Stephen zoomed into Ramsey’s recent press conference; the Nice midfielders’ first as returning captain. Here’s a recap of the key points. @stephenjbaker
I was lucky enough to be able to attend Aaron Ramsey’s first Press Conference at the start of the Euro 24 qualifying campaign on behalf of Coleman Had A Dream.
Of course I don’t need to go into why we needed a new captain, we are still trying to get over that retirement news. This is Aaron’s second run as Cymru’s Men’s Captain having been given the role by Gary Speed in 2011 when he was only 20 years old. He was replaced just over a year later when Ashley Williams took over.
Embed from Getty ImagesSo here is a summary of the 20 minute press conference, which took place Monday 20th March 2023.
The first question he was asked was about taking over the role of captain again. He said that it has been a long time since he was first Captain, and he has grown a lot as a person and a footballer since then, and he is ready to take on the responsibility. In the time that have passed he told us that he had played under some great Captains and has learned a lot from them over the years.
Embed from Getty ImagesQuestions about becoming Captain again continued with Aaron saying again that he is older and wiser this time, wiser because of everything he learnt from Ashley Williams and Gareth Bale. Hinted that it may have been too soon for him the first time. He couldn’t stop smiling when talking about telling his children that he was going to be captain of Cymru, his oldest being especially proud of him.
Embed from Getty ImagesWhen asked what type of Captain he would be, he told us that he would always be open to conversation with the younger players and help the new ‘caps’ settle in.
Questions moved on to retirement, if he considered it, and of course the four players who have announced their retirement in the last few weeks. Aaron said that those four players have been amazing for us over the years and we are forever grateful to them for what they have done for the country. But we have so much more to look forward to over the next few years. There are great players about to step up into the first team but they are not trying to replace Gareth Bale.
Embed from Getty ImagesRamsey told us that he found things difficult after the World Cup and spent a lot of time with his family before going back to football. Even though he was very disappointed with the World Cup performance he have learnt a lot from it and is now ready to go, and is looking forward to the games over the next few months.
He mentioned that he has been really enjoying his football since returning to Nice. And he has been working hard to ensure we get off to the best possible start to the Euro qualifying campaign, a campaign which will feature a very young squad. Aaron pointed out that although they are young there are some very experienced, younger players with lots of caps. Some of them with experience in two major tournaments already, of course. He said that there are also quality players coming up that haven’t played in the first team yet.
Embed from Getty ImagesOne of the three young players that he did mention by name was Brennan Johnson who has been knocking in the goals at the moment. Ramsey is confident that Johnson will bring goals to the team. The other two players were Luke Harris and Jordan Jones. With him specifically mentioning those two, I wouldn’t be surprised if one or both will make their debut over the next few games.
Embed from Getty ImagesTo finish off, I will mention how Ramsey found out he was going to be Captain which made everyone smile. ‘I was going out for food with my wife and just as we were leaving my phone rung. I said “Sorry love I will have to take this…”. So obviously the meal tasted a little better’.
Pob Lwc Rambo and the boys!