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Wales' Coleman surprised by Wenger's decision to select Ramsey

Carl Recine / Reuters

Arsene Wenger came under fire this week for omitting Laurent Koscielny from Arsenal's team sheet on the first matchday of the Premier League season, but he's also getting an earful for fielding a player that, in the eyes of some, wasn't fit.

Chris Coleman, Wales' manager, admitted on Wednesday that it came as "a bit of a surprise" when Wenger opted to include Ramsey in Arsenal's starting XI for its 4-3 defeat to Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium. The Welsh midfielder lasted all of 61 minutes before he limped off the pitch with a hamstring injury and is reportedly out until the middle of September.

Given Ramsey's pivotal role in Wales' historic run to the semi-finals of Euro 2016, Coleman wasn't exactly impressed by Wenger's decision.

"I think we all expected him to (miss the start of the season), so I don't know what happened between then (when Ramsey made the comment) and when he ended up on the pitch," Coleman said, according to Stuart James of the Guardian.

"I think, to a man, if you were looking at that (team sheet against Liverpool), it was a bit of a surprise he started. I think Aaron said himself (in France) that he wasn't expecting to.

"If you look at Rambo's physical stats, they're higher than anybody on the pitch in terms of his high-intensity sprints and the kilometres he covers. But he's still a human being, and it's not like we were knocked out in the group stage - it was a long tournament for Aaron, after a long hard season. So I don't know why he was treated differently. For me as a manager, when I'm missing one of my best players, I think anybody would understand my disappointment."

On Monday, Ramsey was omitted from Wales' squad for its first 2018 World Cup qualifier, which goes on Sept. 5 at home to Moldova.

Coleman was also asked about how he thought Ramsey has been treated at the Emirates Stadium, to which the manager replied: "I think Arsenal have a certain way of doing things. A lot has been said about their injury list, they're doing the same things now as what they've always done - they're not going to change now. That's up to them, Aaron's Arsenal's player.

"I've got to say that I look at it and I'm disappointed because we've lost a great player. I'm not going to say 'in hindsight,' because I'm doing a job myself and I make decisions and sometimes look back and think I shouldn't have made that decision. So I won't use that against Arsenal. It's disappointing that we haven't got him, it's disappointing he's got an injury. Could it have been prevented? Possibly, yes. But the fact is we haven't got him, unfortunately."

Beyond Ramsey, Arsenal's injury list also includes the likes of Alex Iwobi, Gabriel, Per Mertesacker, Danny Welbeck, and Carl Jenkinson.

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