Aaron Ramsey clearly has a very good relationship with Arsene Wenger, as the Arsenal boss has played a huge part in the Welshman’s development and especially helped him on the long road to recovery after that potentially career ending challenge from the Stoke City player Ryan Shawcross.
Ramsey reached the end of that road last season and was rewarded by the Arsenal fans voting him our Player of the Year, but not before he needed a hell of a lot of belief and support from the man in charge. So Ramsey is not going to issue the Frenchman with an ultimatum, but he has admitted to going to Wenger and making no secret of his frustration at being stuck out on the right flank since returning from his latest injury lay-off.
As reported by The Independent, Ramsey is full of praise for his manager and the fact that he feels able to air his problems with him. He is also more than willing to do any job that is asked of him but he also feels that his talents are wasted out wide and he wants that man in the middle role back off his Spanish team mate.
Ramsey said, “I’m not hiding away from it, I want to be playing in the middle.
“I’ve had chats with the manager about it. But the manager said he wants me do a job out there for the moment and obviously I’ll do that for him. But I prefer to play in the middle.
“Santi is in my position at the moment. He is the one who plays alongside Francis Coquelin and tries to get forward. I am trying to get that back.
“That is what I like to do, to get the ball and drive the team forward. I am not a No 10 really, playing with my back to goal. I have to start from a defensive position, looking to drive the team forward, playing little one-twos around players, things like that. That’s where I prefer to play.
“I am used to getting the ball a lot more in the middle of the park, I like to be involved in everything, starting attacks. So out on the wing you are relying on other people to get you in the game. So it is a bit frustrating.
“He respects everyone’s opinions. His door is always open, which is a good thing. Yes, he’ll have his reasons but he will also respect yours, and value your opinions.”
But will he listen and agree? Perhaps the Arsenal transfer rumours linking Barcelona with a move for Ramsey will give Wenger cause for thought. That move is not going to happen but how long before a huge club does persuade Ramsey? The chance to play in his preferred position is one reason but so is the chance of major trophy success, which Ramsey believes we could be on the verge of.
He went on, “Hopefully we can concentrate fully on the league and have a really good start to the campaign. That is what we were guilty of this season, we were a bit inconsistent, but we have grown as the season has gone on.
“You look back at some of the defeats from the beginning of the season, and some of the points we dropped, and it is frustrating, because we would be right there or thereabouts now if we had got something from those games. But it was not to be, and hopefully next season we can have a much better start and put ourselves in contention.
“If we get off to a good start next season I think we’ll be in a good place to go on and compete and challenge. That will be our main focus, trying to win the league.”
But you get the feeling that Ramsey thinks he should be driving on that challenge from the middle and if he isn’t, how long will he continue to ignore his frustration?
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