Took some time away from Arsenal affairs for proportion sake, returning to this debate looks so funny. At this time I can't see how anyone can dispute the following:
Wenger's gamble not signing a serious back up for Coq has to be one of his worst failures ever. A major reason for being here, and not, say, 10 pts for the better.
The Cazorla - Ramsey debate looks like a joke in retrospect. Santi wasn't great this year, but I see his injury as an even bigger factor for us F'ing it up than the Coq injury. Obviously it's not just the injury itself: in both cases it's about the drop in quality/contribution to team quality. While it was predictable with Flamini, it's at least as harmful with Ramsey.
Whatever it is that caused this failure from Ramsey to fill the spot, some aspects were highlighted: serious questions concerning the passing game, which the occasional great pass and the unwavering desire to move it forward cannot mask. The ability to take the ball deep and get us going, without losing possession or getting pressed back. And the famous defensive supremacy over Cazorla - it turns out neither is great in that department.
The truth is, though Santi's not a WC player as Alexis and Oz, we probably needed him just as much. With him we somehow had a top spine made by the 3, and augmented by others enjoying the opportunity to play to their strengths (G-roo, FBs, some others). With the current Central unit we just look so labored about everything we do, I just don't see us as a top team at all.
I'd love to learn that this was the negative of Rambo's famous purple patch, and that he could still command that center as I too believed will be the case. But at this point I have rather modest expectations from him, and hardly any from the team. Where we are right now is not a fluke. It's about right.
I'm not expecting any Cazorla miracle either. He's done for this year, and perhaps for us. Shame. But as surprising as it would sound, we actually lost the title* for our mid unit, not the rest.
(*or have we?)
