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da wazamba： Last week, the BBC reported that Arsenal had withdrawn their contract offer to Aaron Ramsey despite an agreement having been close. The Welshman now looks set to leave the North London club as a free agent when his current contract expires at the end of the season.
On the chalkboard
Many Arsenal fans will be sad to see Ramsey – their hero of two FA Cup finals – go. However, this will not have been a decision taken lightly by the Gunners and it, in fact, indicates that a tactically motivated decision has been made at the club in terms of the direction the team is to move in.
As things stand, the Wales international is struggling to have an impact at the Emirates Stadium in the new Unai Emery era. This is largely because the 27-year-old’s place in the side is not immediately obvious.
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Ramsey’s natural stamina and work rate ought to make him an ideal fit for the high-pressing style that Emery is seeking to implement. However, Ramsey is too attack-minded to take up a role as one of the Gunners’ deeper midfield pair without compromising the team defensively.
The best place for the former Cardiff City man is in fact the No. 10 role. Which is also Mesut Ozil’s best position. Accommodating both in the starting XI to positive effect has already proved problematic so far this season.
Tactically Ozil, whom Gunners fans have loved to hate on Twitter previously, and Ramsey both seek to occupy the same spaces too often, which leaves Emery’s side unbalanced and lacking coherence in their attacking movements. This situation may well have been a factor in Arsenal’s decision to move on without the Welshman.
The difference
Ramsey’s contract demands will certainly have been significant. Therefore, with no obvious place for him in the side, handing him a lucrative new deal would have been a foolish move by the club.
With Ozil already on big money having signed a new contract in January, it looks as though Arsenal have opted to back their talismanic German playmaker for the foreseeable future.
Without the pressure of Ramsey’s inclusion weighing upon Emery’s team selections, the Spanish coach will now be free to let Ozil operate in his preferred position, which can only be of benefit to Arsenal.