What happened to once an Arsenal dependable star Ramsey?

Aaron Ramsey was a passenger for most of the Watford game which Arsenal eventually won with some hard work and luck in the end.

He has been under performing this season and the Mesut Ozil-Ramsey conundrum for the no 10 role is not helping matters. Ramsey has always wanted to be the midfield creator and he had done well whenever deployed there by Arsene Wenger, but for much of his career, he has had to satisfy himself with the right midfield and centre midfield role, given Ozil’s status as a creator.

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His contract situation is also not helping either him or his team. But his poor form has been a blessing in disguise for the Gunners. Alex Iwobi has certainly gained confidence due to the managerial change. Iwobi, who had a promising start in 2016 drifted away from his best form and had an average season just like his teammates in Arsene Wenger’s last year in charge. But Unai Emery’s high-intensity style is suiting Iwobi.

Iwobi was the stand out performer in the 3-2 defeat at the hands of Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. His creativity in the final third and an eye for goal were seen in the Chelsea game. Besides his goal and assist, he also created chances for Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who missed some sitters to hand Gunners an unlucky defeat. His contribution against Watford is more noteworthy as Arsenal eventually won the game. Having come on for a hapless looking Ramsey, Iwobi injected the much-needed pace and energy which drove the team forward. It was his cross that led to Craig Cathcart’s own goal. He was again the creator of the second goal when his measured pass released Lacazette on the right.

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Iwobi’s preferred position is on the left flank but given the success of the Lacazette-Aubameyang partnership, there won’t be any changes on the left side. The only change that Emery can do without hurting the formation is to play Ozil in the no 10 role and play Iwobi on the right where his pace can be utilised.

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Ramsey can be played in the Europa League and in the away matches where more experience is required. 168 minutes of playtime in the premier league certainly doesn’t do justice to the talent of Iwobi and Emery knows it too. It would be interesting to see how he finds the solution to the Ramsey contract problem within the team itself without signing a replacement.

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