Wales manager Chris Coleman has risked the wrath of Arsene Wenger after effectively questioning whether Arsenal have been looking after Aaron Ramsey.
The injury-prone midfielder has missed several weeks of the season after suffering a knock on the opening day of the campaign, with Wenger rushing him back for the 4-3 defeat to Liverpool.
In hindsight, that was a very foolish move, and one which has negative consequences not only for the Gunners.
Coleman is rightfully feeling aggrieved after learning that Ramsey will not be fit for the World Cup qualifiers against Austria and Georgia in the upcoming international break.
“It’s disappointing that he’s not fit when we expected him to be fit,” he told the assembled media.
“He doesn’t belong to us, he’s Arsenal’s player and it’s their call, they pay his wages, and if that’s the decision they made it’s up to them.
“We don’t know exactly what he does every day at Arsenal.
“You always look at their history in training, his loading, the games he’s played and you ask could that injury have been prevented.”
Ramsey was one of the stars of Wales’ Euro 2016 campaign in which they reached the semi-finals, but if they are to get the best out of him going forward, he needs to stay fit.
In fact, he isn’t the only player at Arsenal with persistent injury problems, so questions have to be asked about their training programmes. The Gunners have been coping without him, but as the season goes on, they are going to need him back playing regularly as soon as possible.
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