He has been the butt of some withering tweets from Piers Morgan in his time as an Arsenal player, but the social media onslaught has surely been silenced at last.
If Aaron Ramsey has had nothing but backing from his manager Arsene Wenger, he’ s had nothing but barracking from celebrity Gooner and prolific tweeter Morgan.
It has been relentless from the TV pundit during Wales midfielder Ramsey’s admittedly-lengthy settling-in period at The Emirates, after his £4.8million move from Cardiff in June, 2008, and here are some of his most caustic offerings.
Morgan blasted: ‘How on earth did ramsey just get given a new five-year contract? Unbelievable.’ How on earth, indeed, Piers? Still scratching your head? Thought not.
Wenger’s judgement has been called into question by more sage critics than Morgan in recent times, but he has generally managed to ride the storm and come up smiling.
In the goals: Aaron Ramsey celebrates scoring for Arsenal against Stoke in the Premier League
He could be forgiven an outright belly laugh when he looks back at the twitter tirade from Morgan and considers how Ramsey has responded. We are only three months into the season, but the 22-year old already looks like establishing himself as that most priceless of commodities, the midfielder with a guarantee of goals.
From Bryan Robson back in the 80s, to David Platt a decade later, and more recently Frank Lampard, they are worth their weight in gold, and Ramsey’s scoring ratio so far this campaign suggests he will go on to join their company.
It is a remarkable transformation from bit-part hopeful to headline act, and Wednesday night’s winner against Borussia Dortmund at fortress Westfalenstadion threw up a stat that best sums up just how far he has come. It meant that in 17 appearances this season, he has scored 11 goals, exactly the tally he had mustered from 150 outings in all his previous Arsenal seasons put together.
His 62nd-minute breakthrough was Arsenal’s first attempt at goal, and when their only other on-target effort materialised three minutes later, it was Ramsey again, with a shot the keeper saved with his legs.
Arsenal’s player of the month for a fourth successive time has now scored five times in his last six away games and has drawn level with Gareth Bale on five Champions’ League goals. The only Welsh player with more is Ryan Giggs, with 28. Yep, your team really drew the short straw there, Piers boyo, didn’t they?
It is a remarkable run of form, and the encouraging aspect for those wondering how long it can continue is the variety Ramsey seems to have in his repertoire.
He settled the top-of-the-table clash against Liverpool with an unstoppable top-corner drive, hit unerringly and unhesitatingly from the edge of the area, while an earlier Emirates goal owed more to tight control and a shift of direction, as he went on a Ricky Villa-like slalom run inside the box.
The close-range finish that stunned a full house in Dortmund was less spectacular but could, in its own way, be construed an even more ringing endorsement of his goal scoring threat.
The way he thrust his head in front of a covering defender, oblivious to the threat of a flailing boot or fist on the six-yard line, showed not only courage but a natural instinct for being in the right place at the right time.
It suggested there will be more to come, as he continues developing into the complete midfielder. A lot more, which may come as a surprise to at least one of his detractors but not to Wenger. Perhaps you should stick to interviewing celebrities, Piers, and let the Arsenal manager get on with what he does best.
Dailymail
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