On his return to the Aston Villa starting line-up against Everton, Jacob Ramsey provided a reminder of his importance in Unai Emery’s preferred set-up.
The 23-year-old has been plagued by injury issues over the past year or so, and that has unsurprisingly impacted his return in terms of goals and assists as he has struggled to put together a consistent run of games.
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Those woes have continued this season as he’s been limited to 20 appearances thus far, but it’s hoped having now recovered from his latest setback, that he’s now capable of staying healthy and getting his match fitness and sharpness back.
In his absence, others have flourished as we boast quality competition and depth in the squad, and in particular, Morgan Rogers has taken full advantage to establish himself as a key cog in Emery’s side.
However, whenever Ramsey is fit and available, he rarely wastes much time in reinforcing why he’s so important to the Villa boss, and he did so again in our win over Everton on Wednesday night.
Admittedly, he missed some big chances either side of half-time, and he’d certainly want them back as he has to do better in those situations in front of goal to be more decisive.
That said, those chances were also examples of Ramsey’s ability to occupy dangerous areas and pockets of space, and as he gets fitter and sharper, he’ll hopefully start to convert those opportunities more consistently.
Beyond his goal threat though, it’s the balance that he adds to the team playing on the left side, as he’s capable of drifting inside and adding fluidity and rhythm to our play in central areas by being a link in our counter-attacks or when we speed up our tempo in the final third, or he can push wide and stretch the pitch for others to exploit space elsewhere.
That opens up those all-important passing lanes through the middle that we use so effectively to cut through teams, and Ramsey’s presence and positional awareness is key in making that more impactful.
Add his work ethic and energy to the mix as he makes an important contribution defensively too, it just reiterates how integral he can be for Villa if he is able to get some momentum. Against Everton, he had 39 touches with a 75 percent passing completion rate and two big misses, while making six tackles and winning 13 of his 15 duels.
With the signing on Donyell Malen, Villa have added more quality in the final third to compete with the likes of Ramsey, Rogers and Leon Bailey, and so it will be interesting to see how that pecking order shakes out as the weeks and months go on.
It’s hoped though that Ramsey is at Emery’s disposal throughout the second half of the campaign, as when he’s operating on the left side for us he can make such an impact, direct or otherwise, on how we perform, and once he’s able to tick those important boxes, his next challenge will be to deliver consistently in the final third to make his contribution even more decisive.
