For Ramsey's last 7 appearances I've had him down as 5 above average games (7/10), and 2 well above average (8/10). That's excellent form.
Ramsey had another good game against Everton, but starting to notice a trend. Im not saying its down to Ramsey but some of the other midfielders tend to get a lot of stick when Ramsey has a good game, but it did make me think that maybe he doesn't mix with our other players that well.
Who? The midfield didn't really have a poor game and the only poor one was Jack, but that was due to fitness.
Another 8/10 for Ramsey, and our best player too. I thought Jack did alright actually. Really got stuck in and drew a lot of fouls. Obviously not back to his best though.
I think a big problem we have is playing too many players out of their best position. Walcott didn't look that great out wide. Cazorla is certainly better when central. We had no width. Imagine if we had players like Bale, Lennon, Young, Overmars etc to stay out wide, stretch teams and actually offer an outlet to our midfielders. They're always so stuck for players to actually pass to in space. How many times did we stretch Everton? Once? Twice? Too many players who want to stay central. AOC always looks a threat even though not in great form. And surely it's time for Lukas to be given a chance up front.
AOC's in great form lately. A shame he didn't start. I agree Pod should be given a chance up front. Strange that he didn't start either.
I disagree with you. I think they were ultra defensive. They had a very agressive press that took advantage of a very lenient referee. Fair play though, they were not that bad, and it was called pretty even. Once we got the better of them they dropped back and defended with 10 men. I don't think Podolski would have done better than Giroud in the trenches. This was just a game that Everton didn't want to win as much as they didn't want to lose.
As I said in another thread, Ramsey was good against Everton, mostly because it was the kind of game that suits him, it highlited his battling qualities. Ramsey is not a creative genius, and he is often found wanting in a more tactical game when great vision and clever decision making come to the fore, but he has his qualities, and can shine in matches like the last one. He is a fighter, he did not shy away and all kudos for that. And we badly need that kind of a player in our midfield. But he is still young and not that kind of Vieira-like player who the opposition would rather not mess with. He is yet way too nice to be a proper midfield enforcer. Fellani targeted Wilshere from the start , that was evident. And there was noone in red and white to show Fellani his place. I think if Ramsey wants to become a world class player he needs to develop this ruthless aggressive streak and take these responcibilities, because to be nice is good only in games that we dominate. If a strong quality side like everton tries to intimidate we need to put them in their place immediately. Just imagine if Fellani tried to bully our old No 10 the way he targeted our surrent No 10 at the start of the game.. with players like Keown, Vieira, Adams, Petit on the pitch. So to me Ramsey is a sort of a young, promising, mixed bag. By world class standards he is not a great creative midfielder in Fabregas/Cazorla mould. He is not an imposing midfield general like Vieira. He is not a great superfast winger. He is somewhere in between, doing everything rather well but not too spectacular... Which makes earning a cert starter position in a team full of world class specialists rather difficult. The thing is Arsenal are not that team, that is why imho Ramsey is being played rather often.
For me Ramsey is fast becoming a very good option as one of the two deeper midfielders in a 4-2-3-1. He is mobile enough for the middle, is starting to be more creative and is very situationally aware, what seems to be called "good technically" these days. My opinion is that as long as he keeps getting better, let's not knock it. He could be outstanding soon. I understand Emirs point, but that position he plays requires the player to do a bit of everything reasonably well. In some ways that is the specialization of that position.
