
So every morning before heading to work, I go through news websites to check on Arsenal updates as I sip my tea. It’s become an important part of my day and without the comfort of this routine, I know I’d be having an incomplete day.
Every now and then, one piece of news screams out making me shake my head either with disappointment, or nod in happy glee. A few days ago, was one such day… unfortunately the head shaking was in sad disappointment.
Abou Diaby is out for nine months. Yep, the next Patrick Vieira… the man who was going to shore up our defense from midfield better then a sold Song, the man who would allow Arteta the luxury of NOT being the sole starting DM… you get the picture….

Oh yes, the man who feels like a new signing every time he gets fit again, and one more if I may, the man because of whom we chose NOT to buy Diame or any other DM (I’m assuming here, maybe the right deal couldn’t be struck)…
But basically, the man who looked like a million dollars in the first few games of the season and ever since then has been a “what if” is now out again for another 9 months.
I shook my head in utter disbelief… how unfortunate is Diaby. And please, don’t get me wrong… I hope he gets fit again and I hope he resumes his career. It’s never easy for an athlete to lose out because of injuries, and the cruciate ligament injury is a really tough one. And for the record, I would also like to say that I had hopes for Diaby. I thought he might stay fit this time… and he might become the player that he has shown that he can be in patches.
I genuinely believe that a fit Diaby, at his best, really adds value to the team. This very interesting article (http://news.arseblog.com/2013/03/diaby-at-swansea-by-the-numbers/) at Arseblog News is sort of testament to that fact. But now it’s gotten late for Arsene and Arsenal to keep waiting for a hopefully fit again Diaby.
It got me thinking that now we are in a bit of a fix… who now to support or back up Arteta?
My answer is Aaron Ramsey.

Now Rambo has been having a bit of an up and down season. He has been the cause of many a fan’s frustration time and time again, but I’ve always felt that the primary issue has been the fact that he gets played on the right. I distinctly remember when he first came on the scene, he would play CM almost always, and for a large part of last season he looked like a solid box to box midfielder with the capacity to play some lovely balls forward. Unfortunately he ran out of form somewhat but still ended the season with 8 assists (Song got 11 and Walcott got 9, as per Wikipedia).
I’ve generally always felt Ramsey best slot is the DM role in conjunction with Arteta or Wilshere, and so I’ve often been surprised that he ends up playing the utility role. Therefore, I decided to compare a few stats and see if indeed Ramsey is good at the defensive role or not.
First, let’s look at Diaby and Arteta in the first three games of the season, where we drew with Sunderland and Stoke, and beat Liverpool away, all the while keeping clean sheets (seems like a lifetime ago!). I think it’s fair to say those three were solid defensive displays that we’d love to see on a consistent basis.
Aug-12
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Diaby vs. Liverpool (away)
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Diaby vs. Sunderland (home)
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Diaby vs. Stoke (away)
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|
Total Passes
|
64
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Total Passes
|
67
|
Total Passes
|
65
|
|
Completion %
|
91%
|
Completion %
|
88%
|
Completion %
|
72%
|
|
Defensive Passes
|
47
|
Defensive Passes
|
48
|
Defensive Passes
|
45
|
|
Completion
|
83%
|
Completion
|
88%
|
Completion
|
71%
|
|
All duels won
|
10/13
|
All duels won
|
7/15
|
All duels won
|
13/30
|
|
All tackles won
|
2/4
|
All tackles won
|
1/1
|
All tackles won
|
3/5
|
|
Clearances
|
0/0
|
Clearances
|
0/0
|
Clearances
|
2/4
|
|
Head clearances
|
0/0
|
Head clearances
|
0/0
|
Head clearances
|
2/4
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Aug-12
|
Arteta vs. Liverpool (away)
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Arteta vs. Sunderland (home)
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Arteta vs. Stoke (away)
|
|
Total Passes
|
92
|
Total Passes
|
119
|
Total Passes
|
77
|
|
Completion %
|
95%
|
Completion %
|
96%
|
Completion %
|
87%
|
|
Defensive Passes
|
49
|
Defensive Passes
|
75
|
Defensive Passes
|
48
|
|
Completion
|
92%
|
Completion
|
93%
|
Completion
|
85%
|
|
All duels won
|
6/13
|
All duels won
|
6/12
|
All duels won
|
10/14
|
|
All tackles won
|
3/3
|
All tackles won
|
2/4
|
All tackles won
|
4/6
|
|
Clearances
|
1/1
|
Clearances
|
0/0
|
Clearances
|
0/0
|
|
Head clearances
|
1/1
|
Head clearances
|
0/0
|
Head clearances
|
0/0
|
Interesting stats! Diaby, as is evident, is good at getting into the thick of it. He does well when it comes to tackles, and is decent in terms of winning duels.
Versus Stoke, he got into 30 duels, winning 13, which is not shabby at all. However, he lags behind in terms of total passes and the pass completion.
Arteta on the other hand does brilliantly well in terms of total passes and pass completion %, and does fairly well in terms of tackling and overall duels.
Interesting to see also, that he got into 14 duels winning 10 against Stoke.
Now let’s look at Ramsey in the two games I remember him starting as a DM, vs. WHU and vs. Brighton away. Both the games took place in January 2013.
Jan-13
|
Ramsey vs. WHU
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Ramsey vs. Brighton
|
|
Total Passes
|
123
|
|
Total Passes
|
89
|
|
Completion %
|
95%
|
|
Completion %
|
93%
|
|
Defensive Passes
|
75
|
|
Defensive Passes
|
49
|
|
Completion
|
93%
|
|
Completion
|
92%
|
|
All duels won
|
6/9
|
|
All duels won
|
8/16
|
|
All tackles won
|
3/3
|
|
All tackles won
|
5/6
|
|
Clearances
|
1/1
|
|
Clearances
|
1/2
|
|
Head clearances
|
1/1
|
|
Head clearances
|
0/0
|
WHU was a comfortable win, while Brighton away was a tight win for us. Interestingly, Ramsey out-does Diaby in terms of total passes and pass completion %, which to me is not surprising.
What, however, is interesting is that he does very well in terms of duels won and tackles won. In the tough away Brighton game, he wins 5/6 tackles.
It should also be noted that in both these games Arteta was not playing, so the burden of defensive duties was more on Ramsey than on his partner (Rosicky, Santi and Jack on separate occasions).
So my point essentially is that Diaby’s injury may actually be a chance for us to get Ramsey playing in a position in which I think he can do a good job for us, and also get his confidence up. Ideally, I’d love to see Ramsey and Arteta playing together with Jack/Santi up ahead.
I feel Rambo can be massive for us if used properly, and now is the chance to do exactly that.

Would love to know what you guys think on this!
Written by: Umair Naeem
A couple of side notes:
1 – I have used games that I felt illustrated the defensive prowess of the three players best, and for Ramsey the two games analyzed can serve to highlight the defensive potential that he has.
2 – By no means do I intend to opine that we don’t need to buy a DM now. Rambo can be an option till the summer, but we need to get a solid DM as a starter or a back up once the transfer window opens.
3 – Source for the data is a nifty iPhone app called EPL Live.