Aaron Ramsey's Current Form Makes Arsenal Dangerous in EPL

By

Tim Keeney

(Featured Columnist) on September 18, 2013

Jamie McDonald/Getty Images

Much like Arsenal, Aaron Ramsey has turned unrelenting doubt into decisive success. 

Just one month ago, no one believed in Arsenal. The Gunners were coming off an embarrassing 3-1 home defeat to Aston Villa, Arsene Wenger had yet to spend a dime in the transfer window and injuries were piling up.
In a similar way, albeit on a lesser scale, there was much apprehension when it came to the 22-year-old Welshman. He was coming off a solid 2012-13 campaign, but the worry as to whether or not he would ever fully recover from his ugly leg fracture in 2010 was steadily growing.
How quickly things change.
Since that loss at the Emirates, the Gunners have reeled off six victories in a row. They made arguably the premier signing of the summer in Mesut Ozil. They skyrocketed to second place on the EPL table. They earned a crucial road win—a club-record 10th in a row—to begin Champions League play in what many believe is the "Group of Death."
And much of that success has been thanks to Ramsey.
The young midfielder whom some had written off has been playing with unbelievable confidence this season, putting himself into the right positions and finishing with homing-missile accuracy.
He scored three times in Arsenal's home-and-away duel with Fenerbahce for a spot in the Champions League group stage, notched an impressive brace—fueled by a world-class volley—at Sunderland on Saturday and continued his magnificent, transcendent form on Wednesday night.
With Arsenal up 1-0 at Marseille in the UCL Group F opener, Ramsey held off three defenders and hit a perfect low strike to net his sixth Arsenal goal of the young season:

GIF courtesy of Share Arsenal on Twitter (@ShareArsenal)

It turned out to be integral for the three points, as Marseille added a late penalty to make it 2-1.
ESPN's Paul Carr provided this truly spellbinding stat:

Aaron Ramsey has 6 goals in 7 games for Arsenal this season. He had 2 in 47 games for Arsenal last season.
— Paul Carr (@PCarrESPN) September 18, 2013

Arsenal's lack of a consistent striker has been well-documented, but when you have a midfield producing goals at this rate, it doesn't really matter. And moreover, Ramsey's red-hot form hasn't just been about the goals.
As Squawka Football's Twitter feed pointed out, Ramsey's heat map shows that he was all over the place on Wednesday:
Moreover, according to WhoScored, he completed a team-high 89 passes (at a solid 83 percent success rate) to go with three through balls and one key pass. He also tracked back, notching a team-high five tackles along with an interception, a block and four clearances.
You won't find a much more complete performance.
Ramsey talked about his—and Arsenal's—otherworldly form after the match:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1779345-aaron-ramseys-current-form-makes-arsenal-dangerous-in-epl