The Premier League fixtures of Gameweek 6 had more twists than a pig’s tail and more turns than a merry-go-round. It all began with a pulsating encounter between one of the Premier League’s emerging sides, Tottenham, with a proud defensive record and they took on Chelsea but in the end, Gyifl Sigurdsson’s strike was cancelled out by John Terry’s glancing header.
Up stepped the Manchester giants against teams you would expect them to beat seven days of the week but the shock results proved once again that there are no pushovers in the world’s most exciting league, as West Brom grabbed all three points in the Theater of Dreams while Aston Villa showed great resilience to fight back from deficits to put the game beyond doubt. Luis Suarez made his long-awaited return from his biting chronicles and capped it up with two goals.
At Arsenal, things are going on well on the pitch after that embarrassing defeat to Aston Villa, as the Gunners are certainly setting the pace in the Premier League with 15 points after notching up five straight wins. In Europe, the Gunners eased past Fenerbahce in the qualifiers before winning Olympique Marseille in the first Group Stage fixture. The kids of the Capital One Cup also prevailed, albeit on penalties, against West Brom.
A player that has been instrumental in Arsenal’s rich vein of form this season is Aaron Ramsey, that has scored eight goals thus far in his numerous games for the club this season, his best goalscoring tally in a top-flight campaign. His first three goals were scored in the two-legged affair with Fenerbahce, He followed this up with a brace against Sunderland, scored the match winner against Marseille, the match opener against Stoke and another match clincher against Swansea making him indispensable to the team.
Ramsey won the Man of the Match award against Swansea (see his post-match interview) and he posted a picture of his award on Instagram alongside Thomas Vermaelen and the World’s Best Striker, Nicklas Bendtner. In the wake of his recent performance against Swansea, former Liverpool great and son of the Twitchy one, Jamie Redknapp, has likened the Welsh Dragon to Arsenal’s former enforcer, Patrick Vieira (via HITC),
“Ramsey is their go-to man at the moment. He was outstanding again against Swansea and certainly in the second half, he drove the team on.
“Last year when he got into those areas, would he be driving forward? I really doubt it. He would probably back up the play. “This year, he wants to carry on. He desperately wants the ball & I felt all game he was the player they looked to all the time.
“When I used to play against Arsenal, I always used to think about Vieira. Whenever they were in difficulty, the first thing they would do is pop it into Vieira, because they knew there was a bit of safety and a bit of calmness about his game.
“That’s exactly what he’s (Ramsey) becoming for them. It’s early, it’s seven games into the season, but I’m seeing a young man who is really growing into himself.”
According to WhoScored*, Ramsey’s defensive side is quite impressive, as he has made 33 tackles (averaging 5.5 per game), which makes him one of the highest tacklers in the League. He also has 10 interceptions (1.7 per game), committed 12 fouls (2 per game), made nine clearances (1.5 per game) and he has blocked three shots.
His offensive side is commendable, as he has notched up four goals in six Premier League appearances (eight in total), two assists, a total of 14 shots (averaging 2.3 shots per game), eight dribbles (1.8 per game), attempted 456 passes (with 87.5 percent pass completion), 31 long balls (3.5 per game) and eight through balls.
Ramsey has worked very well on his technique and his confidence has been a massive factor in his performances this season. Despite starting every game in the holding midfield role, Ramsey strays forward from time to time like a box to box midfielder and his finishing has been clinical. He hardly gets much chances in the games he plays but he has matured to keep a cool head in front of goal and he even has more goals than Olivier Giroud, Arsenal’s alpha-dog in attack.
Like Vieira, Ramsey has improved on his defensive side and he pops up in the box to finish good team moves. We all hope that he continues this good form, as it can only get better from here.
Here’s to Aaron Ramsey – Hardwork, Determination, Class
Sayonara
* Premier League stats only
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