Wenger tips midfielder to bounce back

Arsene supports struggling Ramsey

By Zain Alvi | 8th May 2012

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger believes that the strong criticism unleashed at youngster Aaron Ramsey in recent weeks will only make the midfielder emerge as a stronger player.

Wenger, who signed Ramsey from Cardiff City in 2008, has helped the Welshman gradually developed into one of the regulars in the Gunners side but despite the player’s tremendous promise, certain sections of the club’s supporters have lost patience with the 21-year old.

Towards the end of last season, Ramsey famously scored the decisive goal in a 1-0 home win over Manchester United and showed signs that he would ultimately be a worthy replacement for outgoing former captain Cesc Fabregas.

Unfortunately, injuries and an expedited transfer of major midfield responsibilities have prevented him from performing optimally and some Arsenal fans have aggressively called for Wenger to drop the youngster.

The criticism of Ramsey reached its peak following the Gunners’ frustrating 3-3 draw at home to Norwich on Saturday afternoon but Wenger urged supporters to remain patient.

“It is part of learning your job, you have to deal with all kinds of situations and he will do that. He is very strong mentally and is going through a difficult period at the moment. But he will come off that stronger,” Wenger asserted immediately after the full-time whistle against the Canaries.

When it came to assessing his team’s collective efforts, though, Wenger was left in no position to preach much patience.

“It is more than frustrating because we were very poor in the first half, not switched on. The quality of our first half was absolutely not at the level we wanted in a decisive game like that,” the Frenchman rued.

He continued: “We have to analzse the reasons why we were not sharp enough in the first half. There is no obvious reason because we prepared normally as we always do, but maybe subconsciously [we thought] we would win it. Norwich played well, you have to give them credit.

“In the second half, we did very well. We created at least 10 chances but again not only did we not take our chances, but on top of that we gave them a third goal in a situation that was absolutely unbelievable. In the end, we got punished for our mistakes,” the manager concluded.