Can duo both survive and thrive at Arsenal?

Earlier in the season, Arsene Wenger trialled a 4-1-4-1 formation for his Arsenal team. The Gunners struggled to create many chances during the 2013-14 season and were largely kept afloat at the top of the table by the finishing of Aaron Ramsey. Once Ramsey, Özil and Walcott were injured and Giroud lost form, their form capsized. They were too reliant on individuals and not creative enough. Wenger’s solution was to try and shoehorn Jack Wilshere into central midfield with Aaron Ramsey, with Özil starting from the left. It’s fair to say, results were mixed.

Ramsey slightly forgot himself and was overly eager to match last season’s scoring total, shooting almost on sight. Wilshere and Ramsey did have good games during this period, but rarely simultaneously. It was a sort of whack a mole situation, a good game for one meant a subdued game for the other. The pairing did show promise back in May 2011 when Jack and Rambo co-opted the number 10 role in the 1-0 win over Manchester United at the Emirates. But it has not shown the same level of promise since.

That said, I don’t think it’s failed for long enough to write off the prospect of it ever working. It is true that both players like to take up the same positions and can get in one another’s way. But they also have very different attributes which could potentially combine. Simply, Wilshere is a ball carrier, Ramsey is a runner. With time, they could work out a partnership based on their respective qualities. Ramsey has disciplined his game again since Wilshere injured his ankle back on November and I think he could certainly be more circumspect about when to go forward and allow Jack to sit, when to stay back and when to join Wilshere in attack.

With a midfielder such as Coquelin behind them, it’s easier to imagine the two working out a partnership. Whilst Santi Cazorla is in terrific form, he is 30 years old now and it sounds like he is considering winding down his career in Spain in a year or two. It’s easy to see Wilshere becoming the heir apparent to his ball carrying, number 8 throne. Mesut Özil’s presence does represent something an obstacle. He will always be first choice for a central role, so unless Arsenal tweak their system significantly, it does feel like it will always be a shootout between Ramsey and Wilshere for the ‘pivote’ role in central midfield.

Neither player has a particularly promising injury history to this point, so it’s not impossible to imagine both surviving at Arsenal for a few years yet. Nowadays, the concept of the first choice starting XI is increasingly nebulous at the top clubs and Arsenal are no different in that respect. However, both players could grow out of their current physical issues and one suspects neither would be happy to be rotated as a matter of course. Ramsey and Wilshere is a partnership that has borne fruit yet, it could given time, but whether it will get that time to flourish, given other options available, remains questionable.