Quote Originally Posted by Kano View Post
The reason Ramsey plays there is because of his defensive work and coming into the middle of pitch to act as another man and keep the passes going. Wenger has settled on Santi/Coq in the middle and Ramsey is going to stay where he is I think.

Also, interesting to read that the players had a separate meeting to gee themselves up for this game, making it a game 'for the manager'. Souness said after the game that was a weakness and I tend to agree - it should be the manager getting the team prepared mentally and physically for the game, not just a reaction by the players on behalf of the manager. Theo was saying 'we need to do more of this' but I'm not sure if that is possible if the key motivator is all wrong.
I’m not surprised by the players having to gee themselves up. Invincible members will often say Sol Campbell really rallied them by constantly huddling the team and saying ‘together’. Wenger just seems too impassive at times. Stories circulated that he lost it with them in training and that must have had an effect. But we’ve heard stories like this before. I think it was a Liverpool game we were losing at half time and he just laid into them and they came out a totally different team. He doesn’t like doing things that way but that’s what’s held him back from being a true great. I think he trusts his players to mentally prepare themselves too often and then just sends them into battle.