Time To Separate The Men From The Boys (Part 4)

So now that we've wrapped up the individual ratings how 'bout we look at the team as a whole?



With all the cash splashed around by Manchester City in the summer, which saw them sign Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure from us for a combined total of approximately £40M coupled with the fact that we only signed Thomas Vermaelen in the summer transfer window, many pundits believed that Man City would break into the top 4 at our expense. There were even a few who suggested we'd be lucky to even place 5th.



Arsene Wenger had a plan to ensure this wasn't the case. He decided that this season we'll switch from playing the 4-4-2 formation, for a more Total Football approach, opting for a 4-3-3 instead. It seemed to work wonders as on opening day we gave Everton a nightmare start with a 6-1 drubbing at Goodison Park. Something notable about that victory was that 5 of the 6 goals came from midfield.



Our attack took a few games to get going under the new formation but once it clicked we became the best attacking team in the Premiership, scoring the most goals. That was until October when Robin van Persie and Nicklas Bendtner both got injured and our strike force weakened.



While our attack flourished, our defence suffered. We had a serious problem defending set pieces, especially corner kicks and we also had a problem defending balls coming from counter attacks down our left side. It caused us to drop a lot of points and fall 11 points behind leaders Chelsea and Manchester United in the title race.



If there's one word that was relevant to this season's performance it's 'fortitude'. The team showed a lot of fortitude to claw their way back from an 11 point deficit to actually lead the Premiership early in the second half of the season. We fell away again, this time to an 8 point deficit, after losses to Manchester United and Chelsea and points dropped in a draw with Aston Villa at Villa Park. It was fortitude (and Nicklas Bendtner) that saw the team come back from such a huge gap to be in the title race once more up until mid April.



Our title dreams ended when we played Tottenham at White Hart Lane and lost 2-1. We just didn't play with any heart or desire. The absolute craven performances weren't over yet as days later we played Wigan away and were up 2-0 but with 10 minutes to go we somehow found a way to snatch defeat from the hands of victory and ended up losing 3-2. Another week later we found ourselves on the wrong end of another 2-1 scoreline away at Blackburn. The lousy performances continued that day and we found ourselves on the final day in a fight for 3rd place with Tottenham. We won our match convincingly against Fulham but it's upsetting to know that we let things get to that point.



Overall though, the team has improved in terms of our fluidity in front of goal but there are two main things which Arsene Wenger needs to address in preparation for next season. We need to work on our set plays and counter attacking tactics and we also need to do something about those players in the team who can't really seem to motivate themselves when they need to most.



It's a bit tricky to give this team a rating as there are improvements which are noticeable but there seem to be problems lingering from seasons past that we still haven't overcome. I'd say a 6.5/10 seems fair though.



What do you think? Let me know in the comments.



Well thanks for reading, until next time. Bye!

Time To Separate The Men From The Boys (Part 3)

Theo Walcott: Theo didn't play much at the start of the season due to injury. When he did play however his performances were very hot and cold. He'd have a good game here, then two or three mediocre games before he had another game where he was brilliant. Theo had his critics on his back but with arguably his best performance of the season coming against Burnley at home, they seemed to ease off and gained a little bit of patience, waiting to see how his season would pick up. Sadly, it didn't really change. Theo's inconsistency continued and after the loss to Tottenham his desire looked to be gone and all he seemed to care about was getting ready for the World Cup. Theo Walcott earns a 6/10 from me.



Eduardo: Eduardo had an absolutely terrible season. It begun mired in controversy because of what happened in the second leg of our Champions League qualifier against Celtic. He went after a 50/50 ball with Artur Boruc and went to ground after Boruc seemed to bring him down. We got a penalty and after the game Eduardo received a 3 match ban from UEFA for diving. It turned out in the end that he didn't dive and the decision to ban him was overturned. Eduardo was unfairly labeled a diver in the time that the fiasco happened. What really happened though was Eduardo expected the collision and in backing off lost his balance and fell to ground. There are some that say he was actually fouled but it's up for debate. Eduardo backed off because of that nasty challenge which injured him in February 08. It's given him a mental block and made him very timid when going into tackles. It is what affected him this season. With only 6 goals to his name he's no longer the player he was. In many games this season he's hardly had even 10 touches of the ball because he's too scared to get himself into a position where he'll be a threat to goal as he fears lightning striking him twice. Arsene Wenger seems to have lost faith in him too as he's left him out of the squad for many games towards the end of the season. It's sad to say it but Eduardo's now damaged goods and I believe it's in his best interest to start fresh in another league which is more technical and doesn't have the physicality of the Premiership. La Liga or Serie A would be better for him. Eduardo scores a 4.5/10.



Carlos Vela: He made most of his appearances this season in cameos off the bench. He had only 1 start in the Premiership which was in the penultimate game of the season away at Blackburn. A problem Vela faced was that he traveled across the pond a lot to play for Mexico and when he came back to London to get ready for Arsenal matches he had a problem with jet lag and missed many chances to stake a claim for a first team place. There was also the issue of the injuries he picked up in international matches. When he did play he showed flashes of brilliance but there were times when his work rate just wasn't high enough. I think we should probably cut our losses and sell him to a Spanish club this summer. Everyone wins that way. He clearly isn't adjusting to life and the climate in England and the pace of the game is too quick for him so perhaps a slower league like La Liga is more his cup of tea. He's already proven himself there with the time he spent on loan at Salamanca and Osasuna. 5/10.



Robin van Persie: Here's another player injury totally screwed over this season. He started the season a bit slower than the other attackers as he was still getting the hang of the new formation but when he started scoring he did it very consistently. Like Cesc, he put in game winning performances week in, week out. There's no doubt in my mind he would've had a 20 goal season if not for the wreckless challenge on him by Giorgio Chiellini in his international match for The Netherlands against Italy. Many people give van Persie stick for his injury record, saying he's always getting injured as if he has control over it. Really, if someone could determine when they're gonna get injured would they let it happen to them? What kind of masochist do they take him for? Robin van Persie is no doubt a world class striker. If he can stay fit he'll be up there with the best strikers in the world such as Ibrahimovic, Drogba, Rooney and even Messi. He can't however. He's always on the wrong end of really bad tackles. It comes with the territory though. He's such a good player that this is what his opponents resort to to take him off the ball. We had a lot of players out injured during the course of the season but we missed none like we missed van Persie. In his absence we had no out and out target man figure in attack. This was because Nicklas Bendtner was also out recovering from a groin surgery. It was left up to Andrey Arshavin to play the role of target man and his size left him disadvantaged. We struggled to find goals in many games and slipped behind Chelsea, who were leading the Premiership, by 11 points. Robin made his return to action late in the season in the loss to Tottenham but his brilliance shone through. He had an amazing performance and we looked a different team in the second half with him on the field. His performances thereafter were always high quality and he got himself 2 goals from the three games that followed. If he's not unlucky to have another bad injury like he did over the last few months, I can see him rivaling the likes of Rooney, Drogba and Torres (if he's still at Liverpool) next season for the golden boot. Robin gets an 8.5/10.



Nicklas Bendtner: There's no one in this Arsenal team that's as confident, and some would say narcissistic, as Nicklas Bendtner. For a couple of seasons I didn't like his attitude as I felt his bark was definitely bigger than his bite. He did a lot more to back up all his claims of how good he is this season by scoring 12 goals and assisting 7. You might say "Pfft 12's not that much" but live van Persie he spent a big chunk of the season out due to groin surgery. Something else about Bendtner is that in quite a few matches this season he's missed some glorious sitters that in seasons past would've pissed off the Arsenal fans but he made up for it with the goals he's scored. So many of his goals were crucial, many of them eventual  match winners as well. Who can forget his strike against Hull to essentially send Phil Brown to the unemployment office the following Monday or his last gasp header against Mick McCarthy's Wolves at home? He's done enough to earn my respect this season and I'm excited to see how he'll build on it next season. I give him 8.5/10.



And so we've come to the end of the individual player ratings. There'll be 1 more part to this review (I promise) sometime soon but before you go enjoy the video package down below and leave your comments on what I've said.

(Special thanks to RVPSSARS23 for the video)







Oh, remember to click the 'follow' button to subscribe to this blog. Catch you next time.

Time To Separate The Men From The Boys (Part 2)

Okay now where were we?



Abou Diaby: I've never really been a fan of Diaby and I always found it ridiculous to compare him to Patrick Vieira. That being said, I think he had patches this season where he showed improvement. He's gotten on the scoresheet a bit more and managed to stay fit for longer periods this season. However, he's had games where he seemed to just be getting in the way this season. The game at Old Trafford comes to mind when I say that. There are a few players in this Arsenal team who have been criticised for not putting out enough effort, especially towards the latter part of the season when our title chase fizzled out. Diaby is one of these players. He could be doing a lot better and I hope to see him with a better attitude next season. 5/10



Alex Song: Alex has developed tremendously over the season. His self confidence has risen and so have his performance levels. Alex was the ideal defensive midfielder for us. His positioning was excellent. He stayed back and made sure the defence line wasn't too pressured and in doing so he took a lot of pressure off his captain, Cesc Fabregas, to help out with defensive duties. I am of the view that if not for Song, Fabregas wouldn't have had 19 goals to his name this season. Many believe Alex is the most improved player over this campaign and it's a fair argument. Song scores an 8/10 for me.



Tomas Rosicky: There are a few who believe Thomas had a poor season but I disagree. Sure he had the niggling injury here and there but you have to remember that he was out of action for 18 months. I like the new role he has in the team playing as a wide striker. It suits him perfectly. He wasn't really among the goals or assists this season as he had 3 and 5 respectively but I commend him for the tenacity he showed in front of goal. Whenever he played he was a constant threat to goal, always shooting and always getting into dangerous positions. His work level was very high and I'd like to see him build on his performances in the coming season, scoring and assisting more goals. 7/10.



Samir Nasri: Samir's season started in October due to a broken leg he picked up in a collision in training with Abou Diaby in preseasons. He struggled at first to find form because he wasn't really used to the new 4-3-3 formation the team was playing though as the season progressed he started to find his footing. The injury to Cesc Fabregas meant Nasri found himself in a central midfield role which he is familiar with from his days at Olympic Marseille. In my opinion he played his best football here. One particular game where he shone in this position was our return leg in the Champions League against Porto where he scored arguably our best goal of the season with a remarkable solo effort. We went on to win that game 5-0. 7/10



Denilson: The Brazilian started the season promisingly with a stunning long range goal at Goodison Park in Arsenal's 6-1 opening day demolition of Everton. He found himself on the scoresheet 5 more times throughout the season with more goals from distance. He shooting from range has definitely improved but I'm not pleased with his performances in general. In the instances where Alex Song was missing from action due to the African Cup of Nations in January and injuries, Denilson was asked to deputise in the defensive midfield role and did a poor job. His performances were very lazy and he looked like he could've tried harder. He looked like he didn't really care to run hard to track his opponent when counter attacks were built against us. Two notable instances of this were in our FA Cup defeat to Stoke and the 3-1 home defeat in the Premiership at the hands of Manchester United. Denilson is one of the players I'd like to see on his way out during the summer. He scores a 5/10 for me.



Aaron Ramsey: One word comes to mind when trying to sum up Ramsey's season - tragic. Aaron had gotten off to a flying start. He found himself getting regular playing time, mostly off the bench and scoring three times in the Premiership. Two of those 3 goals came against Portsmouth in both fixtures. He also scored a vital FA Cup goal against West Ham at The Boleyn Ground. Then there was that infamous Stoke City game. That total neanderthal Ryan Shawcross, with the most wreckless of tackles you'll ever see, slid in on poor Aaron two footed and left his leg shattered and dangling. Season over for the young Welshman. A promising season comes to a horrific end. Ramsey had been getting his chances and started taking them and then that had to happen. The positive from it however was that it seemed to solidify the team and a siege mentality had developed in the club. It was a them vs. us attitude that developed that saw us push on in the title race til late March when we played Tottenham. The team wanted to win the title for Ramsey. There's no word yet on when he returns but I just hope the injury doesn't have the same effect on him as Eduardo's had on him. Ramsey gets a very deserving 8/10.



Cesc Fabregas: With 19 goals and 19 assists Cesc Fabregas' season speaks for itself. There was nothing more you could ask of the Spaniard this season. He was clearly one of the best players in the league and perhaps the way he played is responsible for the lack of effort and desire shown by some of his teammates. The way he picked the team up and carried them on his back seemed to make certain players rely on him to always deliver a performance. Cesc being so Cescy though never failed. What stood out to me most about him though was how determined he was to pull the team over the line to success this season. A 30 minute cameo at home against Aston Villa saw him return from injury to come off the bench and score two goals, one of which was a breath taking free kick, and had to be subbed off due to flaring up his hamstring injury while scoring the second goal. He also played with a broken leg and scored a penalty with said leg, just to keep us in the tie with Barcelona going into the second leg of the fixture. If there's one word to sum up his performances this season, it's 'heroic'. Cesc gets a 10/10 and who dares disagree?



Andrey Arshavin: I remember at the end of the 08/09 season Arshavin said that he had more to offer us than he did in his first six months at the club. He claimed that this is because he hadn't fully settled into London and was still adjusting to Arsene Wenger's training regimen. Unfortunately the pint sized Russian didn't live up to his words. He managed to bag 12 goals and 9 assists but many expected more of him. He had many games where he squandered a lot of chances but I believe criticism was unfairly levied at him as he spent the period of late October to early February as our target man. This was due to injuries to both Robin van Persie and Nicklas Bendtner. His height (or lack thereof) worked to his disadvantage while he played this role. Journalists had a lot to do with the heavy criticism he came in for. He is known for his outspoken nature and journalists used interviews with him this season distastefully, rehashing old quotes from him at times in the season when things weren't going right. Hearing things said like he said [at a previous time] only stirred up bad reactions from fans. As such many felt he mouthed off too much and wasn't putting in the work to back it up. Anyway, I give Andrey a 6.5/10



Emmanuel Eboue: The man who used to put the boo in Eboue gets my vote for most improved player of the season. After that infamous Wigan game where he was booed off the pitch by his own fans many thought we wouldn't be seeing him in an Arsenal shirt this season. During last summer rumours strongly linked him with a move away to Fiorentina but he stayed and had become one of Arsenal's most consistent players this season. Eboue has been employed in a variety of roles. He's played at right back, right midfield, center midfield and even as a wide right forward in a couple games. He hasn't had a poor game this season in my opinion. He may not always give sterling performances like Cesc Fabregas does game after game but he has always been consistent. Kudos goes to him as well for the mental strength and character he showed to get over his depression after the Wigan game in 08 and to come back and show such fight and desire in his performances. He's now become a definite fan favourite at Arsenal Football Club. Eboue earns himself an 8/10 on this blog.



Fran Merida: Fran started the season with 2 appearances in the Carling Cup and he bagged a great goal against Liverpool there. He featured in the Premiership coming off the bench and he got 1 goal in 4 appearances there. The goal coming against Bolton Wanderers at the Reebok Stadium. He also had an appearance a piece in the FA Cup against West Ham and in the Champions League away in Greece at Olympiakos. In these few games that he's played he's had decent performances and both of his goals this season were well taken. It's rumoured that he's rejected a contract renewal from us in favour of a move back to his homeland to play for Atletico Madrid. I hope we see him in an Arsenal shirt next season and I hope he features more too. 6/10.



Okay that's enough for now and Part 3 will be published sometime in the near future with my assessment of our attackers.



Have a look at some more key moments in our season:

(Special thanks to RVPSSARS23 for the video)







Be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments section and click the follow button on the right if you haven't already done so. That's it for now. Dust!

Time To Separate The Men From The Boys (Part 1)

by Rachid

I'll start today with my individual ratings for each player's performances over the course of the season.

Manuel Almunia: Had a shaky start to the season. It was so shaky that Arsene Wenger even had to drop him under the guise of a fake chest infection which he claimed lasted for 6 weeks. He eventually made his way back into the first team due to the failings and lack of experience showed by his understudies. He's had some games where he's come up big for us, such as the home leg against Barcelona but for the most part his performances had been found wanting this season. He's made errors in goalkeeping that have cost us important points. It's also worth noting that his defence in front of him at times doesn't seem to really trust him. He has a knack of miscommunicating with his defenders and found himself challenging them for balls in many matches throughout the season. In other words, his command of the area was very poor. Many are calling for his departure but I believe some more experienced competition for his place will do him some good and he should be reduced to the backup keeper role. Almunia gets a 5.5/10 from me.

Lukasz Fabianski: What can I say? Lukasz Loosehands found his way into the first team via the Carling Cup at first and gave some decent performances there. Unfortunately his form has gotten progressively worse as the season went along. As mentioned earlier, Almunia was dropped by Wenger and Mannone took his place in goal until Fabianski returned from injury. When he did, he took on the starting role and he had a torrid time in goal throughout the season. There were many occasions where his nerves got the better of him and his poor command of area allowed him to ship cheap goals. These goals cost us very important games, the first leg against Porto and away at Wigan are two of his worst games of the season. It's said Arsene Wenger still holds the Pole in high regard so many doubt he'll be leaving the club anytime soon. I don't believe he has the expertise needed to cut it at our level and he should be sold. Fabianski gets a 3/10.

Vito Mannone: We saw little of the young Italian goalkeeper this season but he managed to leave a good impression on us. He had a simply astounding performance against Fulham at Craven Cottage which saw him named Man of The Match in a 1-0 victory for us. He's only 22 years old though and that inexperience showed in a match against West Ham at The Boleyn Ground where we surrendered a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2. He was benched ever since and never saw playing time again. He shows a lot of promise and I'd rather see him in the team than Fabianski next season. I give Mannone a 7/10. 

Bacary Sagna: Didn't have as good a season as in the past. There were questions to be asked about his attacking, especially his crosses as many of them failed to hit the target. He is a defender however and his defending was pretty decent as a whole although he was found wanting in some of our significant games this season, particularly the 3-0 loss to Chelsea at home and the 3-1 loss to Manchester United, also at home. I think Sagna deserves a 6.

Thomas Vermaelen: For many he's our signing of the season. It's not hard to see why. He has been a stalwart in our defence and he deserves massive credit for how he's come into the Premiership and adjusted so quickly. There's a certain confidence about him and the way he goes into tackles that shows why he's played every single Premiership game he's been fit for this season. Many doubted him when we signed him, some questioning his height. It didn't matter at all as he's shown how good he is in the aerial challenges and he's also been very useful to us in front of goal as well as the Belgian snatched 8 goals in the campaign. Not bad for a center back, huh? Vermaelen gets an 8.5/10 from me and I don't think many will dispute that.

William Gallas: William has had his fair share of critics for his outspoken nature in the past in his time as Arsenal skipper. Ever since being stripped of the captaincy he's turned his Arsenal career around. He's had a very good season partnered with Vermaelen at the back. His tackling has been a lot better this season and it's not far fetched to wonder if our season capitulated because of his injury. It seemed to go downhill at just about the same time. Big Bill gets a 7.5/10 from me. I hope we replace him adequately this summer.

Mikael Silvestre: Didn't get much playing time this season as he was always just a bit player in our team who got into the starting eleven when a defender got injured. Most of his playing time came towards the end of the season when Gallas got injured and quite frankly he's been very poor. He hasn't done much to merit a contract extension and he, like Gallas, is on his way out of the club. 5/10

Johan Djourou: This is a guy Wenger has a lot of patience for but like Robin van Persie he's always finding himself injured. Unfortunately for the Swiss center back he picked up a knee injury which ruled him out for all games this season except the Fulham game on the final day. I hope he stays fit next season and push the new defender(s) coming in for a regular starting place. Rating not applicable here.

Gael Clichy: He's struggled this season. While there's no doubting his passion, heart and commitment to Arsenal Football Club his game was riddled with costly defensive mistakes. He's put a bit more pressure on Vermaelen to work harder too. I don't want him to leave but I hope he improves for next season. I'd give him a 6.

Kieran Gibbs: Much like Djourou, injury has been the downfall of young Kieran Gibbs this season. He made only 7 appearances and was pretty solid until he had troubles with his back. He shows a lot of promise and I hope things go better for him next season. 6.5/10 from me.

Armand Traore: Armand was rumoured to be on his way to Birmingham at the start of the season but he quickly rubbished those rumours saying he wants to stay and fight for a place in the Arsenal team. He had 12 appearances and while he wasn't exactly stellar he wasn't really bad either. He had an indifferent season. To be fair to him however, he's not a natural defender, but a left midfielder who's being played at the back by Arsene Wenger to learn more about the defensive side of the game. Whether he'll still be here next season remains to be seen. Armand gets a 6/10.

Sol Campbell: When the rumours swirled about his return to Arsenal I was pretty vocal about being unsure that we should be taking a gamble like that. He's 35 years old and I questioned his ability to keep up with football at this level. Man did he prove me wrong! This is one of those cases where humble pie couldn't be any tastier to me. In my opinion, he's been our best signing this season. He's been very active, more so than you'd expect of someone his age and he's been very solid and consistent since signing for us in January and you can see the leadership he brings to the team while playing. He'll definitely be around next season and I'm happy we have his leadership at our disposal. Sol Campbell gets a 9/10 for me.

I just hit preview and realised that this will be a really long blog post if I continue. I'll let you rest your eyes a bit and you can check back later for part 2 with the midfield and attack ratings. Before you go, have a look back at the season that was:

(Special thanks to radioactivesound for the video)

Leave your thoughts on the ratings, what you agree/disagree with as well as your own ratings in the comment section below. Also give your thoughts on the video.

One more thing, please hit the follow button on the right before you go. Take care and have a good one!