News

Arteta - Ramsey can feel the love now

Aaron Ramsey
Aaron Ramsey

Mikel Arteta believes that “feeling the love” of the Arsenal fans is an essential ingredient in Aaron Ramsey’s remarkable development.

The Wales international scored his second goal of the new season as the Gunners snatched a late victory against Crystal Palace on Saturday.

It comes on the back of a stunning breakthrough campaign in 2013/14 when he scored 16 goals in all competitions, and Arteta says he has the potential to get even better.

“Aaron is on fire,” the captain said. “When you have a player like that coming from midfield to score that many goals, it gives you something extra.

“We don’t really have a 30 or 40-goal player at the moment so to have players who can score from the middle of the park is very important.

“He reminds me a little bit of Fabregas when he was here. At his best, he was coming off the front, making the final ball and scoring very important goals.

“I think his confidence is really high at the moment, physically he can do whatever he wants and technically he is in a very good state so he is one of the most important players in the team.

“I think he will get better with experience, with knowledge and confidence. People have a fear now with him because they know he can create things and that gives you an extra yard, which is very important.

“He has shown in the past two seasons how much he is able to improve so I think he can do even more.”

Ramsey came through a difficult period earlier in the career, and Arteta believes there are two factors behind his transformation.

“First of all, he showed great character because I remember the days when he used to come here and some people used to be against him,” he said. “To get through that and feel the love that he feels now is very important.

“The manager has also backed him big time. If you have someone like that then you need to give something back and that’s what Aaron is doing.”