If what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, nobody can deny that Aaron Ramsey has grown enough to become Arsenal captain one day.
In an interview with ESPN FC, he appears to be thinking along those lines himself after being handed the captaincy in a pre-season clash with Boreham Wood.
“I’ve made a load of appearances now, I definitely feel one of the leaders, but I feel this group of players all have their own leadership skills. It was nice to be given the armband, even though it was just a preseason friendly, but it’s something I would like to do one day, to be captain.”
The Welsh midfielder became captain of his country at the age of just 20, awarded the armband by the late Gary Speed. He referred to this, saying: “It would be nice to do that [for Arsenal] one day.”
Chris Coleman was to pass the armband to Ashley Williams in 2012, during a period where the Welsh national team were struggling after Speed’s untimely death: “It felt like he didn’t want to put any more pressure on me, and he wanted to give it to Ashley Williams.
“That was his decision, I respect it and I certainly don’t hold that against him now, because there’s no point.” He added that he hopes to get the captaincy back for his country, too.
In a wide-range interview, he also touched upon his long-range strikes for Arsenal and how his shooting has improved: “I’ve always been able to get in the box, but in the past I’d been very rash in my finishing” – and how injuries have disrupted his career long after the notorious Ryan Shawcross tackle in 2010, saying that “it’s quite difficult to get your rhythm and get your consistency” during injury-hit seasons like 2013/14 and 2014/15 were for him.
He also expressed a desire to play in central midfield, after playing much of last season on the wing.
“I much prefer playing in the centre of the park, that’s where I feel comfortable. I like to be involved as much as I can in the game, and in the middle you’re definitely the heartbeat of the team.
“When you’re on the right, you can go minutes without seeing the ball, and that’s a long time when you’re out on the pitch.”
Between that and his captaincy ambitions, it’s clear that Ramsey wants to be in the middle of things.
