Aaron Ramsey: Arsenal's Future is Back to Lead Gunners to Glory

It was heartening to see pictures of young Aaron Ramsey back to light training with Arsenal. It would have been a great feeling for the young lad to train with his teammates, and I am sure he would have felt great about it. Ramsey would have experienced a lot of trauma, after he was injured for many months because of a horrific tackle by Stoke's Ryan Shawcross, and he has shown great mental strength to recover by the end of the year.

The tackle has sidelined Ramsey since February, and Wenger deemed the tackle to be “unacceptable." It was reminiscent of the Eduardo injury against Birmingham, and Arsenal supporters were heartbroken by both the injuries. Eduardo returns to the Emirates in about a week, turning out for his new club Shakhtar Donetsk, and I am sure he will be given a warm reception by the Arsenal supporters, who I am sure would have been touched by his farewell words to them.

Coming back to Ramsey, it is important to consider his development in the last season, before the injury. Ramsey started off the season slowly, but as the season progressed, he got more opportunities and he did showcase his potential on some occasions.

Arsene Wenger has placed a lot of faith in the youngster and in the last season, the Welsh midfielder made 29 appearances for the Gunners, which is more than decent considering he missed more than three months of the last season due to injury. It was a sure indication that this could be his breakthrough season.

When things were not going well for Arsenal against West Ham in the FA Cup, the young teenager scored an all-important goal and helped the Gunners to an important victory. Ramsey can play in various positions in the midfield, and gives the manager a lot of options.

In the Champions League game against Olympiacos, where Wenger decided to play his young brigade, the man who was at the heart of things was Aaron Ramsey. Had Theo Walcott and Carlos Vela been more clinical, Ramsey’s efforts would have fetched points for Arsenal (who were the leaders in their group even though they lost).

Ramsey is a complete midfielder, who has an excellent passing range, vision and creativity. He is a strong lad, and can also tackle hard (though how the injury will affect his game is still unknown). He is also a two-footed player, and can shoot to devastating effect from long range. His talents are best utilised when he is deployed as an attacking midfielder, as he showed against Olympiacos, where he was at the hub of Arsenal’s attacking play on the day.

Ramsey is also a starter for the Wales National team, and even though he is still very young, he has already made 11 appearances for the Welsh team, and has been named as the Welsh Young Player of the Year for 2009 and 2010.

Arsenal have produced players of immense talent, but in the present team, there are not many players who can shoot accurately from long range, and that is something which Ramsey adds to the side. His strikes against Stoke City at the Emirates and Portsmouth at Fratton Park sealed the three points for the Gunners, and they were both shots that not many Arsenal players will try even if they are provided with space.

Aaron Ramsey has made rapid strides in his development in the last two years with the Gunners, and though this injury is a major setback, as he did admit his mental strength has helped him in his recovery from this injury. Arsene Wenger has got a lot of faith in the lad, and Ramsey signed a new long term contract in the summer.

Ramsey’s contract extension clearly implies that Wenger believes that the midfielder will fulfil his immense potential. He would have a number of appearances in this season by this time if not for his injury. But Aaron Ramsey’s pain has turned out to be Jack Wilshere’s gain, and the young Englishman has been nothing short of impressive for the Gunners in this season.

Wilshere is a different player to Ramsey in some respects, but has huge potential and has shown that even though he is still very young, he does belong to the highest level. If Ramsey had been fit at the start of the season, Wilshere might have been loaned out by Wenger in order to find more playing time.

But as it stands now, Wilshere has grown to be one of the most important members of this Arsenal team, and he even won the September player of the month award.

Ramsey will be making his first appearance for this season in a short time from now, and expect a rousing reception from the Arsenal supporters, who are eagerly looking forward to that moment when he steps on to the pitch in Arsenal colors. Under the tutelage of Arsene Wenger, he will grow from strength, and he will be one of the best players for Arsenal in the recent future.

In Wilshere and Ramsey, Arsenal have two of the world’s best young midfielders who will lead the club to glory in the recent future.