Aston Villa look set to welcome back Jacob Ramsey from injury this week, and it will come as a vital boost to Unai Emery to have him back.
We’ve been without the 23-year-old since he suffered a hamstring injury on November 9 in our defeat at Anfield against Liverpool, with this being the latest in a string of injury setbacks that he has suffered over the past 18 months or so.
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That in turn has unsurprisingly impacted his ability to be a consistent and decisive figure for Emery, but it hasn’t made him any less important to how we want to play, when he is indeed fit enough to feature.
As we’ve seen in his absence, it has created a problem for the Villa boss in maintaining our balance and structure, particularly given Ramsey’s natural ability to play on the left of our attacking trident behind the frontman.
Emery has tried various options in that role, but they don’t quite suit it the way that Ramsey does, and equally, the likes of Morgan Rogers and John McGinn have proven to be more effective and impactful in their own more natural roles through the middle or on the right side respectively.
From a defensive perspective, Ramsey’s work-rate is pivotal to how we defend and keep our structure and shape, as he’s more than willing and capable of tracking back and providing support down our left side when required.
As part of the attacking unit though, he’s not only critical with his ability to drive forward at pace with possession, but he has great tactical and positional awareness to find pockets of space in dangerous areas and either keep our attacks flowing with a sense of rhythm and fluidity, or he can find holes in a defence that lead to goals being scored.
We’ve seen it countless times where he drifts into that half-space between the No.10 role and winger, and it allows him to not only be a crucial link in our build-up play, but it disrupts the opposition’s shape and drags players out of position for others to exploit.
Given the length of his spell on the sidelines, Ramsey is likely to only be fit enough for the bench on Monday night, but the fact that he is nearing a return to action having been a consistent presence in group training over the past week is a huge boost for Villa.
Moving forward, it’s hoped that he can stay healthy, gradually establish himself in the Villa XI again, and alongside Rogers, be a menace for opposition defences again as we add a crucial dynamic back into our line-up.
Having been so impactful when Emery first arrived, Ramsey has something to prove between now and the end of the season, both in terms of his fitness and form. With Villa continuing to be wary of our PSR position, the financial temptation that comes with selling one of our own Academy products will naturally become an easy source of speculation again in the summer, but it’s hoped that he can dismiss that by re-establishing himself as an influential piece in making Emery’s side tick.
