Arsene Wenger has revealed details of the chat which brought about Aaron Ramsey's renaissance at the end of the 2012/13 season. Ramsey had been tipped for stardom since his days in the Cardiff youth team and a transfer to Arsenal seemed like the perfect move for the young Welsh midfielder. However, Ramsey's path to becoming a first team regular took some twists and turns.
During the 2012/13 season Ramsey came in for a lot of criticism from the Arsenal faithful before bouncing back to become one of the club's most influential players, eventually winning Arsenal's Player of the Season award for 2013/14.
Speaking during the club's pre-season tour in New York, Arsene Wenger revealed details of a conversation he had with Ramsey which may have played a key part in his dramatic upturn in form.
He went through a bad patch, and I couldn't play him any more at Emirates Stadium. I sat down with Aaron and I told him, 'I don't think people don't like you, but they don't like your game at the moment'. It was in his hands to change that. He had to come back to a more simple game. When you go through a bad patch in life you always go back to the basics.
In football you slowly get confidence back and then you play naturally again. The problem is that if you play a great shot in golf or tennis, when you go to your next game you want to play the same shot again. But it doesn't work like that. You have to do basics, basics, basics, and then slowly you get into the zone where it becomes easier. You have to get back to basics to gain confidence.
Although Wenger admitted that a point had been reached where Ramsey was no longer considered a regular starter, he always had belief that the Wales international would reach the level that Arsenal fans have now come to expect.
Aaron accepted that, he did it and he gained confidence again. Then you saw a different player, because he is intelligent, and when I came out of the meeting I knew this guy would come back. Aaron listened and he realised he had to change his game. That's why he came back.
