Arsenal’s Right Wing – Rambo v The Ox

One debate amongst Arsenal fans this season has been which player should start on the right wing. The injury to Ramsey in that emphatic victory against Bayern Munich brought Oxlade-Chamberlain into the starting line-up this weekend. Although most Arsenal fans would be happy to see Chamberlain get a start and have a chance, it has been clear that so far this season Ramsey is Wenger’s preferred choice. Given Chamberlain’s winning goal in the Community Shield and his naturally more exciting style of play many Arsenal fans were tipping this to be his season, but ten Premier League games in and it seems that he will be forced to play second fiddle.

I must admit, I was slightly perplexed why Ramsey was getting the nod over a more natural winger in the form of Oxlade-Chamberlain. The pace and power of Chamberlain, the image of him dribbling past defenders and running on to through balls (think Ljungberg early 2000s) was an exciting prospect. After four seasons at the club this was finally set to be his season. But the manager’s gone for Ramsey as first choice and looking at the stats it’s clearer to see Wenger’s thinking.

Both players have featured in every Premier League game they have been available for, but looking at their average minutes per game it is evident who first choice is. In the nine Premier League matches Ramsey has featured in he has played 796 minutes, an average of 88 minutes a game. In contrast, Chamberlain has featured in ten matches but only played 357 minutes, a significantly less 36 minutes a game on average. The radar graph below, based on Premier League stats per 90 minutes, shows why Chamberlain has been playing second fiddle:

From an attacking perspective there is little difference between the two players. Both average around three shots per 90 mins, although Ramsey has a considerably better accuracy at 50% versus Chamberlain’s 29%. However, despite this the only goal between the two of them in the league has been Ramsey’s against Watford. The Englishman comes out on top for chances created, creating 2.02 chances per 90 to Ramsey’s 1.58 per 90.

The big difference comes in their style of play, and this is evident from the two spikes in the graph. Chamberlain makes 7.3 dribbles per 90 mins, with a 67% success rate. To put it in comparison, that is better than Alexis Sanchez (61%), but short of Santi Cazorla’s feat (76%). Ramsey by comparison only attempts 1.8 dribbles per game, no surprise given his poor success rate of 44%. This isn’t necessarily a mark against Ramsey; it just shows the difference in his style of play. When you look at passing both have a similar accuracy rate (circa 85%), but Ramsey makes 63 passes per 90 mins, compared to Chamberlain’s 43. This puts Ramsey fourth highest for number of passes per match, in the current Arsenal squad. Given Wenger’s preference to hold possession and keep the ball moving you can start to understand why Ramsey is the preferred option.

The other significant stat from the graph above is the ‘Unsuccessful touches’ and ‘Dispossessed’ figures. Dispossessed is essentially how many times a player is getting tackled a game. Ramsey gets tackled around once more per 90 mins than Chamberlain. This can be excused given the opposing player is doing their job and you expect your attacking players to be tackled every now and then in the final third. What is less forgiving though is the number of unsuccessful touches. This is essentially mis-control of the ball, and Chamberlain finds himself doing it twice as often as Ramsey per 90 minutes (3.4 times v 1.7 times respectively). You can imagine that would not best please Arsene Wenger.

The other option that Ramsey provides is his more willingness to get involved defensively, a key attribute in the bigger games. Although Chamberlain has had the greater success with his tackles so far this season – 70% v Ramsey’s 48%, he is reluctant to make the tackles. He averages only 2.3 tackles per 90 mins, less than half Ramsey’s 5.0 tackles per 90. Both players achieve a similar number of interceptions, which is key to pressing our opponents, but Chamberlain has made the only defensive error out of the two earlier this season when he gave the ball away for West Ham’s second on the opening day of the season.

With Walcott playing the central role, we can expect to see Ramsey and Oxlade-Chamberlain battle it out for game time on the right wing. The recent injury to Ramsey is expected to see him out for three to four weeks (read as months Arsenal fans!), and gives Chamberlain the perfect opportunity to stake his claim. The expected return of Welbeck in the New Year could add yet more competition for the place but for now, it is clear to see why Wenger prefers Ramsey over Chamberlain – reliability, retention, results.

RK