Wilshere vs. Ramsey

For me, Ramsey isn't a CAM. To use an analogy, he is more like Lampard than Gerrard, whereby he plays a traditional central midfield role in the side and makes late runs from deep.

Wilshere played in more advanced positions in the youth and reserve teams, and often at Bolton. I remember Wenger saying the plan was to build him up as a Bergkamp-esque player. I don't think the intention was to use him as a CM, but it ended up being that way and he proved he can play a dynamic midfield role very well. His assists and goal tallies don't back me up on this, but I believe him to be better suited to a CAM role than Ramsey.

I still maintain to this day that the only thing Ramsey is better than Wilshere at is finishing. We've yet to see the full extent of Wilshere's creativity since he's played behind Cesc.

Having said all that, Arsenal really don't use a CAM and inevitably Ramsey and Wilshere are going to play together, so it's not going to matter which is better in what role.

I don't really see Ramsey's current role as a CAM, though. All of Arsenal's midfield roles can't really be defined by the usual connotations; Song's runs from deep and tendencies to be the most advanced midfielder defies his holding midfielder/ball-winner tag, while Ramsey's tendencies to drop deeper and play as more of a watercarrier in midfield means he doesn't play a traditional CAM role in the team.

Even Arteta, who seldom plays in advanced of Song and Ramsey, goes from water-carrier/deep-lying distributor to an outright defensive midfielder playing deeper than the so-called holding midfielder Song.

I think the only time Arsenal have had outright defined midfield roles was the 10/11 season, where Wilshere and Song made a double pivot and Cesc was the CAM. In seasons before, Cesc would switch between deep-lying playmaker to advanced midfielder in a game, while Diaby often went forward.

This is why I'm hesitant to call Ramsey a CAM, or even Wilshere for that matter. Instead, I'll refer to midfielders by the qualities they bring to the side. For me, Ramsey's recent form isn't down to his position, but down to an improvement in the speed of his decision making and playing with less fear than he was before.