RAMSEY PROVES HE IS AN ARSENAL PLAYER
Wolves 1 Arsenal 4
YOU all know about the remarkable footballing maturity of Cesc Fabregas. So there is little point in telling you about another imperious individual performance.
Robin van Persie's development from brattishness to uninterrupted brilliance has been so well documented that mention of another mature all-round display becomes almost irrelevant.
That Andrey Arshavin strolls in that uninterested manner of his, sprinkling magic when he can be bothered, is already a given.
When victories are as routine as this, magnificence becomes mundane.
Which is why Arsene Wenger will have left Molineux last night not reflecting on the big picture which sees his team second in the Premier League and enrapturing the nation's neutrals.
But on the details. And probably one in particular.
If he needed confirmation, yesterday provided it. Aaron Ramsey is an Arsenal player.
With Arsenal awareness, Arsenal adventure - craving possession, valuing possession above everything else.
Fabregas Lite. Only not so lite.
He probably wasn't most people's man of the match. Technically, that would probably have gone to his captain, who joined Arshavin and Wolves defender Ronald Zubar on the scoresheet.
Eduardo and another hapless home player Jody Craddock can fight over the other one.
He made plenty of mistakes, Ramsey. Even got a bit too confident.
But in only his second Premier League start and a couple of months shy of his 19th birthday, Ramsey was the embodiment of everything Wenger believes a midfielder should be.
Never negative, always looking forward, incisive and bright.
He is looking ahead when that possession he craves has still not arrived at his feet.
Wenger knows he has a player who will grow into the Fabregas mould.
And that is probably what the Arsenal manager will focus on when he slips the disc into the DVD player tonight.
Either that or on an opening 25 minutes that might just be the poorest spell of Arsenal's captivating season so far.
At first, there seemed to be a pinch of complacency about Wenger's selection of Ramsey.
And that notion might just have seeped into player consciousness - particularly when you pair it with the extravagant praise that has poured Arsenal's way in recent days.
Throw into the mix the predictable ferocity with which Wolves left the starting gate and you have the reasons why an upset reared its head very early on.
The notion that you can disturb Arsenal's delicate cosmopolitan balance with old-fashioned physicality was faithfully - and unsurprisingly - adopted by Wolves boss Mick McCarthy. Craddock twice troubled the scoresheet against Stoke. This week, he was back to his day job - troubling strikers' well-being. The first challenge on Van Persie shook spectating bones, never mind the Dutchman's.
Initially, it appeared that only Ramsey was ready to stand firm in the face of fierce, but completely legal, intimidation.
It wasn't a great sign for Arsenal fans that Arshavin wore not only mitts but a polo-neck sweater beneath his jersey.
Maybe he's trying to lose weight. Sweat off the pounds. But for goodness sake, he's Russian.
It's so cold at football matches over there, they don't drink Bovril, they pour it over their hands.
But Arshavin wasn't alone in appearing somewhat meek. Even the normally battle- happy Abou Diaby succumbed, limping away a quarter into proceedings.
Slightly rattled, Arsenal conceded a succession of free-kicks - all results of being put on the backfoot by sheer tenacity.
It would be unfair to credit Wolves only with endeavour. David Edwards showed moments of Arsenal-esque elegance and Kevin Doyle is a player who plots his moves with grandmaster intelligence.
But just like most teams who belong to the Premier League's lower strata, their main threat will mostly come from set-pieces (reference: last Saturday's Stoke game).
So when Sylvain Ebanks-Blake sent a succulent headed chance wide and when Christophe Berra somehow contorted himself into a shape that took his header away from goal, you feared the worst for the home side.
But you never pictured the nature of the inevitable goal against the run of play. A set-piece calamity.
There were doubts about the legitimacy of the corner award but that is irrelevant.
What is relevant is that it was a defensive catastrophe.
The Fabregas corner was curled decently enough but there was no pressure when Wayne Hennessy waved his hand and directed the ball on to the not inconsiderable thigh of Zubar. It sprung off muscle and back into the net. And that was that. End of story. Game over. Call it what you like. Eduardo had been the closest man to Zubar and, for a minute, appeared to attach his name to the goal.
Maybe for that, he copped some abuse. Or maybe it was for when he went over the legs of Zubar rather too readily. Give a dog a bad name and all that.
And he hardly sought reconciliation when he lifted his jersey over his head after laying claim to the second goal.
He should have been getting an earful for not passing to Van Persie after a wonderful break from Ramsey - instead he was tucking his shirt behind his ears to reveal a personal message on his vest. (Apparently, some words about a drugs-troubled community back in Rio de Janeiro).
But he's likely to lose this goal from his collection.
His cocky chip was probably wandering wide before it flicked off Craddock and stumped Hennessy. There was no doubt about who takes the credit for goal No 3. Wenger.
It was an effort that was so typical of his philosophy that it could have spoken in a soft French accent and been flecked with grey.
Leaving the lazy Segundo Castillo in his wake, Fabregas was not content to idle after playing in right-back Bacary Sagna.
Instead, he hared 50 yards and was rewarded when Van Persie beautifully dead-batted into his path.
He accepted his reward emphatically.
That Woves came out and restricted Arsenal to one more - a casual, thudding volley from the cold and casual Arshavin - could be attributed to a couple of things.
Scandalous over-elaboration in front of goal and a strong element of McCarthy-inspired pride amongst the home team.
Indeed, Craddock's late consolation was the least a wonderful local support deserved.
But had his shot not scraped the misfortune-side of the upright in the dying seconds, Ramsey would have got what he deserved.
That will not bother manager Wenger one bit.
He didn't need a drive into the bottom corner or a mark in the statistics book to tell him one thing.
He has another proper Arsenal player on his books.
And another proper Arsene Wenger player.
This article has 3 comments
come on guys ramsey good but only thing he did i din't like he took to many touches on the bolll
By chris. Posted November 8 2009 at 4:12 PM.
Ramsey was superb he is a much better footballer than diaby and Eboue.lets hope Wenger sticks by him and doesnt go back to these two.
We are great going forward but the keeper is a big worry
By terry. Posted November 8 2009 at 9:56 AM.
Finally Wenger gave a chance to Ramsey.
He has confirmed what I always said and the team should remain with Song and Ramsey.
Ramsey showed why he is better than Eboue and he is 100% better on all points. He is fast, knows what he has to do when he has the ball, he defends and tackles the opponents.
He also knows how to defend , Eboue doesnt.
By A.MESSINA. Posted November 8 2009 at 9:26 AM.