The Technical Area – Assessing Ramsey’s Villa Performance

A change of tactics from Arsene Wenger helped Arsenal sweep aside Villa last weekend and recover from a midweek humbling at Dortmund. The Gunners boss benched Alexis Sanchez and switched from his new 4-1-4-1 formation to last year’s 4-2-3-1 system, which crucially allowed Mesut Ozil to move to the role in “the hole” behind Danny Welbeck.

Both players silenced the critics by chipping in with a goal and assist in the 3-0 victory and Ozil, who had previously been fielded on the Arsenal left, felt the switch was fundamental to his side’s success.

“We played a bit differently, in our more usual system. I think that we were a bit better, a bit more organised and in the end that led to our success.”

From a Fantasy perspective, though, one of the main points from the weekend encounter was Aaron Ramsey’s shift to the double-pivot. As the average position map from the match shows, Ramsey (number 16) was tasked with adding a little more solidity alongside Mikel Arteta (number 8) as Wenger looked to tighten up in the middle after being completely overrun by Dortmund last midweek. Ozil (number 11) and Welbeck (number 23) moved left to create space and receive the ball whenever Santi Cazorla (number 19) drifted in from the flank, whilst Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (number 15) also played fairly centrally from his starting position on the right, with the Gunners’ full-backs, Calum Chambers (number 21) and Kieran Gibbs (number 3) supplying the width from deep.

Already, over 51,000 Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers have parted company with the Welshman this week. One glance at his statistics over 78 minutes on the field, when compared to his Gameweek 1-4 averages, certainly indicates a lack of impact. In the final third of the pitch, Ramsey’s touches slumped from 41.8 to 25, as did his passes received (29.5 to 18) and successful passes (24 to 11). Ramsey’s touches in the box also dropped from a previous average of four down to two and, having now failed to score in each of his last three, the exodus is picking up pace.

When assessing Ramsey’s performance, though, it’s crucial to look at the overall picture both from a team and match perspective.

Arsenal chalked up a massive 72.5% possession at Villa Park last weekend – up on their Gameweek 1-4 average of 61.6% – though it’s somewhat telling that their team average for touches in the final third dropped significantly, down from a previous of 274.5 to 212 on Saturday.

Furthermore, their Gameweek 1-4 average for touches in the box also slipped from 28.5 to 21 against Paul Lambert’s side, whilst the Gunners fired an effort every 10.3 minutes last weekend compared to a far quicker pace of 5.8 minutes per attempt beforehand.

Essentially, then, after scoring three times in six minutes during the first period, Wenger’s side were happy to keep ball and never really needed to extend themselves as an attacking force thereafter. With a 3-0 advantage after 36 minutes, the Villa Park encounter became an exercise in possession for the visitors – it seems more likely that they attacked less in comparison to previous matches because they simply didn’t need to. Saturday was the first time this term where Arsenal went in at the break with an advantage – and a substantial one at that – and it was therefore unnecessary to bomb forward in the final third to the same extent as in previous Gameweeks.

In terms of involvement, for example, Ramsey’s minutes per touch (0.8) remained exactly the same, whilst the upturn in possession meant his minutes per pass received actually quickened from 1.1 to 0.9 before he was withdrawn with 12 minutes remaining, suggesting he was far from a peripheral figure.

Indeed, given the drop in team stats, then, Ramsey’s attacking numbers, when compared to those of his team-mates, can be looked upon in a different light. His 25 touches in the final third mirrored Welbeck’s and was just one fewer than Ozil managed over 93 minutes. He also received the same number of passes in the final third as Ozil (18), and while he was somewhat sloppy in possession in the final third, with a 73.3% accuracy down from 80% beforehand, he still produced a couple of key passes – joint-top for the Gunners along with Welbeck and Ozil. The Welshman also managed two attempts on goal – again, the equal of Ozil and a tally bettered only by Welbeck.

Certainly, Ramsey’s stats are worth monitoring – a three-match goal drought, for example, looks the main concern here as opposed to Saturday’s showing. Delving into the weekend numbers, however, suggests that, relative to his team-mates, Ramsey still offered enough to suggest he’s far from off-form. Granted, the data is indicative of the Welshman – and his fellow Gunners – playing with the handbrake on but it’s fair to say that Wenger’s side won’t be able to coast through many matches in a similar manner this season and will, far more often than not, still be reliant on Ramsey’s well-timed runs from deep to make the difference.

*The Technical Area is put together using the statistics and maps available in our members area. For access to such data and tools on every player, team and match of the 2014/15 season, and for exclusive members articles like this, click here for details.