Aaron Ramsey Juve for injury ahead Wales clash vs Czech
Aaron Ramsey has laid the blame for his recent fitness problems squarely at the door of Juventus as he prepares to captain Wales against the Czech Republic on Friday.
Though this is the midfielder’s first qualifier for nearly two years, he has still managed more minutes for his country than the Serie A club since the start of March, and will lead Wales in the absence of the injured Gareth Bale.
Sportsmail reported on Thursday that Juventus are ready to sell Ramsey, 30, due partly to his difficulties with injury. Yet Ramsey insists he can play regularly if only he is managed correctly.
He said: ‘The training philosophy and methods are different at my club from how they are with Wales. There are a lot of people here who have a number of years of managing me.
Two of Europe’s heavyweights meet in the first of the Nations League’s semi-finals in Italy
‘They know how to get the best out of me and how to help me to play a lot of games in a row, like I showed at Euro 2020 this year. I’m capable of doing that and producing good performances.
‘Because my outputs in games are pretty high, maybe I need a bit more rest and recovery throughout the week rather than maybe being on the grass for a long period of time and carrying more fatigue into games. Recovery is a big part of that for me.’
Ramsey was left out of Juventus’ recent matches against Chelsea and Torino because of ‘muscular fatigue’ but was still selected by Wales and has been cleared to play in Prague, with boss Rob Page confident he will also be able to contest the second leg of this double-header, against Estonia in Tallinn on Monday.
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His relations with the Italian club have become increasingly strained, and his willingness to criticise their management of him publicly tells its own story, as does Page’s comment that he would love to see Ramsey back in the Premier League.
He added: ‘I’m just happy to be back in the environment I’m used to. The number of minutes I’ve played shows it’s been difficult so I’m happy to be back on the pitch helping my team-mates.’