Player Focus: Coquelin’s Injury Presents Ramsey Central Role he Craves

Social media erupted with sniggers from those who criticised Arsene Wenger’s decision to make Petr Cech their only signing of the summer when it was confirmed Francis Coquelin would miss the next two months through injury on Monday.

The French midfielder’s bizarre route into the first-team was perhaps more by luck than design, but he has nevertheless developed into a vital cog in Wenger’s team. The partnership he has forged with Santi Cazorla is something they will miss most until the turn of the year.

Options for Wenger are already thin on the ground and Arsenal fans are already beginning to speculate whether this will prove the catalyst to their demise this season.

Mikel Arteta was Coquelin’s replacement against West Brom on Saturday, but their club captain lasted only a further 30 minutes before he himself was forced off through injury. With Jack Wilshere and Tomas Rosicky already crocked, Wenger was forced to promote Mathieu Flamini and Calum Chambers as the heir to Coquelin’s throne in the build up to their crunch Champions League match up with Dinamo Zagreb on Tuesday night.

Arsenal’s fixture list could have been more strenuous, but they will have to navigate the hectic festive period that will bring plenty matches in quick succession, with the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool - and possibly Chelsea - to come before Coquelin is due back.

Flamini and Chambers are viable options and should enable Wenger’s side to overcome the league's so-called lesser teams, but it’s still up for debate whether they will supply the sufficient quality to help maintain Arsenal’s title pursuit.

Wenger’s side started the New Year 13 points adrift of Chelsea last season and while no team took more points than the Gunners during the second half of the campaign (42), the gap proved too great for Arsenal to chase down. The danger is that if Manchester City can sort themselves out, the same could happen again.

While no player will be happy to see the back of another, let alone a teammate, Coquelin’s injury should come as good news for Aaron Ramsey, who has been desperate to move back to his preferred central midfield position.

Pictures of Ramsey stepping out to training at London Colney earlier than expected were buried by the news of Coquelin’s injury on Monday and while this week could prove to be a sour one for Arsenal fans if they fail to overcome Dinamo Zagreb, there should still be room for optimism with Ramsey able to return to a familiar central role.

It wasn’t too long ago that the Welshman was heralded as Arsenal’s indispensable star and thought to be an integral part of their quest to land their first league title in over a decade. His performances were on such a level that they even courted "flattering" interest from European champions Barcelona.

However, Ramsey’s career hasn’t kicked on as many have expected since then. Part of that can be attributed to niggling injuries, but it has largely been stifled by Coquelin’s surprise emergence, which Ramsey has previously admitted has been hard to accept.

His WhoScored rating of 7.66 from his 28 appearances when occupying a position in front of the back four compared to just 7.15 from his 16 starts on the right wing over the past three seasons would suggest some of those frustrations are well placed.

Despite being stationed further back and burdened with extra defensive responsibilities, Ramsey’s output from deeper (18 - 11 goals and 7 assists) is significantly more telling compared to when he has been given greater license to attack out wide (7 - 4 goals and 3 assists).

This isn’t surprising given the nature of Ramsey’s style, which is better suited to finding pockets of space in and around the box and close intricate football in the middle rather than busting a lung to beat a defender with pace down the wings.

While Wenger has still given him the chance to drift inside and influence play from the middle, playing out wide has undoubtedly hampered his best attributes. For instance, with fewer touches (78.8 per game) and limited to playing fewer passes (58.6 per game) when playing out wide, Ramsey creates 1.1 chances per game, compared to 1.6 chances when deployed in the middle of the pitch.

However, rather than proceeding with Ramsey’s threat going forward, Wenger has instead opted for greater balance in Coquelin and Cazorla shielding the back four.

Although this isn’t to discount Ramsey’s defensive ability, where his average of 4.6 tackles and interceptions per game. This ranks higher than the Premier League's natural ball winners - James McCarthy (4.4) just one example - in that position over the last three campaigns, furthering his statistically calculated strength of ‘defensive contribution’.

There is no denying that Coquelin’s injury will come with its repercussions and Wenger could live to regret not further strengthening in the off-season. In fact, since the start of last season, Arsenal’s win ratio drops from 67.7% with Coquelin in the starting XI to just less than half (45%) without him, but perhaps the consequences won’t be as severe as Arsenal fans fear with Ramsey able to return to the central berth he has been longing for.

On the verge of a first team return at Arsenal, should Wenger start Ramsey in midfield rather than on the right? Let us know in the comments below