one more player due to the fact we have Rosicky,fabregas and nasri and the bench players of diaby, ramsey and denilson. Ramsey will get his chance and when he does i have a feeling he will shine.
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