How Arsenal have proved they are not dependent on Aaron Ramsey

Aaron Ramsey

Arsenal’s title challenge refuses to wane, despite the critics’ assertions and their rich vein of form is made all the more impressive by early season goal machine Aaron Ramsey’s absence.

Whenever Olivier Giroud sustains a knock and hits the turf, there is a intake of air from Arsenal fans, who look on in an aghast manner.

The same could similarly be said of Per Mertesacker, who has come to embody the Gunners’ renaissance this season. So, given Ramsey’s early barrage of goals, concerns that the Premier League frontrunners could tail off before the final stages of the season had even begun became all the more palpable when he succumbed to a thigh injury during the 3-1 win at West Ham on 26 December.

13 goals in all competitions - six more than he had managed in his five previous seasons for the club combined – marked a truly remarkable return to the sort of form he had displayed prior to the devastating broken leg suffered four years ago.

Losing their most potent threat in terms of runners from midfield should have taken a hit on Arsene Wenger’s side.

To contextualise the Welshman’s worth to the Gunners’ attack: Ramsey has eight league goals, the rest of the central midfielders had managed nine across the same period.

But with four wins from four in the league and an FA Cup success over bitter rivalsTottenham since Ramsey’s injury – whilst conceding just once and netting nine in the process – has poured cold water on suggestions Arsenal have become overly-reliant on their midfield marvel’s revelatory goalscoring run.

Giroud has only scored two of these goals, leaving the likes of Nicklas Bendtner,Theo Walcott, Santi Cazorla, Tomas Rosicky and Jack Wilshere to all chip in with valuable contributions to the cause.

Ramsey’s energy and dynamism from central areas was more than adequately compensated for through Wilshere’s consistency and Rosicky’s youthful exuberance when called upon.

What Arsenal have perhaps missed most about Ramsey’s offensive threat is his shooting ability, irrespective of his early season scoring splurge. A 74% shooting accuracy is second only to Mesut Özil from the club’s armoury of creative midfielders having attempted 31 efforts on goal, and hitting the target with 23 of those.

Özil’s 83% is blurred by the fact he has taken on just 18 shots by comparison, Cazorla has 63% from 27 attempts, while Wilshere has 60% from 15 and Tomas Rosicky 50% from his six shots.

These figures simply serve to underline just how much Ramsey offers when driving his team on from midfield and his desire to take shots on goal is exemplified by the fact he has taken on more than his contemporaries.

When Arsenal went 2-0 up at Aston Villa recently, they took their foot off the gas. Instead of putting to bed a Villa side that were certainly there for the taking in the opening period, Wenger’s men were overly-baroque and seemed more fixated on scoring the perfect goal than killing off their wounded opposition, as fellow title challengers Manchester City have done on numerous occasions so far this term.

When you compare Ramsey’s last outing against West Ham, in which he picked up his injury, Arsenal registered 29 shots on goal. Against Villa they managed just eight and a measly total of three was all they could muster during the second half, as Paul Lambert’s side threatened a fightback.

The other interesting facet to Ramsey’s absence has been the manner in which Arsenal have shown a title-winning mentality in perhaps each of the four league outings during the last month in grinding out crucial wins.

The win at Newcastle was as much about grit and determination as it was about a more functional approach, epitomised by Giroud’s headed winner.

Arsenal had to show physical attributes as well as the technical equivalents to see them home through some tough assignments without Ramsey and have passed with flying colours.

Indeed, if there was to be any slight aimed at Ramsey’s overall performance this season, than his success in the physical contests has been less than other team-mates.

While Özil and Cazorla sit rather modestly on 45% and 42% success rates respectively, Ramsey’s 46% is bettered by a host of the midfield ranks.

Arsenal have had to show battling qualities to secure a maximum points return and having made a staggering 15/32 tackles, 17/44 headed duels, 13 interceptions and 57 clearances in the 1-0 success on Tyneside, the sparkling goalscoring rampage Ramsey embarked on looks to have been sacrificed in favour of fielding a steely resolve in the faces of opposition.

Wenger’s side followed that up with just as impressive rearguard action at Villa Park, making 20/28 tackles, 17/35 headed duels, nine interceptions and 54 clearances. Flamini was the key cog on both occasions but the likes of Wilshere also contributed, making three out of six tackles.

Ramsey’s contribution in his last appearance at Upton Park was just two tackles from five attempted and on the surface at least, it would appear his all-action style may have been compromised somewhat to supplement his incredible prowess in front of goal.

Not so. Ramsey has actually attempted the most tackles for the club this season (109) and made 56 of them, a 51% success rate, which proves his worth upon his return to the side on another level. The area as a whole is affected by Ramsey’s less impressive aerial duel return of 36%, which works out at 10 successful from 28.

The possession stats also fail to read favourably for Ramsey, who finds himself far down the billing in this particular respect. Flamini’s commendable 93% is nearly matched by the metronomic Mikel Arteta’s 92%, with Özil (88%), Serge Gnabry(87%), Cazorla (86%) and Wilshere (85%) all ahead of the 84% the 23-year-old Ramsey has recorded.

Of course, it must be acknowledged for both of these areas of weakness that Ramsey largely orchestrates play from higher positions than the likes of Flamini and Arteta, but it just begins to highlight the embarrassment of riches on offer to Wenger from midfield.

Like Chelsea, in this most intriguing of Premier League title races, the ammunition and the finishing touch is often being produced from midfield as opposed to up front but there will be no complaints on the Gunners’ behalf should Ramsey continue to flourish.

Manchester City may hold all the aces in terms of firepower, but if Arsenal maintain the sort of form shown during their star man’s absence and help shoulder his added responsibility in front of goal, there is no reason Ramsey and the Gunners will not be the ones celebrating come May.