Out of Order

I'm infuriated by Arsene Wenger's comments regarding Aaron Ramsey. In the first half of last season, Ramsey was on poor form, mainly due to playing out wide. And who was the one deciding to play him out wide and out of position? Oh yeah, Arsene Wenger.

It's not like he was short of options. He consistently left Theo Walcott on the bench due to him not having signed a new contract yet (although he at the time said that wasn't the reason... so what was then? If it wasn't the reason, all the more reason to play Walcott ahead of Ramsey on the wing). This is as well ignoring his refusal to spend more available money in last summer's transfer window to improve the squad so things like this didn't happen.

So Ramsey continued to play poorly out wide, understandably. He gave the ball away frequently and didn't really make any significant contribution in that position. So naturally, frustrated fans were groaning quite a lot when he gave the ball away. Yes, groaning. Not booing him or signing derogatory songs about Ramsey, like with any other player or like how any other set of fans would react to poor performances from players, the fans were naturally frustrated and groaned, especially in games we were losing.

That's not "getting on Ramsey's back", that's being naturally and understandably frustrated with inept performances and actions on the pitch. The person really at fault for Ramsey's poor form was the man blaming the fans for it, Arsene Wenger. He played him out wide when he had other options (Walcott, Cazorla) at the time. It was terrible judgement to play him there, and especially to play him there so often, and he has the cheek to blame the paying fans (who are largely responsible for him getting the ridiculous wage of £7 million a year) for Ramsey's poor form and low confidence.

It's staggering and yet some moronic fans are actually defending him for these comments. He's not right at all, but even if he was right, he shouldn't be criticizing loyal, paying supporters who happened to be paying the most expensive ticket prices in the country to see such drivel. Fans being naturally frustrated at poor performances are not out of order, the man getting paid £7m a year to make these decisions is the one to blame. Him playing Ramsey out of position was the reason for Ramsey's slump in form and confidence, not the fans, who were basically innocent bystanders to this terrible management.


(Image source: http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/attachments/football-manager-2012-stories/221690d1328542163-gunning-glory-my-arsenal-story-birmingham-vs-arsenal-aaron-ramsey.png)