Players
1. Jens Lehmann [7/10]
Germany's No. 1 lost his place after he's blunder against Blackburn, match number 3 for Arsenal, could have been 9pts instead of the 7pts. Did well to make noise and keep Almunia on his toes, not a great end to his time at arsenal but the old crazy man is loved and thank you
2. Abou Diaby [6/10]
Held back by injury and forced to play out of position for most of the season, can't really blame the young man. Flashes of good skills and quick feet for someone with such height, more to come from him next season
3. Bacary Sagna [8/10]
Relevation of the season, unknown french that Wenger dug out and shone at the earliest opportunity, keeping the right-back position for himself for a long time to come once he returns from injury, but that would take some time
4. Cesc Fabregas [8/10]
Lots of responsibilies for his young shoulders, an icon of Arsenal, loyalty to club despite interest from Real Madrid, Barcelona and all the big name clubs resulted in statements from the lad declaring his love for arsenal and how this was the best team for him, can't agree with him more
5. Kolo Toure [8/10]
Ever dependable centre-back that is effective, i sure hope King Kolo gets the armband next season, african nations cup pulled his away from club duties for awhile and he had to play in right-back after Sagna's injury. Possible replacement for Flamini as well, this dude packs a great long shot
6. Philippe Senderos [6/10]
Plenty of flak for his lack of composure against the big teams, still, i have faith that Senderos can improve. Give this lad a chance people
7. Tomas Rosicky [6/10]
Injury kept rosicky out for most of the season, hope his name didn't have anything to do with that. Explosive midfielder when he does play, could have played an important part when the slump set it
9. Eduardo [7/10]
1st season adjusting the the pace of the league and robust tackling, it took him awhile before the goals came, a box type player who shown he can finish calmly when the service is right, sickening injury ended his season and perhaps arsenal career, no one know for sure if he can perform at that level again, all the best eduardo, get well soon and i hope to see you on the pitch
10. William Gallas [6/10]
Wenger's surprise captain, spoilt brat when penalty was conceded against Birmingham, hero-like with he scored crucial goals against the big guns, people remember mistakes better, i remember his mistakes during the stump period, in particular against aerial attacks. Won't be too surprised if he doesn't stay too long at the club
11. Robin Van Persie [6/10]
Another injury stricken player that didn't have enough minutes on the pitch to show what he can do, can influence games when he does play, boy we missed him
13. Alexander Hleb [7/10]
Hleby hleby, where are you going? If he does make use of the Webster clause to buy out his own contract to join Inter, it would be the most controversial move in recent history. Needs to work on his willingness to shoot if he wants to be a quality player, great skills and holding ability
15. Denilson [6/10]
First season in the first team and he isn't showing enough to cement his place yet, glimpse of good skills and willingess to go for the ball, but more will be expected for this brazillian with great potential
16. Mathieu Flamini [7/10]
Flamini has been named Flamoney, as Ashley Cole became Cashley.
Can you really blame him? 4 seasons with arsenal, only 1 good run in the last season, rejected offer of 55,000 pounds a week to stay at arsenal. Good luck and have fun in milan
17. Alexandre Song [6/10]
Started appearing after the title chances seem to fade, played as centre-back and defensive mid, a decent youngster that would be pushing for the first team next season
19. Gilberto [6/10]
Probably the most experienced player in the squad, kept out of the team by Flamini, perhaps the lack of games for most part of the season affected his fitness and form when he did played, high in professionalism, continued to work hard despite not being in team, has signalled his intentions to stay on, i hope he does
20. Johan Djourou [6/10]
Played more for birmingham when out for loan, restricted to substitute appearance or carling cup games, the last match against sunderland was his first full start, did nothing wrong but didn't impress either
21. Lukasz Fabianski [7/10]
Did rather well in the early stages of Carling cup, shown his abilities against a determined sunderland team and did well to keep a clean sheet, has the tendancy to rush out of his box too often though. good shot stopper
22. Gael Clichy [9/10]
My choice for top player of the season, full of energy and determine, this guy rocks. Chases the ball non-stop, makes some mistakes but shows his determination on the pitch to recover from those mistakes and chase down the last ball, great at attacking runs too. Additional info: This lad played all 38 games for Arsenal this season, how's that for reliability?
24. Manuel Almunia [7/10]
Capable replacement when Lehmann made his mistake early in the season, he seemed to have established himself as the new number 1 in the coming seasons, another good shot stopper but needs to work on plucking the ball out from crosses, reacted with great professionalism when Lehmann continously breathe down his neck with insults on doubts on his ability
25. Emmanuel Adebayor [8/10]
Was it 30 goals from this player? With better finishing on the chances he had, he could have gotten 40, that's the reason he's getting all the flak from the supporters. Excellent first touch on the ball for such a giant, adebayor was dubbed the "replacement" for King Henry, but can Henry really be replaced? Answer = No. Still, ade has done better than what people are willing to get him credit for. Needs to work on finishing and teamwork
26. Nicklas Bendtner [7/10]
From the body language of the other players and this fellow's facial expressions, it seems like no one likes him. 9 goals is a good return for a youngster that on the fringe of the first team. Bendtner is capable of getting himself in good positions but no one seems to be interested to passing to him
27. Emmanuel Eboue [7/10]
Perhaps the most under-rated player, fans seems to hate him. Let's not forget that eboue was forced out of his right back position by Sagna and was thrusted into a right wing position, now attacking as a winger and a wing-back is very different and eboue links up rather well down the flank
30. Armand Traore [6/10]
Shows he can challenge for Clinchy's leftback position, promising youngster that whips in good crosses, rumoured to be nurtured as a left winger and why not. More to come from Traore
31. Justin Hoyte [6/10]
Haven't seen enough of this defender, slotted in for a few games but did nothing to impress. The fact that he's english would motivate fans to observe his development and perhaps play an important role in the future. Has a younger brother that's in the reserve team as well
32. Theo Walcott [7/10]
Still a player in the making in my opinion, have matured this season but still "incomplete". Lots of pace and has shown he can finish in the box. Needs to build up on his strength to overcome the big defenders, bullied out of the flanks too often. Wenger has thrown his support by saying that he is starting to show he is capable of starting matches. Well, he's not there yet, but i have faith he will feature for arsenal more next season
35.Mark Randall [7/10]
Still considered an unknown in the league, consistent performer for the reserves. Came on as a substitute in the final game against sunderland and finished one after e low cut back from walcott but was wrongly ruled offside. Had another shot on target after a box lay off by adebayor, another one for the future then. 2 shots in the short span of time on the pitch is a good return for the youngster
ARSENE WENGER [9/10]
Arsenal's BEST signing ever, Professor Wenger has proven his acumen at spotting gems in the making. Few knew who Eduardo and Sagna were before the season started and see the difference now. Wenger has insisted on spending within the club's means and this season, he choose not to reinforce the squad in the Jan transfer window. Many argue that wenger's inaction caused the crumble but who's to say the new signing(if they came) would not be a disruption to the style of play? Perhaps the greatest inaction was the failure to secure flamini to a new deal before the season ended, but if the player was serious about arsenal, he would have sign the final offer. Wenger has already declared that he knows who he wants this summer and is confident of getting them in, that's assurance from the boss on the transfer side of thing, speculatations will come and go, so lets see what Le Boss does. His faith in the youthful squad and developing players are not unfounded. Names to look out in 08/09 are aplenty; Vela, Barazite, Nordevit, Randall, Gibbs, Merida. The future looks bright, lets hope we continue with our football and win something this time
Towards 08/09 season!
