Arsenal: The resurgence of Aaron Ramsey and the fall of Kieran Gibbs

Aaron Ramsey: Resurgence from the Welshman

After 2 weeks of Ozil-mania, a stomach bug almost kept the German out of the Sunderland game; but yet another injury to a first team star, Santi Cazorla, meant that Arsene Wenger was forced to play an ill Ozil.

The fact that the 42 million man was not 100% was quite evident from his first few touches in the game and his subdued presence in the 2nd half; but fortunately for Arsenal, it is neither Mesut Ozil nor ‘Ooh Santi Cazorla’ who are pulling the strings in this team at the moment.

Aaron Ramsey’s start to the season is no longer an unnoticed matter, as the Welshman has been receiving accolades from all circles. Wenger had initially seen Ramsey as a make -shift wide man and ironically, he has able to prove his mettle in the middle only during injury layoffs for Jack Wilshere and Mikel Arteta.

Ramsey’s current presence in Arsenal’s midfield has become so prominent that Wenger was forced to displace ‘the golden boy’ Jack Wilshere into a wide-left position to replace Cazorla. Wilshere’s position on the left meant that Arsenal had a much more direct threat positioned between the Sunderland‘s lines.

With Vaughan kept busy marking Ozil and Ki rushing forward to shut down Ramsey, Wilshere often found space in front of the defence. Put it down to the Englishman’s unfamiliarity in that role, or Walcott’s sheer daftness in front of goal on the night; Arsenal were unable to take advantage of having a direct attacking threat from midfield.

In case of Cazorla playing in that role, he is often seen drifting to the centre and looking for Walcott’s runs behind the fullback. Though this has been effective till now, it can easily be shut down by loading up the midfield.

Another low point for Arsenal at the Stadium of Light was Kieran Gibbs’ attacking play, which ironically has been one of the strong holds of the team till now. Gibbs is usually seen marauding down the left behind Cazolra, and the Spaniard’s negligence of wing play often means that English left back also has the entire wing to defend alone.

A similar comparison of Gibb’s style when played behind Podolski, sees that the left back is rarely pulled into crossing opportunities in either of the 2 cases. But when Wenger now plays Wilshere in the left attacking role for next 3 weeks, Gibbs is going to have the added role of putting in the crosses for Giroud, as Wilshere’s role sees him complementing Ramsey much more in the centre.

The stat taken from squawka.com below, shows exactly where Gibbs was lacking against Sunderland, with neither Cazorla nor Podolski in-front of him.

Failed passes by Gibbs with Cazorla in front of him

Failed passes by Gibbs with Podolski in front of him

Failed passes by Gibbs with Wilshere in front of him

With Cazorla out for a month and Rosicky suffering his perennial thigh strain, the XI fielded against Sunderland will be expected to start on a regular basis now; minor changes in the defence might occur. The midfield trio of Flamini, Ramsey and Ozil on paper looks ideal with a destroyer, runner from midfield and a creative No.10 but one look at Flamini’s two footed lunges and needless bookings means that Arteta’s return cannot be more eagerly awaited.

Flamini has become a firm fan favorite at Arsenal and indeed his positioning sense has improved the defending against counter-attacks. But the Frenchman barely offers anything else. Neither of his 2 tackles on the night was successful and he made just the one interception in the centre but this again was against a team that played a 2 man midfield meaning that most of the forward passes were long balls to their forwards.

Obvious comparisons will be drawn against players like Michael Carrick and John Obi Mikel in similar positions, whose stats like 10 interceptions and 5/5 tackles paint a different picture completely.

A small touching point on Arsenal defence would be Bacary Sagna’s role in the centre back position. Sagna has been quite vocal recently about his age limiting his right back opportunities and though the Frenchman has shown good jumping prowess, his positioning as a CB was questioned easily by Altidore on Saturday.

The tussle that resulted in the disallowed goal for Sunderland was hugely down to Sagna’s initial positioning rather that the American strikers’ burly presence. Though the likes of Mertersacker have huge loopholes in other areas, positioning is a department where one cannot find fault with the big German. So it is quite difficult to see Sagna in the first team picture with Mertersacker and Vermaelen now back, as the only spot left for the Frenchman is the one he himself says to no longer merit.