Aaron Ramsey has been an epitome of excellence and a breath of fresh air for Arsenal this season. The tale of his career is the type of stuff you wanna watch in a documentary and get inspired.
Touted as the next big thing when he was signed from Cardiff, he gave the fans a glimpse of his sheer quality when he scored in his debut against Fenerbahce in 2008. His progression was continuous and he was on a steep learning curve, understudying a maestro like Cesc Fabregas but in February 2010, his career suffered a massive setback when he suffered a horrific injury at Stoke.
His recuperation and return was marred with loan spells and little niggling injuries but when the Gunners lost Fabregas and Samir Nasri in acrimonious circumstances, Arsene Wenger charged Ramsey with the task of being Arsenal’s creative hub, a feat he struggled badly with in the 2011/12 campaign.
In Santi Cazorla and Tomas Rosicky, the Gunners had natural playmakers and while they played in the hole behind the striker, Ramsey was used as a jack-of-all-trades, featuring in a host of unfamiliar positions but when Wenger placed him alongside Mikel Arteta in the base of the midfield, Ramsey’s transformation began and his goal that sent Wigan to Championship football in the 4-1 win in May was no less than he deserved.
This season, Ramsey has advanced to astronomical levels in his overall game play (best tackler in the Premier League, amazing passing statistics and the whole nine yards) and the most jaw-dropping achievement about the young lad this season has been his ability to find the back of the net with consummate ease.
In the wake of Ramsey winning another Goal of the Month award in the official website, Gooner Daily has decided to give a power ranking to all Aaron Ramsey’s 13 goals this season, from the easiest of tap ins to his most splendid strike.
Enjoy!
13. Tap in against Stoke
Mesut Ozil stands on the edge of the box and fires a shot that is parried by Asmir Begovic into Ramsey’s path. He makes no mistake with an easy tap in to make it 1-0.
12. Placed Effort Against Sunderland
Arsenal rubbed salt into Sunderland’s wounds when Walcott, Ramsey, Ozil and Giroud exchanged some passes with the Handsome French Bloke providing a key through ball to Ramsey and the Welsh midfielder showed great composure to slot the ball home. A feat Theo Walcott lacked all game long.
11. Tap in Against Fenerbahce (home)
Arsenal kept probing for a goal and the breakthrough arrived when Lukas Podolski sent Walcott through but the pass was intercepted by Egemen. Egemen’s attempt to remove the ball from danger was a tame one and the ball rolled to Ramsey’s path leaving the Welshman no choice but to dispatch it into an empty net.
10. Match Clincher Against Cardiff
At the dying minutes, Theo Walcott replaced a clearly jaded Ozil and it took the speedster just 48 seconds to create an assist for Ramsey that latched unto his pass and fired a sumptuous shot past Marshall to put the icing on a well baked cake.
9. Header Against Borussia Dortmund
Against the run of play with Arsenal’s first meaningful attack, Tomas Rosicky showed great anticipation to win the ball from Bender before feeding Mesut Ozil on his right. The German maestro lofted the ball into the box and Olivier Giroud contended in the air against Subotic and cushioned the ball for an onrushing Aaron Ramsey that connected with a diving header to nod the ball past Roman Weidenfeller in goal.
8. Header Against Cardiff
With Giroud running across, he took a defender with him which cleared the path for Ramsey to lurk into the area and superbly guide Ozil’s peach of a pass to the net, leaving Marshall no chance in Hell.
7. Deflected Shot Against Marseille
With the game reaching its climax, the man on fire, Aaron Ramsey, received the ball on the edge of the box and closed in on goal before blasting a shot that went past Mandanda with the aid of a deflection off Nicolas N’ Koulou’s foot.
6. Side Footer Against Fenerbahce (home)
The match clincher arrived when Wilshere fashioned a chance for Gibbs and the Englishman drilled an effort into the danger area. The ball was met stylishly by an onrushing Ramsey that sidefooted it into Volkan Demirel’s net to put the game beyond doubt.
5. Piledriver Against Fenerbahce (away)
Arsenal’s second goal arrived when an unmarked Ramsey guided the ball to the edge of the box before blasting a low drive that was parried into the net by Volkan Demirel. For a keeper of his quality, that would go down as a blooper but Arsenal didn’t care.
4. Roofer Against Swansea
Arsenal doubled their money shortly afterwards, when Ramsey teed up Wilshere that did well to win a challenge before feeding Giroud. The Frenchman wasted no time in executing a neat one-two with Wilshere, then he fashioned a chance for Ramsey that had a touch before slamming the roof of the net with a piledriver.
3. One-Timed Volley Against Sunderland
Arsenal got the lead when Jenkinson sighted Ramsey on his left and dinked the ball to the Welshman that was slammed home with a first-time shot giving Westwood no chance in Hell. It was a truly delightful goal from a player in extremely good form.
2. Individual Solo Dribble Against Norwich
At 2-1, there was some nervousness and anxiety felt by the fans but the Gunners extended their lead in breathtaking fashion as Ramsey made mincemeat of three able-bodied defenders before blasting his shot past Ruddy to make it three.
1. Magnificent Strike Against Liverpool
Ramsey showed Giroud the benefits of power over precision when he latched onto Ozil’s peach of a pass to blast the ball past Mignolet in goal to put the Gunners two goals to the good.
Gooner Daily celebrates Aaron Ramsey and can only hope that the goals keep pouring for the “Welsh Messi” as he’s fondly dubbed.
Do you agree with Gooner Daily’s power rankings? Feel free to share your comments.
Sayonara.
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