The situation for Aaron Ramsey was a little different to that of the young French midfielder Francis Coquelin, who seems to be one of the major talking points of the day after his fantastic performance in central midfield away to Man City, but there are certainly some similarities.
The Welshman’s Arsenal future also looked to be heading down the toilet as he struggled to recover his form after the horrendous double leg break inflicted by the Stoke defender Ryan Shawcross. It was almost three years and two loan moves later, at the end of the 2012-13 season when Ramsey finally started to really find his form again and silence his many critics.
Arsene Wenger had shown faith in him, just as he did by keeping Coquelin at the club when many expected him to be released and that must have required even more faith from the boss, because unlike Ramsey he had not already shown his ability on the big stage as the Welshman had.
But their situations are somewhat alike and so Ramsey is more qualified than anyone to know that a player can suddenly click and, as a report on the Arsenal website explains, he is backing Coquelin to continue his recent renaissance and become a top class midfielder for the Gunners.
Rambo said, “He has done well. He’s at that age now where he understands the game a lot more and he has done really well in the last few weeks.
“It is funny how quickly things can change in football. One week he was on loan at Charlton and then he comes back in and he has been in the team every week. He has done a very good job defensively for the team.
“He wins it back, keeps it simple and just keeps things ticking over. Hopefully he can build on his performances that he has been showing of late and he has got every chance of turning into a top defensive midfielder.”
If he does, then is is fantastic news for the Gunners, especially as he is only 23-years old and Ramsey is just six months older, meaning Arsenal could have the two in the heart of our midfield for the next decade, growing and thriving together.
Can Coquelin really do a Ramsey for Arsenal?