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Football News: Arsenal Season Review

Arsenal Season Review
Image from: himalayantimes.com

Premier League: 2nd
FA Cup: 6th Round
League Cup: 4th Round
Europa League: Did not qualify
Champions League: Last 16

Second place in most seasons would be seen as a huge success for Arsenal, but last season, despite the late pipping of rivals Tottenham Hotspur to clinch the place, it felt like a failure. This was a season with so much promise, the unearthing of Francis Coquelin, fixing a longstanding problem in the midfield, added to the arrival of a world class goalkeeper in Petr Cech, fixing the team's other main issue, seemed to have set up the side for a proper title challenge. Instead Arsenal were left watching as Spurs provided Leicester City's main challenge for the title, as they dropped away when it mattered, as usual. It is beginning to seem like choking is a North London issue. With Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea struggling, this was Arsenal's chance to show they could win when it counted, but they dropped the ball in a major way. Again. Once again the defence was suspect, even with Cech behind it, once again the midfield was weak, even after the addition of Mohamed Elneny in January, and once again the attack misfired when it mattered. It is a familiar theme to qualify for the Champions League group stages but never look even remotely like standing a chance of winning it. This season there was not even an FA Cup to make up for the disappointment. THe same old story was in evidence, as the Gunners looked short a couple of players they need to challenge for a title.

Arsene Wenger - 6
That may seem harsh when he led the team to second place in the Premier League, but they were a mile behind the winners Leicester (ten points a new league record), and never once looked like genuine challengers, no matter how much Arsenal fans hoped otherwise. The thing that worries me with the team is that no matter how well one part of the team is playing, there is always another part that look completely out of sorts. If the defence is playing well, the attack always looks toothless. It the attack is firing on all cylinders, then the defence looks completely at sea every time the opposition attack. He has not been able to get a balanced side since the days of Patrick Vieira. On the basis of how the season went, it must be said Arsenal have underperformed and missed out on the best chance they have had to win the title in 10 years. Must do better Arsene!

 

Petr Cech - 7.5
The Czech Republic keeper is in the veteran stage of his career now, but still amongst the best in the league, and his signing was acclaimed as the one to turn Arsenal into league champions. Unfortunately it was not quite as simple as that. His best efforts were not enough to win the title, despite 16 clean sheets in the Prem. What he did do was help to organise the defence better and, for large portions of the season, the team did look much more solid defensively.

David Ospina - 6.5
Filled in while Cech was out and, as usual, looked decent but not world class. A great back up, but not quite good enough to lead a team to the title.

Laurent Koscielny - 7.5
Koscielny has been Arsenal's mainstay in defence for a few years now, last season was no different. He has grown into one of the best centre backs in the Premier League, though the competition is not exactly fierce in recent years. Still, anyone that can cover for the lumbering monolith Mertesacker on a consistent basis, deserves a lot of praise. You just have to wonder how good he would be with a quality partner alongside him.

Per Mertesacker - 6
The German centre half has always struggled with the pace of the Premier League, with his lack of any pace of his own hindering him badly. With Arsenal keeping a high line, his struggles have increased markedly as teams seek to exploit his obvious weaknesses. With his height, aerial battles are where he should excel, but he seems to shrink when the ball is in the air (when he is not ducking), and regularly loses out to much smaller men. It is only his organisational skills that see him anywhere a top flight team. While most defenders learn to cover for their weaknesses as they hit their 30s, Mertesacker just seems to be losing his way and becoming the weakest link of the Gunners' side.

 

Gabriel Paulista - 6.5
The Brazilian has been far too inconsistent, partly through injuries forcing him in and out of the side, to establish himself as the first choice partner alongside Koscielny. At 29, time is running out for the Brazilian to nail down the slot. Unless he can sort out that inconsistency, which sometimes can afflict him even within 90 minutes of play, Arsenal will always struggle with him playing. There are times when he looks a solid dependable centre half, then other times when he looks lost. Right now, he looks a slightly better bet than Mertesacker, but that is not good enough for a team that wants to challenge for titles.

Calum Chambers - 5
His move from Southampton to Arsenal has not been a successful one so far, the youngster has the inconsistency of youth, but he looks to be struggling for confidence to go with it. At times he has looked like the player Wenger bought, a quality young player with huge amounts of potential, but he has played so many different positions that he has not established himself in any one of them yet. Time is on his side, and he has shown the quality is there to become a first team regular, but last season will have to go down as a learning experience for him, as he struggled more often than he played well.

Nacho Monreal - 8
Before I go further, I should point out that the ratings are based on how they performed compared to their expected level, not their overall quality. Monreal stepped up a level over the season, establishing himself as clear first choice at left back, as well as filling in at centre back when needed. While he is a little on the lightweight side, which allows him to be bullied at times, and is not the quickest, his positional sense normally helps him. He is not the best in the attacking third, lacking the quality of final ball of the best wingbacks, but overall he has shown he is a consistently good performer who deserves his place in the side.

Kieran Gibbs - 5.5
A few years ago, Gibbs looked a cert for the England left back slot for a long time, now he looks like a winger playing out of position at left back. Now reaching the age he should be peaking, yet he is regressing his game, instead of improving it. While a big part of that might be down to the niggles he picks up so regularly, he just does not look capable of defending and does not offer enough when he goes forward. Gibbs is now a long way behind Monreal in the pecking order and shows no signs of being able to challenge for the place in the near future.

Hector Bellerin - 7
Not at the level he achieved last season, but still looked good for large parts of the season. With a better central defender alongside him, allowing him more freedom, he could offer much more to the side. His blistering pace means he has no worries about getting caught for pace, but it does mean he gets caught a little too far upfield at times. Going forward he is extremely dangerous, offering an outlet that can deliver a good quality ball on a regular basis. Defensively he still looks a little raw and needs to work on that part of his game if he is to become a world class full back.

Francis Coquelin - 7
He failed to hit the heights of the previous season, when he had seemed like the missing link that the Gooners needed to put themselves into title contention. This season gone was a minor step back for him, with the dreaded 'second season syndrome' that is often talked about, as opposing clubs altered their playing style to cope with Arsenal's new midfield set up. He still had a good season, he just was not able to assert himself in games the way he was able to last season. To be fair to him, that was more down to losing his midfield partner, Santi Cazorla, and having to shoulder a lot more of the burden in midfield without him. Coquelin is still a big part of the Arsenal team, but he does need that extra quality alongside him that Gooners will be looking to Granit Xhaka to provide next season.

 

Mohamed Elneny - 7.5
The January signing from FC Basel struggled to break into the side initially, but his performances, when he did get a chance, showed a huge amount of promise from the Egyptian. He looked like he had been part of the Arsenal midfield for years, showing real quality on the ball. If only he had been there at the start of the season, Arsenal might well have been better placed for the title run in, as he was much better suited to fill in for Cazorla than anyone else in the squad. A lot will be expected of him next season, but will he be able to force his way into the team on a regular basis?

Mathieu Flamini - 5
While last season was a good one for Flamini off the pitch, with an investment he made ensuring he is set for many lifetimes financially, on the pitch he looked finished. Only a back up option, but one that looked to be struggling every time he got onto the pitch. While he has never been the best creatively on the ball, now he is struggling with every part of his game and looks like a player who is finding his legs are gone. It could be just that he was not at peak fitness, so a harder training regime could resurrect his career. Right now though, he just looks like it is time for him to drop down to a lower level to play his football.

Aaron Ramsey - 6.5
Ramsey was not at his best last season, though he did spend large portions of it playing out of position on the right side of midfield. At his best Ramsey is one of the best central midfielders in the Premier League, but he is not really a right mid, and it showed. He sacrificed his game for the benefit of the team last season, playing wide right to allow Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil more freedom to get forward, as he played extremely narrow defensively, filling in the gaps left. While he may not have been as influential as he would have liked, his contribution was vital to Arsenal's season.

Santi Cazorla - 8
The injury which saw him miss most of the season is a major reason for Arsenal's inability to challenge for the title. His creativity and workrate at the heart of midfield were sadly missed for the Gunners. Cazorla became the heartbeat of the Gunners team, before the knee injury that pretty much ended his season. Shame for Gooners, as a fit Cazorla could have led Arsenal to the title. He, even more than the brilliant Sanchez and Ozil, was the difference between a title challenge and trailing in second.

Jack Wilshere - 1
The England midfielder spent the season looking on from the injury table, as usual, failing to complete a single 90 minute game during the course of the season. You have to wonder how much longer Arsenal can continue to support his wages with so little return.

Mikel Arteta - 5
Spanish midfielder Arteta announced his retirement at the end of the season to move into coaching, and it is little wonder. He was woefully off the pace and did not look anywhere near Premier League level in the few games he figured in.

 

Mesut Ozil - 9
Ozil has struggled to be accepted in the Premier League, until now. The season he had was sensational. The German international racked up huge numbers of assists, which is even more of an amazing feat when you consider that Arsenal's main striker is the oft-misfiring Olivier Giroud. If he had a clinical striker to feed, Arsenal would have lifted the title last season. With Ozil's brilliance creating the chances, all that was missing was a truly top class striker up front. Even the moans about his workrate disappeared last season, as people realised just how good he is. One of a very small number of players outside of the Leicester squad that were truly in the running for player of the year.

Serge Gnabry - N/A
Just one 12 minute substitute appearance is not enough to judge the youngster on. Though it must be a worry that he only managed that in the season, especially when it came in the 3rd game.

Alex Iwobi - 8
The youngster broke through during the season, despite having to fight with Alexis Sanchez for a place. In fact he made so many appearances that I was getting fed up of hearing the commentators mention his uncle every time he touched the ball! What impressed me most was the consistency of his performances, he was never jaw droppingly good, but he was always a 7 out of 10 each game. Which is probably going to lead you to question why I gave him an 8 overall, but his overall contribution to the side was much better than I would have expected at the start of the season. The Gunners look to have a quality prospect here, a prospect that works hard on the pitch to help his team.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain - 5.5
It was a poor season for the former Southampton youngster. Once a bright hope, he is now seen as an injury-prone player with no real position to call his own. Injuries and loss of form have seen him unable to nail down a spot in the team for the long term, leading to him ending up more as cover for injuries in the midfield or wide areas, rather than a first choice player. Last season, in particular, he was struggling to find his feet and looked a poor player no matter what role he was given. However, at only 22, time is still on his side to return to his bright best, though he will need to find a solution to his injury problems, which once again ended his season early.

Alexis Sanchez - 7.5
At the start of the season he was devastatingly good, then his performances dipped just before he picked up an injury that kept him out in the middle of the season. The rest seemed to reinvigorate the Chilean wideman, who came back to pick up regular goals towards the end of the season, though he was never quite at his outstanding best in that period. When he and Ozil click, Arsenal cut through opposition teams at will. The two do need a better frontman to help them out against the top sides though. On form, Sanchez's enthusiasm and skill make him one of, maybe even the, best player in the Prem, even on a bad day his workrate makes him an extremely useful member of the team. When he is in the side, the whole team seem lifted and willing to work harder, being dragged along with his enthusiasm, desire and willingness to chase lost causes. If he can be kept fit and on form throughout the season, Arsenal will have a very real title chance.

Theo Walcott - 4.5
Once again Walcott flattered to deceive, always looking like there is a player in there somewhere, but it is hiding under the sprinter. Is he a lightning quick winger with an inability to cross or is he a striker with a cool finish but no anticipation of where and when to run? It is difficult to tell, one thing is for sure, if it was not for his pace, he would be nowhere near the Premier League, as he lacks the on-pitch intelligence top players have. The one bright spot for him was that at least he stayed mainly fit throughout the season.

Joel Campbell - 7.5
Finally broke into the side for a run of games and did well, though he is clearly not at the level of the likes of Sanchez. As such he was gradually phased out of the team onto the bench as Iwobi proved his worth and Sanchez returned from injury. Still it was a step up from his recent seasons as an Arsenal player, with most being spent flitting around Europe on loan.

Olivier Giroud - 6.5
The most frustrating player of all in this Arsenal side, he has ability, stays fit, but just does not quite do enough to deserve a place in the first choice team. He goes through far too many periods when he could not hit the side of a barn if he was inside it with all the doors and windows closed. If he could be more clinical, it would make up for his lack of movement and pace. Giroud is good enough for the Premier League, without a doubt, he just is not good enough to be a starting striker for a team with hopes of winning the league. For all his good play bringing others into the game, if he is not going to finish off enough of his chances, then his team will struggle.

Danny Welbeck - 5
You know what you will get with Welbeck, lots of pace and injuries, a lack of real skill but an infectious workrate and the ability to miss twenty easy chances before putting a difficult chance away. His enthusiasm and workrate are very likeable, but his lack of real ability and constant injury problems make it very difficult to see a future for him with a top team.

Written by Tris Burke June 22 2016 06:45:01