Ramsey has to be Arsenal player of the year

Arsenal released a twitter poll yesterday asking us to vote for our player of the season. The choices are: Leno, Aubameyang, Torreira, Lacazette, Sokratis, and Xhaka*. If those are my only choices, I pick Lacazette.

However, notable for their absence are Mesut Ozil, Matteo Guendouzi, Laurent Koscielny, and Aaron James Ramsey. The fans have expressed their disbelief that these players were not included, especially Ramsey.

Why Arsenal choose not to include Ramsey on the list is between them and their gods. We can speculate that it has something to do with Ramsey leaving for Juventus on a gigantic new contract and the fact that the club rescinded an earlier offer, with many folks believing that Unai Emery (or the other members of the Brian Trust**) thought that he wouldn’t fit in with Emery’s way of playing football.

The problem is that where you would normally expect a short timer who is about to receive a gigantic pay rise to put in limp performances; it’s precisely the fact that he’s leaving and is still giving us 110% performances day in and day out that has won him so much admiration from the supporters. Ramsey images, and gifs festoon the replies to the official poll. So many that by my count he’s winning the poll.

And he should be winning the poll. He’s been both an emotional and physical leader of this team.

We won’t forget the “sit down he said” moment from this season. That was when Eric Dier celebrated a goal in the North London Derby, getting in the faces of players who were warming up on the touch line. Dele Alli tried to fight Aaron Ramsey (who was in his warm up bib) and after it was all broken up, like the kid who says “HOLD ME BACK” Eric Dier told Ramsey to “go sit down”.

Ramsey’s response was perfect: he was subbed on, assisted Aubameyang for Arsenal’s tying goal, assisted Lacazette for Arsenal’s winning goal, and then posted this on his instagram.

And in the other North London Derby, when he scored Arsenal’s go-ahead goal (in a 1-1 draw) he pointed to the ground, claiming Wembley was his house. Which, to be fair, it is since he’s personally won three FA Cups there – which is more trophies than Tottenham FC has won since 1991.

I feel like those two matches alone elevate him to POY status but then there was the match against Napoli. Put all the stats aside for a moment (though his stats are outstanding) and I’m left with just this gut feeling that Ramsey gave everything for that first tie and that he will do it again on Thursday. I feel like what he wants more than anything – and perhaps this is a swipe at the Brian Trust who didn’t think he was worth the big contract or that we couldn’t afford him or whatever – is to leave Arsenal with European Silverware.

Ramsey is one of the players who are most closely tied to Arsene Wenger’s “project youth”. And he was one of the players left after Fabregas, Nasri, and RvP all slithered off which Wenger tried to refashion as “the British Core.” If there are any frustrations I have of Ramsey’s time at Arsenal, it’s been our performances in Europe. They aren’t his fault, Wenger seemed to really struggle getting Arsenal to adjust to the Champions League. I almost guarantee that he feels it too.

Maybe I’m being too emotional, sue me, but it feels to me like there can only be one player of the year for Arsenal and that’s got to be Aaron Ramsey.

And if he does win us the Europa League, I will gladly put him up in the “Arsenal Legends” category.

Qq

*I prefer not to speak. If I speak, I am in big trouble.
**Old family joke

62 comments

  1. “… he’s leaving and is still giving us 110% performances…”

    You’re The Math Guy. You know better.

    I’d go with Laca. Ramsey deserves a firm pat on the back and expressed appreciation. You nailed it sufficiently.

  2. Ramsey absolutely would have taken the snub from Unai/Raul personally. He’s a determined character, and as he’s shown in the past, he can use negativity in a positive fashion.

    While I’m delighted with Ramsey’s attitude and performances, I am deeply annoyed by Arsenal. One, the decision was stupid. Two, the manner of it was shameful. Three, they announced his departure in the most cursory manner possible, and now his absence from this poll.

    In the large scheme of things it’s no big deal, and yet, it matters. This club better hit it out of the park in the summer with its squad building efforts.

    As for winning the EL, definitely. Ramsey and the team really wanted to do it for Wenger last year too, only for Kos to kick the ball into his own face and give Griezmann a free run on goal. Ugh. But we have some more depth and quality this season and weaker opposition. I hope Ramsey gets his wish and wins the EL with us.

    1. Weaker opposition, is that the narrative at the ready if Arsenal win out?
      Napoli, Chelsea or Benfica isn’t exactly a cake walk is it now.

      1. It’s not a narrative, and I’d be delighted if Arsenal ‘win out’, lol. It’s an observation that no opposition in the competition is as good as Atletico Madrid. Tilt at that windmill all you want, Tom Quixote.

        1. I would choose Atleti ten men for 80 plus minutes out of the 180 instead of full strength Napoli or Chelsea every day of the week and twice on Sunday.
          If Arsenal fail to beat Napoli because of some defender’s mistake or simple inability to make a play, will you apportion the blame to said player or perhaps the manager ?
          Just kidding , rhetorical question obviously ha ha.
          For the record, Napoli did better in the group stages against the likes of Liverpool and PSG, than Atletico against Roma and Chelsea last year.

          1. You seem to think I’m making this an Arsenal last year vs Arsenal this year game of oneupmanship. You’re wrong. I wasn’t ‘blaming’ Kos. I was bemoaning the fact that we didn’t win last season and putting forth a hope that we can this season.

  3. The good thing about this season is that there has been no single standout player. A lot of players have stepped up and played well when called upon. So who do you give it to?

    Ozil and Kos have been out/injured too long to get a season-long award. Ramsey was also out of the team for a while.

    Guendouzi has performed above expectations, but has not lifted the team enough to get POTY.

    Torreira has faded slightly but remains strong.

    Leno is in with a decent shout, as is Sokratis.

    Auba has done as expected – and expectations have been high.

    Laca has scored fewer than hoped perhaps but has become the spiritual leader in many ways.

    Laca gets my vote, but there is no clear frontrunner.

    1. Oh and don’t forget Xhaka who, if nothing else, has elevated his game greatly by virtue of being less idiotic in a position where idiocy is costly.

  4. Mate, mate, You write so so well, control emotion so so deftly, that you almost persuaded me.. almost but not quite. Player of the season is obviously Xhaka, yes I love him and have no objectivity when it comes to him. But being objective for one minute. Check the stats of the Arsenal win/draw/loss ratio; goals scored/game and goals conceded/game with and without Xhaka and you will be shocked and see why Xhaka is player of the Season. (I know the answer to this stats run.. because I saw it on twitter)
    I would give it to Leno and Xhaka jointly. But defo Xhaka
    I am not down-playing Ramsey’s contribution at all. He is a great lad, baller, professional. Loads of the guys have been outstanding this season.

  5. Ramsey is Arsenal Player of the Year. That is all.

    Arsenal should be ashamed of themselves for carrying on this way.

  6. Ramsey for me. Best player at Arsenal right now. Leno would have to get runner up for me. Lacazette and Auba just miss too many chances.

  7. Player of the year is Leno. Retires Cech, has kept us looking decent despite our despicable defending at times, and doing all this in his first season. He inspires confidence in his position and we can bother about other positions but not his, for this reason, I’m voting for Bernd Leno.

  8. You nailed it Tim. Ramsey has been single-handedly transforming games. The team feels his impact as soon as he gets on the pitch. No one else has that effect. And the example he is setting for the younger players will have a knock-on effect.

    Auba, Laca and Leno are all strong performers but they just don’t have the same ability to influence the game consistently. Big shoes to fill this summer.

  9. it’s plain to see why arsenal omitted ramsey’s name from that list. if he were to win the award, arsenal would look like a bunch of assclowns for rescinding his contract offer in such a tacky way. they can’t afford that look. the only way to control that narrative is to not have his name on the ballot.

  10. LOL @ “assclowns.”

    Speaking of assclownery, what the hell are Pep and €iteh doing making the scum look like worldbeaters?

  11. It’s an asinine poll, on which Xhaka is included presumably on the grounds of height. I can’t think of any other reason.

    Even if Ramsey is not your individual pick for POTY, how on earth is he not in the Top 6?

    Arsenal have beclowned themselves.

    Agree with every word of this post, Tim.

    1. Claudeivan, mate, asinine is a fantastic word. So I know you are too smart to dismiss Xhaka, who I admit I love, as POTY without looking at the numbers
      This season with PL with Xhaka: 76% win rate
      16 Wins – 4 Draws – 1 Loss 2.2 goals/game 0.95 goals conceded/game
      This season in PL without Xhaka: 33% win rate
      4 wins – 2 draws – 6 losses

        1. Lonestar Gooner, mate
          Hahahah
          Good point, well made…. you are defo a stato like Tim. I remember that one too.
          My point is that there is correlation… not just a correlation a direct 1 to 1 correlation.

          1. There’s not even a correlation.

            Arsenal win percentage with Elneny – 93% 13/14 games which have Elneny in them Arsenal won.
            Jenkinson – Undefeated this season, 6 wins, 0 losses
            Iwobi – Arsenal have won 8 of the last 10 games that Iwobi played in.

            It just means that Xhaka has been “injured” or “sick” for most of Arsenal’s away games.

            also you stat is only counting PL games. If we look at the last 20 appearances by Xhaka in all competitions Arsenal’s record is P20 W11 L7 D2 – 55% win rate.

            Also, he’s the most error prone play at Arsenal.

            You can like him all you want, I’ve wanted him out of my club for two years now.

          2. Ok, ok mate you win..i should have known better than to take you on in the statosphere…but I still love Xhaka and he is for me the POTY. You see Elneny/Jenko etc are not reg starters; so the “games with”/”games without” metric is misleading. Xhaka is a guaranteed starter, if fit, so this comparison is fair…
            I hear Inter want Xhaka…How many midfields in the world can tolerate the loss of Ramsey (legs/engine) and Xhaka (passing/vision) in one season..Mate you dont want that..

          3. “Jenkinson – Undefeated this season, 6 wins, 0 losses“
            It’s settled then. Jenko for MVP.
            Stats don’t lie.

  12. On the subject of goalscoring wide players, can I present Raheem Sterling as exhibit A? And he’s “only 24” 😉

    Sane (23) isnt bad either, and neither is Bernardo (24). And yet, as things stand at halftime, Spurs are going through.

    I want Spurs to win. And get shoed by Barcelona over 2 exhausting legs.

    1. Aye yai yai…
      How could you eva want sp*rs to win anything?
      (asking for a friend…)

      1. It’ll take so much out of them, we’ll pass them for third.

        Plus, I want them to experience the crushing disappointment of going far and losing.

    1. Yeah, what a night. Good vibes for the top 4 battle, tougher games for the Spuds to face, St Totteringham day loading.

  13. It was a mad mad mad mad mad game. I have never watched a game like this. Suspense until the last moment. Much more suspenseful than the Aguero goal which won City the championship. The way it is disallowed by VAR is tragic… no wonder so many City players cried.

  14. lordy-lordy, will pep ever win the champions league again?

    it’s why i always say that i don’t put much value in cup competitions. the best team simply doesn’t always win. one bad play, one bad call, one missed opportunity, etc. can end your cup competition. it’s the league that tells the truth about who’s the better team. the league table doesn’t lie.

    claude, you made my point from the previous thread about sterling becoming a great finisher. was sterling this great player two years ago when he was iwobi’s age? nope, but we all saw his talent, just like we see iwobi’s now. add to that, iwobi was coached by wenger, not guardiola; a wenger who instead of drawing up x’s and o’s on the board, drew wolves. same goes for bernardo silva and anyone else you want to mention. maybe we’ll be discussing leroy sane’s twenty goal season next year. it’s the nature of young players. they’re frustratingly inconsistent.

    1. Hmm. Not very convincing arguments, Josh.

      So let me deal with the age argument first. Leroy Sane is 4 months older than our young Nigerian (who’ll be 23 in less than 2 weeks) and a much more accomplished scorer from wide. In 85 PL appearances (many as sub), Sane has 24 goals and 28 assists. In 95 apps, Iwobi has 11 goals and 14 assists… less than half the output, having played 10 more games. Sane has 9 this season, Iwobi has 3.

      Do you still want to argue that Iwobi has 4 months to catch up, on the basis that Sane was born in January and Iwobi in May of the same year? 🙂 As for Sterling, he was already a decent goalscorer for Liverpool before joining City. At City, he’s become a world class one. Not even you would argue, I expect, that that is where Iwobi would be in 2 years (doubtful given his trajectory and where he is now, but you never know). Sterling was much further up the ability gradient when he was 22. Look, it’s not about Iwobi… it’s goal productivity from wide. It’s not Iwobi’s fault that we pick him, but age is not an argument.

      So to your Wenger argument….
      Thierry (initially), Ljungberg and Pires were productive wide forwards for Arsenal. Did Wenger teach them finishing? I doubt it. As a player/coach, you should know that you don’t teach players instinctual finishing in their 20s.

      The variables. Body shape. Right footed/right side, right footed/left side, left footed/right side, left footed/left side. Curl to keeper’s left or right, or place left or right. Surprise at near post or go acute angle across the body. Pass it into the net precisely, or put the laces through it. Hit it or pass it in that split sec? Decision, instinctual, to be made in a fraction of a second. You coach a lot of things in a player that age, like movement — individual, and in relation to teammates and tactical play. As Pep himself has said, those final yards belong to the player alone. Against Fulham, a coach didn’t have to tell Ramsey to backheel it into the net in that situation.

      Again, Im not dumping on Iwobi. I want Arsenal to play wide forwards who can consistently and reliably get goals, because that would increase our attacking threat. Teams need only clog the centre when Iwobi and Kola play, because if they can’t find our scorers, they’re very unlikely to do so themselves.

      1. As a further example of instinctive play-Aguero’s heading the ball into the ground in front of him before passing to Sterling was delicious. What a great bit of play-shame it was called back.

        1. And Aguero’s near-post finish. That wasnt a mistake by Lloris… it was a precise, instinctive finish by Aguero. But comparing any of them to Aguero is not fair. He’s one of the EPL’s greatest ever players.

          Sterling’s first was a right foot curler cutting in from the left, and the 2nd was a far post late, late arrival scored with his left foot. Our wide players are too agricultural to manage that .

          Funny to think that with wide forward options in Sterling, Sane, Bernardo and Mahrez (to complement Aguero and Jesus, whom I dont rate), they might not win either the league or champions league.

          Who won it for Spurs? A good, old fashioned Number 9. Playing like a good, old fashioned Number 9.

          (and to Bun’s point, I think Spurs will beat Ajax, but lose to Barcelona in the final)

  15. Forget about us for a minute but Ramsey leaving is a loss for the entire Premier League. Pure class, brought up by the classiest Frenchman imaginable.

    Agree with some of comments about S$&rs. Messi and company will will quietly take them apart and leave their scattered remains for us to bury next season!

  16. I just want to say that I’m glad I don’t live in London, because Spurs are winning the Champions League.

    1. I keep trying to convince myself that Barca will beat them, that Pool will beat them, that the CL is more than just a cup competition in which hot runs of form don’t determine winners and losers. As soon as that Sterling goal was called back I imagined the DVD’s, Dele Alli raising the trophy, Hugo Lloris at the wheel of the parade bus, drunkenly veering into crowds of supporters, throwing a wheelchair-bound Harry Kane from the top deck. A real nightmare. I’ve failed to convince myself it won’t come true.

      1. Lol. Spurs can never win the Champions League when Ajax, Liverpool and Barcelona remain in the competition. I fancy Barcelona because of Messi. He makes a difference in times like this.

    2. Well I’m rooting for Barcelona over Spurs in the final, since them losing to Ajax seems unlikely. I don’t mind Spurs playing a couple more games which increases our odds of finishing ahead of them in the League.

      Interestingly, 538 has Ajax as a very slight favorite (51%) in the matchup, despite having a lower SPI (team rating). I’m guessing it’s due to the first-leg-away advantage.

  17. You can’t be serious.
    Unless of course the other keepers they face put in the Ederson type of performance.
    Out of four goals conceded two were examples of very poor keeping you just can’t legislate against as a manager.
    That’s why my vote for a player of the season goes to Leno.
    I don’t have the stats to back it up but on the evidence of my eyeballs there’s no one in the league better than him right now.
    Considering his age, price tag and the quality of Arsenal defenders in front of him, and this being his first season, he gets the nod.

    Ramsey and Laca share close second.

  18. I’m not sure why Guardiola thought holding out was a good strategy on a night where they were poor defensively, but his caution cost ManCity a place in the CL semi final.

    The test of City’s character will now begin. After Arsenal lost to Chelsea in the CL we trailed vs Liverpool in the league and came storming back to win. Will City be able to pick themselves up and push themselves to the league title?

  19. I’m glad Tottenham went through.
    Two more games before they come crushing back down to Earth.
    I’m not sure you can blame Pep for Laporte and Ederson’s mistakes but you take Fernandinho out of the line up and they become almost average on defense.

    1. Surely you can blame him for playing Fernandinho and Gundogan in the first leg. That was his decision and he made a mistake.-leaving KDB out hurt City in attack. There was nothing to be done about having to play Delph, but Jonathan Wilson’s article in the Guardian about Pep overthinking Champions League away matches convinced me that he overthought and tinkered too much. That and comments around City’s PL performances against Spurs pain show he seemed to be very concerned about Spurs’ physicality.

  20. Ramsey is leaving, that’s on the club and maybe on him. He’s putting in great performances, that’s on him. So I agree he should be on the list but he isn’t and thats that. I don’t see what the big deal is. Someone who will be there next season or someone we sell for good money will be the player of the season and I’m fine with that. I dont get us Arsenal supporters. We have a bad season we slam the club. We have a half decent season we slam the club. Are we really so spoiled?

    1. This is more about the club as an organization than the team. Why shouldn’t we slam the club? It’s a corporate entity designed to extract profits from us, the fans. This isn’t even being cynical. It’s pointing out that the club is concerned about their image and how they handled the Ramsey deal. Rather than rewarding performances, the club chose to cover their ass with respect to fan feedback. As someone who contributes money to the organization, I feel this is the wrong way for the organization to interact with fans and honor (or fail to honor) players for the work they put in.

  21. Ramsey is crocked again. Done in his hamstring. I think that’s the last of him in aa Arsenal shirt. I think we all wanted to see him go out in blaze of glory, not limping off the pitch. Not good…

  22. Insigne must have known he was offside. He didn’t bother with the finish because he already heard the whistle in his head.

    Has to be, right?

  23. still haven’t watched the entire game yet but glad arsenal saw napoli off. we saw the reason why serie a only have 3 teams in the champions league now. their league is trash. napoli’s finishing was trash. the injury to ospina was unfortunate but came at a good time for arsenal. was it me or did the all red kit look kinda sexy? i don’t remember ever seeing arsenal wear that before.

    while most were big on napoli, valencia is the team i’ve always been worried about. they have a good team and have been very strong after a poor start to their season. it’ll be interesting for mustafi, gabriel, and coquelin against their old teams.

    valencia absolutely love both gabriel and coquelin. i remember watching rodrigo score a goal last season then running over to the sideline to hold up a coquelin jersey when frank was out injured. i call coquelin the xhaka inverse because he is everything that xhaka is not. xhaka has a long ball and a shot and, in my opinion, these are the only two favorable qualities that he has. inversely, these are also the only two qualities that coquelin doesn’t have. likewise, coquelin and lacazette are pals and coquelin was key to laca coming to arsenal. i hope frank does well and valencia get into the top four in spain, but arsenal still prevail in the europa league. we’ll see.

    1. Napoli outplayed both PSG (1:1) and Liverpool (1:0) and had lost only one home game to Juve before their Arsenal defeat.
      Italian league maybe trash but Napoli is a legit CL outfit that Arsenal have beaten comprehensively over two legs.
      What is it with Arsenal fans and their constant lamenting even in a face of progress , I will never know.

      Valencia are a good team but even if we get past them and Chelsea( presumably) the Shards of this Arsenal new reality will say this was an easy Arsenal road to EL glory.
      Oh wait , they’ve said that already 🙂

      1. I’ve never seen Arsenal lift a European trophy. We got agonisingly close in 2000 and 2006. We had a chance last season against Atletico but threw it away. Forgive me for feeling hopeful that with a stronger squad and weaker (not easy or cakewalk as you earlier alleged) opponents we could do it this season.

        What is it with Arsenal fans and their constant lamenting other fans even when they express hope and support, I will never know.

        1. “Weaker” is a relative and highly debatable term.
          I would argue that Atletico weren’t all that great last season and their form and record from CL group backs it up.
          From six games against Roma, Chelsea and some team who’s name I can’t even pronounce but sounds like a bag of cement- mix, they managed 6 points and one win and rightfully dropped down to EL .

          Of course you want Arsenal to win- that’s not debatable, but forgive me for thinking that you might be trying to minimize the difficulty of task at hand in case you have to face the reality of Emery achieving something in his first season your idol, Wenger , couldn’t do in 20.

          1. You could have argued about the merits of the statement without choosing to attack my supposed intentions. Which you still continue to do, despite me repeatedly clarifying what I meant.

            And I suppose I shouldn’t do that. Cos hey, you’re going to believe whatever you’re going to believe, even if it means imagining the strawman into existence. It’s just that it took me by surprise.

            Maybe you like to think of how Arsenal ‘winning out’ would affect Wenger’s legacy. I don’t. His legacy is solid.

      2. how is my saying napoli’s finishing is trash, me lamenting arsenal?

        how is my rating valencia higher than napoli, me lamenting arsenal?

        how much progress do you see arsenal having made? they’re in the europa league, dude.

        you might need to go get your bowl.

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