Ramsey isn’t ready to replace Cesc (yet)
27 comments May 3rd, 2011
With this season ending as soon as we fell to defeat at Bolton – if not before – it was probably inevitable that Sunday’s game against Man U would be looked upon as a marker for next season.
In the light of our victory, many armchair pundits have remarked upon the apparent ease with which Aaron Ramsey stepped in to the vacuum created by Cesc Fabregas’ absence. With Cesc still being heavily linked with Barcelona, it has even been suggested by some that the (re)emergence of Ramsey means Arsenal would have little to worry about should their captain depart.
What a load of tosh. Aaron Ramsey is a promising 20 year-old with a handful of top flight starts under his belt. Cesc Fabregas is the captain of Arsenal, a European and World Champion, and one of the best players in the world.
I won’t deny that Ramsey was impressive on Sunday. Seeing him I’m tandem with Wilshere provided a glimpse of a possible partnership that harnesses both Wengerish technique and British grit. But this is the first time since that horriffic injury that Ramsey has looked anything like his former self. It’s a great start on the road to recovery, but nothing more than that. Remember how good Eduardo looked in his first few games back? Ramsey will know as well as anyone that his target has to be rediscovering consistency in his game.
Naturally, fans enjoy hyping their players. We’ve all been guilty of suggesting that Ryan Smith was ‘the new Overmars’ or that Jeremie Aliadiare was ‘Trezeguet mk II’. But at this time more than ever, the club need to be realistic about the potential of the youngsters at their disposal.
If Cesc were to leave – and at this stage that remains a big if – gambling on Ramsey as a replacement would be madness on Arsene’s part. Arsenal do not have enough players of the calibre, character and experience of Cesc to lose one without replacing them with someone of similar stature.
If we are too quick to replace our old heroes with new ones, we’ll be stuck in transition forever.
