Gunners manager played a fatigued Ramsey against West Ham.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has admitted that he may be responsible for Aaron Ramsey’s injury woes this season after playing the midfielder when he was ‘tired’ against West Ham.
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The Welshman suffered a thigh injury in the 3-1 win at Upton Park on Boxing Day and has not played since, despite twice being declared close to a comeback.
Prior to his injury, the 23-year-old had been the form player in the Premier League, bagging eight goals and six assists in his first 18 league matches.
The Wales international’s performances over the first-half of the season had advertised him as a potential player of the year and Arsenal as potential title-winners but those hopes have faded, with the Gunners now fighting a familiar battle for fourth spot.
Ahead of Ramsey’s return to the squad for tomorrow’s crunch clash at Everton, Wenger has admitted that he may be in part responsible for the Welshman’s fitness woes.
“When Ramsey got his injury we saw he was tired at West Ham, so maybe sometimes when the player is very important as well, you are tempted to play him even when he is tired,” the Frenchman confessed.
Wenger insisted, however, that there is more to come from the player and compared him to Chelsea’s Frank Lampard, who scored his 171st Premier League goal against Stoke on Saturday.
“The number of goals Ramsey has scored is tremendous for a midfielder,” Wenger said. “He turns up in the box. He is a bit Lampard-ish. There is a lot more to come from him.”
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