When Arsenal signed Aaron Ramsey from Cardiff City last week, one of the main questions asked by Gooners was Where will the young Welshman play?. Gunners legend Bob Wilson has an answer to this question, and believes Ramsey will eventually be the man to partner Cesc Fabregas in central midfield. But whilst he is excited by his potential, admits he has a long way to go yet.
“Imagine Ramsey and Fabregas together in the middle, the possibilities are endless. He is athletic, quick and already has brilliant quality on the ball. He has everything he needs to become a star at Arsenal.”
The former goalkeeper also thinks Ramsey’s transfer will signal a new wave of British talents coming through to Arsène Wenger’s first team, and also spoke about some of the English talent already here.
“With this talk of quotas, Arsenal already have a group of at least seven young home-grown youngsters coming through, at least three of whom are good enough to play at the highest level. Aaron can be part of that.
“But it means that, as well as coming in with the likes of Fabregas and Robin van Persie, there will be six or seven other British players who will be, like Aaron, champing at the bit to make it.”
When asked of the comparison’s to Theo Walcott and Ramsey, Wilson enthused “Rambo” is a bigger talent at 17 than Theo was at the same age.
“When you look at him as a 17-year-old, Aaron has caught the eye even more than Theo did,”
“Theo joined Arsenal above Chelsea, despite the fact it was for less money, because he believed Arsène Wenger was the best man to fulfil his potential. He wanted an education in the game and he knew Arsène would provide that better than anyone.
“I’m sure Aaron would have had similar thoughts when he chose Arsenal. Arsène can help him fulfil the huge potential he clearly has.”
Finally, Bob gave his thoughts on how ‘Le boss’ would deploy the youngster, and again reverted back to the Walcott comparison’s.
“I think Aaron will have the induction Theo did. Start as a sub during pre-season, feature in the FA and Carling Cups, but be on the fringe of the first team.”
“Theo wants to learn, but he is growing impatient. That is the road Aaron will have to go on.”
I personally feel Gilberto will continue to play alongside Cesc for next season, before Ramsey eventually is at a level to take over. Possibly this is a reason why Wenger back tracked on signing a new defender, as Kolo Toure would have been the long term option in midfield, but now Aaron can take up the role in the future.
Article By – J.Sanderson
Arsene said on the Arsene’s XI DVD that Kolo doesnt have the stamina to be a midfield player.
Who do you think the 3 players are that Bob mentions as being good enough to make it with the first team?
Great article!
Great Site mate, keep up the good work
One of them must be Lansbury
lansbury randall wilkshire
Do you reckon that Aaron will be the Flamini type player or a mixure of him and Cesc? It is good to see that Bob thinks so highly of our youngsters as it is a great thing for the club to have these guys coming through and putting one up the media for going against us as being a “foreign” team.
Lansbury, maybe Wilshere, Randall?
cheers Dan :)
Lansbury
Gibbs
Wilshire
mb?
Sad to say, but if Gilberto does play the holding role, we surely won’t win anything once again. Unless he has a massive and unlikely renaissance. Can we do it with what we have plus some of the youngsters stepping up? Maybe. Can we do it with two or three quality additions to what we have? Hell yeah! Time to take the padlock off that dusty ol’ cheque book, Mr Wenger…
Wilshere, Gibbs and Gavin Hoyte. Although Merida ( I no, he’s not home-grown, could make a fair few apps for the 1st team next season.
It’s strange, Arsene said the same of Song when asked if he could partner Cesc in midfield. He seems to think only a high energy player like Flamini can work with Cesc, which does cast doubts on Gilbertos role.
Old news JS. Don’t let those standards slip…
Quite late on this one. I read this a few days ago on the Wales Online website.
In 5 years time Ramsbo will be our version of Steve Gerrard. He loves a tackle as well, cant wait for him to develop.
*Rambo!
Do you really think gilberto will be chosen over Diaby or Denilson to play in the middle? Gilberto showed last season that he can never be first choice again for us, unfortunately
Hearty LOL @ n17 … “clowns!” … Rambos’ gooner get ya.
“C L O W N S !”
I still would like to see Wenger replace Flamini in the transfer market this summer.
nordtviet – some team in norway
randall – burnley
jay simpson – millwall
they have all had first team football. gibbs didn’t get a lot of football at norwich but we all know he is good
wilshere to young but is probely the best young talant we got he is a mixture of a lot of great players low gravity like messi skills like joe cole passing like helb his goal against west ham was like dare i say the great dennis bergkamp he’s got a very bright future.
barazite voted young player of the session but still dosen’t get in 2 the 3 at the top why? i do not have a clue i call this kid glider coz he runs threw players like the fake ronaldo (cristiano).
i think everyone has forgot about merida who could be there lansbury could be there jay thomas could be there and trore as well.
Van Fabrecott, Diaby is an attacking midfielder, Denilson is a very similar player to Fabregas. One would have to learn a new position, the other would be too similar and the partnership would be mullered!
Big Dave, Wenger has already replaced him ( Rumour that it is Yaya Toure). GO AFC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I know we have a recent history of playing a younger team than anyone else in the league….
but anyone who thinks Wilshere is ready to play is just dreaming, the guy is 16, about 5ft tall and ridiculously skinny. He looks like he could be good, but at this point could be the next Sonny Pike, Carlin Itonga or Cherno Samba.
And anyone supporting players like Wilshere, Lansbury getting into the first team is doing us absolutely no favours, we need to raise the average age of the team, not lower it.
Arsene won’t sign a direct replacement for Flamini. I bet my hat he’ll go for Diaby and Denilson. If they don’t step up to the challenge, he’ll probably fall back on Gilberto.
It will be extremely interesting to see which players Arsene brings in this summer!
Diaby is a Defensive Midfielder not attacking ( I tink u got it wrong)
Tank, They’ll be there in 2011
I don’t know if it’s just me but I really do see Ramsey becoming a great player on the wings. Maybe like a Rosicky when fit, a winger that’s able to track back and tackle and loves to cut inside and look for a pass or shot in true Wenger fashion.
AM I ALONE ??????????????
This Chatroom is boring
i think i like d clip i saw on rambo. he is quick and has all the qualities of a good midfielder
what about nasri why the offical web didnt annouce it
cant for the season to start , I believe the three players should be Jack Wilshere , lansbury randall hopefully Jay Simpson will also be given some chance to show his stuff.. all football lovers are invited to join soccerfanbase.com for the best of football discussion
1st n foremost, top site, been following it for weeks now and always has a good informative post.
Callum…i think barazite was injured for a good part of last season but i fully expect him to feature in the first team as a sub now. I remember he scored against Barnet in pre season last year and was being talked about a bit before his injury.
chatroom?
This aint a chatroom, it’s a blog.
I have always liked and respected Bob Wilson but to have two midgets in central midfield playing for Arsenal i do not think so mate
Kenty – Ramsey is the same height as Flamini :)
J what about Nasri did we get him yet
Also when he is fit Henri Lansbury is a better central midfield player than Aaron Ramsay so he wont be playing there long term anyway IMO
I heard clichy’s signed a new contract.
Top summer signing without doubt.
Almost everyday we have here one of the Arsenal players are leaving and go to here Clichy’s have sinned . it good to silence this midgets . One thing I found about arsenal this summer is Every managers of the other teams are a gunners fan ever the Ser
read this
http://sport.setanta.com/en/Sport/News/Football/2008/06/20/Prem-Diouf-on-Nasri-to-Arsenal/?facets/sport-space/football/great-britain-locale/
I would hope that the signing of Ramsey does not influence the need for another defensive midfielder and centre back for THIS season. Sure Ramsey has a great future but his first team regular involvement is in all likelihood 1-2 seasons away.
Jay Thomas is a player I like and someone who might be able to come into the team soon but again not this season. the same goes for Harvard Nortdveit. All these players seem at least another season away. we cannot throw away the upcoming season for players that are not quite ready. Wenger needs to get some experience and I for one would not mind a few 27/28 year olds coming in.
Nice scoop JS, dunno where you got the info from but its intriguing. I got the impression Ramsey was a more attack-minded player, although I was surprised to see on arsenal.com he was described as able to play in defence. Can’t say I’m too thrilled by your assertion that Gilberto will be our first choice DMF next season though
Bertie it is a chatroom… sort of
JS
Nice blog but I hope and guess you’re wrong about Gilberto.
As our style of play changed dramaticly last season with a more energetic player like Flamini.
I’d prefer Diaby given a chance. I’m sure he can learn to get less fwd.
I agree with you arsenist it’s just that Gilberto is 31 and I think he’s too defensive
Dont underestimate Gilberto.He is still one of the best defensive players in the world and would walk into any Spanish or Italian side.
I just saw Brazil Argentina and he was brilliant. If he doesnt have the pace/stamina for the midfield i would be happy to see him at centre back when space is available. Gilberto read Messi like a book on several occasions and was excellent on defensive corners.
Good new, according to his agent Gael Clichy is signing a contract extention today!
It’s on Sentanta’s website
Hey JS,
Was just wondering whether you have any info on whether we are interested in Arshavin? Anything on that front?
Clichy will never leave the club, he is probably the most loyal of all the players.
It’s kind of hard to see what Wilson means with those 3 players that are good enough to play at the highest level. If he means that they are good enough this coming season then he probably means Gibbs, Randall and Lansbury. If he is talking about all players that are coming through then he might be talking about Lansbury, Wilshere and Afobe. Or maybe he is not talking about Arsenal-from-birth players but just academy players that might set their mark on the first team this season. If so, he might be meaning Barazite, Lansbury and Nordveit. Randall does not make the England U-19 team, he is the same age as Walcott who is on the fringes of the England’s first team. I think that says all you need to know about Randall’s chances here.
Clichy just signed a new contract
http://www.arsenal.com/article.asp?thisNav=News&article=493041&lid=NewsHeadline&Title=Clichy+signs+new+long-term+contract+with+Arsenal
Diaby is a Defensive Midfielder not attacking ( I tink u got it wrong)
Pumpd said this on June 20, 2008 at 2:33 pm
What games have you been watching? Diaby may look like Vieira, but Diaby is too lazy to defend.
J your the best.. top site.. I love nothing more than reading recycled/translated interviews/articles.. Love you J xoxox.. Fucking arse crawlers make me sick.
I think Song will play in flaminis position in pre-season with a chance to prove himself. I personally believe he will be our next flamini
I wouldn’t exactly call Vieira a defensive midfielder either. He played his best games when he had someone like Petit playing in the middle. Diaby is very similar to him. More likely to have Song as the Flamini replacement…
if im correct wen diaby first gained international recognition as an arsenal player he was seen and regarded as the new patrick viera honestly i dont think arsenal culd’ve become the impossibles without big man viera in the middle of the park. diaby culd revive viera as he’s a really though guy plus he holds on 2 da ball well, can shoot pretty gud as we saw against liverpool nd delivers killer passes as we saw in da carling cup. I kno he’s rough nd gets red cards but so did viera nd alot of dmf’s in da world. i believe he culd be our guy 4 dat position rilli soon enof.
you let yourself down with suggesting that Gilberton will play alongside Cesc next season (he wont) and that Toure is any sort of option in the middle (he’s not).
Gilberto will get some matches but he’s not longer a starter in the Arsenal 11. I expect Diaby play alongside Cesc with Denilson running him close.
I personally feel Gilberto will continue to play alongside Cesc for next season, before Ramsey eventually is at a level to take over. Possibly this is a reason why Wenger back tracked on signing a new defender, as Kolo Toure would have been the long term option in midfield, but now Aaron can take up the role in the future.
Come on the Reds
I bet J regrets putting that bit in about Gilberto. He clearly wont play Gilberto alongside Cesc. It would be a step back 2 years. He’ll be looking to bring someone on… My guess Denilson. He seems to like Song @ the back & Diaby will never be a holding midfielder. In fact what will be ever be. I believe Diaby has the potential to be a Arsenal great, but i cant see him playing in one constant position.
what are you all talking about, did bob wilson really say this (i think the article is made up!)
Aaron Ramsey is an attacking player, did non of you see the FA cup final?
he is definately not going to play a holding role. i think the holding role will go to an existing player, Diaby or Song will get their chance, just as flamini did last year. Our main issue is getting a goal scoring dribbling left winger like bobby p or overmars or cristiano r (if hleb was a goal scorer i believe we would have won the league1)
Looking foward in seeing both Rambo and Vela at some point this
year, good luck to them both and kick some arse boys.!!
This is me first time on this site and its looking good man!
Wilson, you senile old cunt
Ive been an arsenal fan for over 10 years now and im fed up of being a barcelona’s feeder team…we sold them petit and overmars then henry( he should have been sold but he was sold for only 16m now come on.. daren bent cost more than this) AND NOW WE ARE SELLING ADE and HLEB….i think nasri would be great but our squad need more players then just nasri to win the premier league let alone the champions league and thats even with Ade and hleb staying…we need a player to replace flamini, a good center back or at least better than senderoes( wenger just loves great center backs like stephenov, cygan and now senderoes lol) and finally nasri……….we have so many useless players eboue,senderoes,hoyte,song we wont ever win anything with those players
DIABY is an ATTACKING midfilder. His strength is running forward at pace and dribbling.
His weakness is his tackling.
Diaby’s weakness is also his dribbling andHe’s always losing the ball