young player – or character.
True to the Arsenal belief in eye-catching football, he seeks to
detect a profound infatuation with the joy of the game in the make-up
of the boys he aims to turn into stars. Aaron Ramsey was brimming with
it.
The youthful grin it prompts has been much in evidence this season.
Ramsey heads to Manchester United tomorrow in the midst of an
extraordinary season of 11 goals in 17 games, which few outside the
Emirates inner sanctum believed could happen.
For Terry Burton, however, the flourishing of the midfielder who has
driven his team five points clear at the top of the Premier League, is
the hugely satisfying outcome of the hunch he had when he nurtured
Ramsey's first steps in the senior game as a 16-year-old at Cardiff.
"It's easy to say now that it was clear he would go all the way," said
Burton, a backroom man with north London blood as thick as anyone's.
"But you never really know until they get in there and see if they can
cope.
"Right from the start though, even at 16, Aaron had this very
impressive energy and an ability to make things happen. And he was
unafraid to make mistakes.
"He had an inner strength even then. Nothing fazed him. He came to
Cardiff straight from school and went straight into training with the
first team.
"I first saw him when he was a schoolboy playing in the FA Youth Cup.
Then Dave Jones, to whom I was assistant manager, gave him his full
debut in an FA Cup third-round tie against a non-League team,
Chasetown. That could have been a real banana skin, but he scored.
"You can tell then if they have the attitude that's needed. Aaron's
was always first-class.
"His resilience showed in his football, even as a teenager. If he made
a mistake, he did not hide, even when among the older players. He'd
just make another run and get the ball somewhere else." Old Trafford
tomorrow provides another huge stage on which the nation can gawp at
the prodigious explosion of industry, swagger and finishing ability
which 22-year-old Ramsey has unleashed upon this campaign.
Doubt has stalked him in the past. A savage double leg break, too. But
who could argue after his brilliantly opportunistic headed winner at
Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday that he isn't made for the task of
shaping the biggest games?
The hunch which struck Burton in South Wales in 2006 was that Ramsey's
abilities were ideal for Arsenal, the club where he captained the 1971
FA Youth Cup-winning team and went on to become No? 2 to Don Howe and
George Graham. Now, at 61, Burton is back as reserves and head
development coach.
"The big clubs started taking notice of Aaron very quickly," he said
"My connections with Arsenal meant there were regular updates.
"I felt the way Arsenal approach development and the way the boss
gives an opportunity to young players would give him his best chance
of first-team football."
Ramsey joined Arsenal in June 2008, but his leg was broken in two
places against Stoke in 2010. Last season, at times, his game seemed
hampered by a breakdown in confidence caused by the injury. He became
the lightning rod of many fans' dissatisfaction with the club. This
season, the shackles of fear have been fully discarded.
Burton said: "When you've got an intelligent manager who looks at all
areas of people's game, he would recognise that Aaron had that inner
strength. If he kept faith, Aaron would come through.
"The boss is really big on players who love the game. If you don't, he
wonders how you'll cope with the demands because there are setbacks
and hard times. Aaron has that love.
"He probably frustrated the boss and the staff like mad at times.
Young players don't always make the right choices on the pitch. But
now he's played a lot of first-class games and he's still only 22 –
and had a bad injury. That's fantastic.
"He's been given the time and everybody has been rewarded by it.
"Last year, he probably got in nearly as many scoring situations, but
didn't take the chances. This year he has added that to his game.
"I wouldn't claim to be any visionary, but what you saw in him back in
Cardiff were the attributes that you thought would give him a great
chance at Arsenal.
"It's so difficult to break through these days. But you can see those
attributes in him now."
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