The Gunners managed to eke out a hard fought victory against League Two side Preston North End in their FA Cup clash on Saturday.
Callum Robinson scored in the seventh minute to put Arsenal in the back seat in a game they were expected to boss. However, the Gunners fought back in the second half, with Welshman Aaron Ramsey and Frenchman Olivier Giroud bailing them out of trouble.
Despite his equalizing goal, Ramsey wasn’t looking particularly good in midfield. His performance could be deemed average as best, and many of the Arsenal faithful took to Twitter to slam the 26-year-old.
Ramsey getting played off the park by part time mechanics. I’ve seen it all.
— _ (@Classorla) January 7, 2017
Aaron Ramsey is just a skill-less showboater. #afc #arsenal #ramsey
— aser gado (@AserGado) January 7, 2017
Ramsey consistently hitting crosses that are going out for throws. Ever since that great season he’s been fucking horrendous. #FACup #Ramsey
— James Fisher (@jacf92) January 7, 2017
There’s being out of form [for 3 years] and then there’s having the technical ability of a black labrador. #Ramseypic.twitter.com/IoPGbNHdRB
— _ (@Classorla) January 7, 2017
When Aaron Ramsey scores a beautiful goal but you remember you were abusing him a few seconds ago. pic.twitter.com/6rbJbxMSS4
— Danny Welbeck (@WelBeast) January 7, 2017
One of the big concerns after the game was the viability of Ramsey and Granit Xhaka as a central midfield partnership. The pair seemed out of sync and looked weak at times, but they are likely to be regular partners in the near future.
Santi Cazorla and Francis Coquelin are both out injured, and with Mohamed Elneny out on international duty with Egypt at the African Cup of Nations (AFCoN), Arsenal are left with only Ramsey and Xhaka.
Gooners everywhere seemed apprehensive about the duo after their show against Preston.
Dahoud/Xhaka bossed Juventus in CL. Ramsey/Xhaka out of their depth vs Preston away. Draw your own conclusions…
— RG⁶ (@registability) January 7, 2017
This Ramsey and Xhaka is such an efficient double pivot. It could double pivot us out of the league and cup in a week.
— Violent Gabriel (@GabrielKillYou) January 7, 2017
Whatever way this ends Arsenal fans should be terrified of the prospect of continuing for the next month with a Ramsey Xhaka midfield.
— Hayley B (@Hayles_101) January 7, 2017
A midfield of Ramsey-Xhaka should be enough to dominate any side let alone a championship side. They couldn’t. One of them needs binning.
— #KroenkeOut (@iThinkin) January 8, 2017
#Arsenal Really need to improve performance
Pairing of Ramsey and xhaka is not at all working well— Ibrahim Banks ? (@TheShowOff85) January 8, 2017
That Xhaka-Ramsey axis was too open.
— Ifreke Inyang (@Ifreke) January 7, 2017
Ramsey did provide an excellent moment for banter though. The Welshman mouthed an explicit inquiry regarding the identity of one of his opponents, former Manchester United midfielder Ben Pearson.
The Premier League star may be excused for not knowing the name of a player from the English fourth tier. As one fan sarcastically put it, that’s what the magic of the FA Cup is all about.
loool was that Ramsey saying “who the fuck are you?” at Pearson?
— Benjamin (@ArsenalDNA) January 7, 2017
Need to see a clip of Ramsey saying ‘Who the fuck are you?’ to a Preston player. That’s the spirit!
— Colney Cactus (@ColneyCactus) January 7, 2017
Big fan of Ramsey telling that pubber “who the fuck are you”, this type of shithousery seperates the good from the elite
— George (@JorgeWright) January 7, 2017
Ramsey bantering off some peasant with a “who the fuck are you” is what the magic of the cup is all about tbh.
— S (@attwood10) January 7, 2017
