Aaron Ramsey’s drive sets the tone for FA Cup comeback
The expeditious comeback may have been seen by some as masking Arsenal’s flaws but there wasn’t anything wholly atypical about the performance. It’s true that Arsenal took advantage brilliantly in an amazing seven minutes to better the half-time deficit, showing a mental fortitude that had deserted them during the winter period but the way they came back wasn’t too unfamiliar. Again this season, as they did in the previous game against Manchester United, Arsenal seemed to benefit from that extra direction given by Arséne Wenger after the break and simply upped their intensity. (Arsenal have won 7 matches after half-time from drawing or losing positions, scoring 13 goals). Aaron Ramsey was pushed closer to Robin van Persie, the team pressed higher and passed the ball with greater urgency than what was lacking in the first-half as Arsenal sought about salvaging the season.
As Alan Hansen writes in The Telegraph, Arsenal’s “system is overly reliant on having regular good days playing attractive football. They can no longer be certain of the old levels of consistency. The way Arsenal defend, they can lose even when they play well in possession.” Thus a cautiousness has snuck in, as typified by their comatose first-half performance and they have generally relied on Robin van Persie to break them out of their tedium. In Wenger’s defence, there were visible attempts by Arsenal to improve their keeping of the ball against Villa; such as the centre-backs spreading wide to receive the short-pass from goal-kicks, Alex Song making himself a visible outlet from the back (that was helped, strangely, by Alex McLeish opting not to have Robbie Keane sit on Song in the defensive phase) and the use quick, short passing in the centre.
But Arsenal have lacked that Cesc Fábregas factor; somebody that can link the midfield and attack and as a result, Aston Villa were not required to exert extreme physical effort to contain Arsenal. They did, to give them credit, defended in two banks of four but Arsenal’s passivity allowed them to gain confidence. Essentially their two goals came by exposing Arsenal’s weaknesses in the only times they attacked. The Gunners dozed off from a short-corner kick to let Richard Dunne head in but scored a worthy goal of their own when Darren Bent put the finishing touches to Aston Villa’s rapid counter-attack.
In the second-half Arsenal finally came to life. The instigator of this comeback was Aaron Ramsey who played less of a roaming role as he did the first and supported Robin van Persie closer. He’s often Wenger’s go-to man, usually tasked with tactical briefs before the match or at half-time with the main objective of taking the game “by the scruff of the neck” and here Ramsey proved the catalyst as his tackle on the halfway line started the move which won the penalty (which he was fouled by Richard Dunne).
Ramsey pressed higher, Rosicky followed and Alex Song followed. Indeed, the whole team did and there was a moment at 3-2 on 67 minutes where McLeish urged his team to push out but lost the ball immediately due to Arsenal’s asphyxiating pressure. The shape of Arsenal changed from a 4-2-1-3 to 4-3-3 and it suited the midfielders better. And the sign that Arsenal are playing with a tempo and urgency is Song bursting forward and the midfielder gave great impetus with his drive. But crucially, the half-time change gave Arsenal a better balance, especially without Mikel Arteta, who made a comeback, and transformed them to the Arsenal we are more familiar with. Aaron Ramsey was key, getting into great positions and linking up play neatly and with the two wide forwards more involved, finally Arsenal had a sting to their play. Yet, most reassuringly might be how Arsenal defended when they pressed higher up the pitch and only restricted Aston Villa to a meek response to the three goal salvo. At the moment, outside pressures and injuries dictate Arsenal’s approach to games but if this was a game which highlighted outstanding flaws that need to be ironed out, it also gave a glimpse to what might be in the coming months.
Filed under: Match Analysis
Tagged: Match Analysis, Ramsey
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Aaron Reply:
January 30th, 2012 at 9:32 pm
@b johnson,
Overrated? I don’t see anyone saying he’s the best footballer in the world, everyone agrees he’s got potential and he’s only 21.
Arrogant? He’s a very humble person and admits when he’s made a mistake.
GLORY SEEKER? What glory seeker would choose to join Arsenal over Man United?
And honestly, “oppurtunity to put RVP in and elects to shoot”, is that how you want Arsenal to play? Not shoot at all unless it’s RvP.
FOOOOOOOOOOL.
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james Reply:
January 30th, 2012 at 9:57 pm
What a tit you are what do you know about football obviously not your evaluation of our hardest working player who never gives up and stops running while the other so called stars give in you my friend are a numpty
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While you talk out of your south port, BJ. You know nothing. Instead of parroting the cretinous views of ARsenal doomers, watch the players’ movements during a match, really focus on on one for five minutes and you’ll be confronted with a truth that will shatter your third-handed opinions. Also, take your capslock off when typing, it makes you come across as if you’re shouting.
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That comment by B Johnson is a load of rubbish. We are lucky to have good young British players like Walcott and Ramsey, players who chose Arsenal over Man U, Chelsea, and Liverpool.
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What a load of twoddle Ramsey had a much better than average game and in my view was MOTM tackling, passing and use of space was great and without him we’d have lost and I agree with the previous you are a fool
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I really enjoyed the speed of the passing and the pressing in the second half against Villa. I wonder what stops them from playing like that all the time ?
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Arsenal Column Reply:
January 31st, 2012 at 12:08 pm
@Jared,
Hi. Wenger says we approach games with a hint of caution these days. Understandable given our position but it also points at a negative physiological state in the team. I think also, the team – the attack bar a couple of players perhaps – has a lack of game understanding/don’t know how to react to certain game situations. We actually started well albeit without bite but after 20-30mins, when that gameplan was causing any effect, instead of continuing to do the things the same way, the players fell into habitual patterns (which might also be linked to fitness). I understand trying to find an answer to this is merely speculative!
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The worry is that this current team still tends towards a negative mentality. The 1st half was a complete disgrace of a team effort. They looked liked a bunch of strangers just lumping the ball to the skipper in the hope that “he’ll sort it out for us”. There are way too many players (still) who don’t take responsibility to win football matches. I still maintain that Wenger is slowly crippling this club in his unwillingness to realise that certain players are simply not up to playing the way he wants them to and he still displays tactical inflexibilty to the point of frustration.
Two bad challenges in the box and a flukey deflection should not cloud this fact.
GOONERPOWER!
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your initials are BJ
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So Arsenal self sustainable model will take advantage when the football bubble burst. By then it could be too late . The gunners could be playing in the Europa league or they become just a mid table team drifting along.
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One of Ramseys best games i thought, pressed throughout the game, and was very creative. Rosicky has been been pretty good in place of Arteta too, keeping the ball well and playing some great passes.
For me Walcott has been poor, his movement has been pretty poor recently and he isnt finishing with the confidence he used to have, i expected Walcott to get around 15 goals this season with a good run in the team, but so far he hasnt reached his potential.
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Although I was very impressed by Ramsey’s second half performance, I am a little surprised at the minimal mention of Rosicky’s performance in this game.
The whole team performed below par in the first half and everybody’s game was raised in the second half, especially Ramsey’s, as you have mentioned in your article. However, from what I saw during the game, Rosicky was also involved in winning back possession, dangerous probing passes and driving runs that committed defenders and opened up space for others. He was also frequently involved with good interchanges between himself and Ramsey, one of note is seen in the video in which the one-twos they play leads to a decent opportunity for Ramsey to score. I think Rosicky’s substitution was more a reflection of fatigue due to his high intensity performance rather than a lack of influence.
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Ramsey always had great work rate, for example the Spurs game. With regular playing time, he will get better and improve creatively and also his finishing, which sometimes is haywire.
Do you think Ramsey could be played as a winger/second striker with Rosicky, Arteta, and Song in the field?
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