On the 26th December 2013, Aaron Ramsey got injured in a 3-1 victory against West Ham. Shortly thereafter, Arsenal's title challenge fell apart. The sun rises on Easter Monday 2014 and fans awaken either hungover or melancholic, following yesterday's 3-0 humping of Hull. Why? A 6ft Welshman- ever the more dapper following his sponsorship contract with Adidas- won us that game and our title challenge is long since dust. It's ridiculous the affect Ramsey's presence, once again match fit, had on that Arsenal team. All of a sudden, crucial points dropped against Stoke, Swansea and even Manchester United are naught but the wistful remains of a pipe dream of one f*cking, huge, massive What If?. Forget it, fellow fans. It'll only hurt more. It's gone and done and now we must look to the future. A repeat performance against the same Hull City side in 4 weeks time will allow us to take one huge, mental step forward in trying to heal the damage of 7 years worth of negligence, stunted growth and missed opportunities. It is imperative now to look forward to next season and take on board the lessons that Ramsey's return to the Arsenal side has taught us. Regardless of this season's failures, one overriding principle we must address in the transfer market is that we simply cannot allow our season to hinge upon the presence of one individual player. Ramsey is blossoming into a tremendous talent- a notion that would have seemed absurd a couple of short seasons ago- and his continued dedication to the Arsenal fans, many of whom turned their backs on him, is tremendous. What will be needed, come summer, is for Arsené to recognise the effect Ramsey brings to our side, as a whole and look to find another whom can do the same. Some of it's in the numbers, a lot of it is a mental thing. From yesterday's astute win at Hull, these are the 7 things Ramsey does to win us football matches. The 7 things he did to win us football matches. The 7 things we haven't done in his absence and the 7 reasons why wins became draws, draws became losses and 1st became 4th (at best!) once again.
Betting on being a brilliant brother to Bodhi since 2008 (-1 Asian Handicap). Find me @LiamJJohnson on Twitter where you might find some wonderful pearls of wisdom in a stout cocktail of profanity, football discussion and general musings. Or you might not. Depends how red my eyes are.
