Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey resurgent with Mesut Ozil happy to settle in alongside him

It is not known if Kevin McCleod is a Marseille fan. But one thing is for sure: someone has grand designs on the Stade Velodrome.

Second coming: Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey was the star of the show against Marseille Photo: GETTY 

A butterfly of a building is beginning to emerge from the concrete cocoon that was once here. It is going to be some stadium whenever it is finally completed. But currently it is a building site. One stand is little more than a pile of concrete. Scaffolding is everywhere. A thick film of builders’ dust covers every surface. So restricted are the facilities that the press conference room was, hilariously, doubling as the players’ warm up gym; a row of bicycles and hurdles stood where the questions would be later asked of the managers.

The little knot of Arsenal fans penned in the visitors area will have looked on at all that work with interest. They have been imploring their manager Arsène Wenger to do some building of his own for some time. They have wanted a more sound structure to their team, something substantial enough to maintain a challenge beyond mere membership of the Champions League.

And this summer the first hint of restructuring was revealed when Mesut Özil was signed from Real Madrid. Apparently worth half a Gareth Bale, Özil nonetheless caused a huge upsurge in optimism in the Arsenal ranks. At last a bit of quality was bought. Although on the evidence of his first European outing, Özil may be more of a design flourish, a piece of decoration rather than the foundation stone. At half-time here, the French television station put a picture of him on screen with the caption: “Mesut: We haven’t seen him.” Although clearly partisan, as an observation it was not altogether unfair.

Ostensibly playing on the left, with Jack Wilshere patrolling the centre behind Olivier Giroud, Özil was not, in truth, ostentatious in his work. Beyond a delicious, daring back-heel early in the second half that set Kieran Gibbs in on goal, his economy of movement drifting into anonymity.

Fortunately for the Arsenal fans, their side this season is clearly being constructed around a building block altogether more substantial. Aaron Ramsey ran the game here, his passes over the back line constantly giving Walcott and Bacary Sagna a run into unoccupied territory, his defensive covering brisk and efficient.

Not that he was over-worked. Marseille were busy if not entirely effective. The closest either side came to a goal in the first half was when the giant Per Mertesacker made a stooping, last-ditch header to clear his line. It may have been noisy in the stands, but it was quiet on the pitch.
No one was quieter than Özil; the £42 million man was largely a bystander. Ramsey, on the other hand, was everywhere, propping up the heart of the structure. As his side took control of the match in the second half, he was the foundation on which this victory – the 10th away win in succession for the Gunners – was constructed. It is some form this season from a player whose progress seemed to be stymied by injury.
“It was decided to be patient with him,” said Wenger. “When you have been injured for such a long time you never know if you will come completely back. But if you get injured before 20, it is easier to come back.”
Ramsey’s back all right. He rounded off a brilliant performance by scoring Arsenal’s second, a fine individual effort involving a stirring run and drive.
“Honestly I didn’t expect him to score so many goals,” said Wenger of the midfielder who has picked up three in his last two games. “Especially as he has improved in his passing and his technical quality. For me the most important thing is the quality of his game.”
And that quality is unimpeachable. Even the gift of a last-minute penalty, when his defensive work went awry, could not detract from Ramsey’s man-of-the-match performance. It was the kind of effort which Özil, for instance, was happy to stand back and admire.