EPL: Newcastle v Arsenal 29/08/15 12.45pm (BT Sport)

[Maxim]

The only good thing Ramsey did today in the No. 10 role was make some good runs in behind the defence.

His 'playmaking' was non existent. He didn't know how to utilise pockets of space like Özil does, his first touch and passing was sloppy.

He made a few nice passess to Giroud late on, but apart from that he didn't impress me at all today.

Then again, nobody in attack did.

Eh? Ramsey made more chances than anyone else on the pitch. He's not Özil at 10 but just from the top of my head he made chances for Alexis when Krul made a great one handed stop and Cazorla when he hit tame one at krul too, not to mention a great flick late in the 2nd half which would have put any player actually able to break into a sprint through on goal (not Oli tho) and putting it on a plate for Giroud to screw completely at the end.

Also like to point out that we probably wouldn't have scored that goal today (OG finishing after Ramseys shot was saved) if it wasn't for him - if it was Santi in his position then that ball is going in row Z, if it was Özil no shot is coming.

Getting pretty tired of the Ramsey scapegoating to be honest, he's been played all over the pitch, out of position and he's still doing an admirable job yet our fans can't wait to criticize his every mistake. It's embarassing tbh.

 

[pikey2000]

Ramsey did quite well, plenty of runs in behind and got into the box a lot which is essential if we want to score goals!

Funny thing about yesterdays game, we start with Theo who will make runs but needs someone to find him and we start him in a game where our number 1 playmaker in Özil isnt playing.

We then start Ramsey at AM a guy who makes endless runs into the box and because we have started with Theo up top we almost refused to cross the ball and take advantage of finally having an AM willing to get up alongside the striker in the box!

Overall it just didnt work, you can see why we started with Walcott as they were open whilst it was 11 v 11 but I didn't think Ramsey behind Walcott worked very well, for me you either have Walcott and someone who can thread a ball through to him like Özil OR Giroud and Ramsey and you get the ball wide and put it into the box.

 

[RandyMarsh]

Eh? Ramsey made more chances than anyone else on the pitch. He's not Özil at 10 but just from the top of my head he made chances for Alexis when Krul made a great one handed stop and Cazorla when he hit tame one at krul too, not to mention a great flick late in the 2nd half which would have put any player actually able to break into a sprint through on goal (not Oli tho) and putting it on a plate for Giroud to screw completely at the end.

Also like to point out that we probably wouldn't have scored that goal today (OG finishing after Ramseys shot was saved) if it wasn't for him - if it was Santi in his position then that ball is going in row Z, if it was Özil no shot is coming.

Getting pretty tired of the Ramsey scapegoating to be honest, he's been played all over the pitch, out of position and he's still doing an admirable job yet our fans can't wait to criticize his every mistake. It's embarassing tbh.

Sorry? How is it Ramsey scapegoating? When did I say it was all his fault we didn't do well? Everyone was bad yesterday but I'm not allowed to state the criticism I have of Ramsey because apparently he's immune to criticism right? Have a day off.

Ramsey couldn't even do the basics right yesterday. Neither could Ox or Theo. There were a lot of poor performances. Did u not read the last sentence in my post? Enough with this Ramsey love affair. He isn't performing to the required standards atm. End of.

 

[Maxim]

Sorry? How is it Ramsey scapegoating? When did I say it was all his fault we didn't do well? Everyone was bad yesterday but I'm not allowed to state the criticism I have of Ramsey because apparently he's immune to criticism right? Have a day off.

Ramsey couldn't even do the basics right yesterday. Neither could Ox or Theo. There were a lot of poor performances. Did u not read the last sentence in my post? Enough with this Ramsey love affair. He isn't performing to the required standards atm. End of.

Are we really gonna pretend that isn't what's happening here? Özil was injured, Ramsey was shoved in to replace him for the team so we could play the same system and he responded by being arguably the best attacking player on the pitch. Literally every single one of our other attacking players were worse than him, but you've taken the time to criticize him first and everyone else as an afterthought.

And in fairness, it isn't just you, our entire fanbase (especially online) is notoriously fickle and turns on players at the drop of a hat.

Ramsey has been made this season's scapegoat, when he's played wide all bad results are his fault for not keeping the width, we put Ox there and he spends about as much time out wide as Ramsey did but not a single word from anyone. When he's at 10, it's his fault for not being Özil, he's even being criticized for perfomances he hasn't actually even made as a pair with coquelin.

It's embarassing, it really is.

 

[RandyMarsh]

Are we really gonna pretend that isn't what's happening here? Özil was injured, Ramsey was shoved in to replace him for the team so we could play the same system and he responded by being arguably the best attacking player on the pitch. Literally every single one of our other attacking players were worse than him, but you've taken the time to criticize him first and everyone else as an afterthought.

And in fairness, it isn't just you, our entire fanbase (especially online) is notoriously fickle and turns on players at the drop of a hat.

Ramsey has been made this season's scapegoat, when he's played wide all bad results are his fault for not keeping the width, we put Ox there and he spends about as much time out wide as Ramsey did but not a single word from anyone. When he's at 10, it's his fault for not being Özil, he's even being criticized for perfomances he hasn't actually even made as a pair with coquelin.

It's embarassing, it really is.

If you look around the forum, you'll see I hand my fair share of criticism at every player who deserves it.

I look at Ramsey though, and I see someone who was known for his great close control and ball retention, incisive passing, goals..I didn't see anywhere near enough of that yesterday. Hence why I criticised his performance. I expect a lot better from him.

I said my original post because people kept saying he was good in playmaking role. I disagree, hence the nature of my reply. I should have replied to the comments directly I suppose; or would you still have slated me for criticising him?

I can think of worse performers than him so far this season; Giroud & Alexis, have both been worse. But that still doesn't take away from the fact he's been poor for a while now, by his standards.

 

[TheLoneFalcon]

Ramsey has been average at best after his purple patch, and his form this season is worrying. No hiding that.

But our problem, as usual, has more than one face. Fabo is spot on.

 

[Gooner n Proud]

You don't think Ramsey bought other things to the table from that Cam position randy? Like Industry, ball retention and especially off the ball movement in the mold of Tim Cahil, frank Lampard etc. These players have not been renowned for their playmaking skills but the always provide a goalscoring threat in that position and I thought Aaron showed signs of that yesterday.

Overall I'm not sure if I'd have him as our first choice no.10 but its good to know we have a player who offers something different compared to some of the others.

If you look around the forum, you'll see I hand my fair share of criticism at every player who deserves it.

I look at Ramsey though, and I see someone who was known for his great close control and ball retention, incisive passing, goals..I didn't see anywhere near enough of that yesterday. Hence why I criticised his performance. I expect a lot better from him.

I said my original post because people kept saying he was good in playmaking role. I disagree, hence the nature of my reply. I should have replied to the comments directly I suppose; or would you still have slated me for criticising him?

I can think of worse performers than him so far this season; Giroud & Alexis, have both been worse. But that still doesn't take away from the fact he's been poor for a while now, by his standards.

 

[redanddread]

I like the passion & banter you see in "in game" posting, however, one reason I don't do it much is that you often make snap judgements and comments in the heat of the moment. Seeing the carnage that took place yesterday after we secured a valuable 3pts, I'm more inclined to think we put in a very professional performance, albeit with glaring inadequacies. Yet, in this ever so topsy-turvy season, one can't be too critical with a hard earned 3pts on the road, no matter who you're playing against and how many you're playing against.

It may be cliched but the Premier League is totally unpredictable and an extremely tough and competitive league, certainly in the early & latter stages.

I'm sure we'll put in much better attacking performances and hopefully, that will be in our next match against Stoke.

 

[RandyMarsh]

You don't think Ramsey bought other things to the table from that Cam position randy? Like Industry, ball retention and especially off the ball movement in the mold of Tim Cahil, frank Lampard etc. These players have not been renowned for their playmaking skills but the always provide a goalscoring threat in that position and I thought Aaron showed signs of that yesterday.

Overall I'm not sure if I'd have him as our first choice no.10 but its good to know we have a player who offers something different compared to some of the others.

I did say originally that he provided a lot of off the ball movement and runs, but apart from that i thought he lacked in most areas you require from a No.10. That's only me talking about his performance yesterday though. Theoretically he should make quite a good no.10 but yesterday his passing and ball retention wasn't so great. He's likely to play there again next game though, if Özil isn't back, so hopefully he can perform better.

I feel we had the same problems when Özil plays, in that the centre is so crowded that it's hard for our no.10 to find adequate space to operate. That's clearly more a problem with our tactics than it is with Özil/Ramsey.

 

[skip spence]

Not liking the Ramsey bashing either. Though not everything went his way yesterday he was still our best attacking player by some distance. Think he was our best offensive minded player against Liverpool too.

You might argue that's not saying a lot, but still, Aaron deserves some respect for his efforts. At least he show a certain amount of passion and urgency and he will sharpen up too.

 

[Vinci]

Missed the game, but why play Aaron at 10 and Santi in CM? Why can't they just swap positions, so they both play in their natural positions. Oh, wait, that makes sense, can't be right.

 

[skip spence]

More worried about Ox whose form seems erratic. His ball-control and decisions were atrocious yesterday.

 

[Kroket]

Missed the game, but why play Aaron at 10 and Santi in CM? Why can't they just swap positions, so they both play in their natural positions. Oh, wait, that makes sense, can't be right.

Cazorla has seemingly lost his goalscoring ability, not everything Ramsey does comes off these days but when it comes to putting the ball in the back of the net I'd back him over Caz ten out of ten times. Not saying I agree with Wenger but I can see his reasoning for playing Ramsey in a more advanced role.

That said, with our current options I'd have Ramsey alongside Coquelin in CM regardless of Cazorla, who in my opinion belongs on the bench. Özil in the hole, Sanchez on the left, Theo/Ox on the right with Giroud in the middle.

 

[Emibury]

That said, with our current options I'd have Ramsey alongside Coquelin in CM regardless of Cazorla, who in my opinion belongs on the bench. Özil in the hole, Sanchez on the left, Theo/Ox on the right with Giroud in the middle.

I would say this is quite clearly our best set up.

 

[Lilwizzle]

I don't trust Ramsey at CM anymore, surprised so many people want him back there, almost like they haven't even watched him play recently. You just know that he'll end up all over the pitch and leave Coquelin stranded & exposed.

 

[neimad]

More worried about Ox whose form seems erratic. His ball-control and decisions were atrocious yesterday.

This has been his form throughout his career so far. I'm hoping this is the year we see more consistency from him. He's like Walcott MK II in that regards.

We suffered yesterday from slow passing again which I found frustrating as we had such a quick front 3. That being said Newcastle were just content to sit back (understandable after losing a man) but we need that crispness in our passing which wasn't there.

Walcott got his chance at striker again and fluffed a few god chances. The one on his left he should have done better but he shinned it. When he has time to think it usually ends in a poor shot. He generally finishes better when it's a hair trigger reaction.

Still it was a good result yesterday. Would take the 3 points as it was a tough game considering how they parked the bus and we are struggling so badly to score.

 

[RandyMarsh]

Why don't we ever have periods in the game where we'll decide to sit back and play counter attacking football for 10-15 minutes? Do we not trust our defence enough to do this?

Our biggest problem for a while now is that we just can't seem to score against teams when we have lots of possession and they sit deep. That's clearly our biggest problem. We just can't break down the bus.

We looked effective yesterday before the sending off because we were attacking them before the bus could park. Wish we'd do this more effectively.

 

[TorontoGooner76]

I think Santi is beginning to lack the physical attributes needed to play further up the pitch and at this point is better suited to stay back as a playmaker a la Xavi or Pirlo though he is certainly not the same class.

If we had another true DM, it would be interesting to see Arteta v beside Coq. I just feel he quarterbacks things a little better sometimes and can help the rest of the team make good decisions in possession. I don'the know...

 

[GDeep™]

Ramsey is probably the best player at the club.

 

[fabo]

Clearly Sanchez.