16th July - Part Two

So something a bit different in this one. As I did my Liverpool player ratings, my friend Alex decided to do his Arsenal ones. Now I've got a few more of these coming in the next few days, so keep an eagle eye on this space and more will be unleashed on you. 

See you tomorrow...

Petr Cech- 7.5/10: A lot of expectation came with Arsenal's only summer signing. A very wobbly first few games and later on when long range shots at the near post were beating him. However another golden glove for 16 clean sheets in 32 games displays how he picked up form and stayed consistently good. He saved us a lot of points and it is a strange feeling for a Gunner to have so much confidence in their keeper, but for some reason other teams seem to have a worldie in their locker against him. Stats show he is the best keeper in the league from shots inside the box, and one of the poorest from outside. A very strange stat indeed.

David Ospina- 6/10: Generally did a solid job whenever he was called up, looking very good in a few games when Cech had his 'welcome to Arsenal' injury but then some horrific and very high profile clangers put us under a lot of pressure in the champions league.

Hector Bellerin- 8.5/10: Proving he was not a one season wonder, Bellerin continued on from his breakthrough season with a handful of assists and a goal. For someone so young he has dealt really well with the pressure in big games and has performed well all year. Looking like he could be world class when he is older

Mathieu Debuchy- 1/10: Awful when he played, constantly complained when he wasn't. Showed absolutely no desire to fight for his place and kept whining to either play or move and was rubbish when both happened. Looks like he never came back from his injury. I'd say it's a shame but his bad mentality makes me care very little.

Calum Chambers- 5/10: Tricky one to rate due to such limited game time. Still looks like Wenger doesn't know his best position. He's bounced between defence and midfield and looked alright but doesn't seem to be developing at much pace. Lack of game-time is obviously an issue, but had a real standout game vs Leicester.

Per Mertesacker- 6.5/10: He won't look back at this as one of his best seasons but still not a bad one from the BFG. He gets a lot of underserved criticism for being slow but his leadership and tactical reading of the game is the best in our squad and it shows when he isn't in the team. A few moments of being exposed isn't enough to think he has no place in our squad, he still passes the ball out well and defends solidly but it is hard being a slower defender in the modern game

Laurent Koscielny - 7.5/10: Another great season from the Frenchman who always seems overlooked due to the stereotype of Arsenal as having a 'bad defence'. Part of the reason why Cech has so many clean sheets is our strong back line. Barely any mistakes, strong in the air, quick and only 3 yellows shows how good his tackling has become. He can even pop up with a goal or two when we really need it and has great distribution. Just needs to sort out his odd tendency to turn his back on shots at goal.

Gabriel Paulista- 6.5/10: Really looked like he could be a star early on but lost his head a few too many times. He seems to have a last ditch tackle or interception for every occasion but then will go and do something very silly  and confuse us all. Perhaps this is due to communication issues, its well known he still speaks very little English and this may be the root of his issues.

Nacho Monreal- 8/10: Quietly brilliant all season. He garnered a bad reputation when he first came to the club after some very poor displays in big games that got highlighted on MOTD and those who get all their football knowledge from highlight reels made their minds up then. Since then he bulked up, massively improved his aerial game, tackling and his distribution. You can always rely on Monreal to have a good game. He always does his job, every single time.

Kieran Gibbs- 5/10: Bit of a shame this. I always liked Gibbs, but he hasn't progressed where Monreal has. Monreal missed only 1 game last season, meaning Gibbs has had to watch from the sidelines. In the brief few appearances he did make in cup games, he performed well the same as he always has. Generally solid all round, attacks better than he defends and popped up with a goal against Spurs at a critical moment. Wish he would kick on and really start challenging for Nacho's spot, but I can't see it happening.

Mathieu Flamini- 4/10: He will always be remembered for his two goals against Spurs at WHL, but seemed to have aged 4 years this season. Seemed a bit slower and less useful than last year despite still yelling at everyone to organize just as frequently. He can still be helpful as a substitution but as the Barcelona game shows we really could do with a better choice. However it also came out that he is saving the world through funding advanced scientific research. Who knew?

Mikel Arteta- 2/10: Barely featured at all this season, looked like a player about to retire when he did. The goal he scored with his last touch for the club was special, but he said himself that he is no longer at the standard needed to play for Arsenal. A good servant for the club but a sad final season

Jack Wilshere - N/A: Breaking news, Jack Wilshere injured. Constantly broken and in the brief spells in which he played he was a player coming back from a bad injury until he got another bad injury. Jack can be a real game changing player, but his health just permanently lets him down.

Francis Coquelin- 6/10: The revelation of last season was a lot more muted this time around. A big injury kept him out for most of the season and mainly just did a lot of running around when he came back. Only got 90 minutes 4 times after January 1st, but hey no-one thought he would be anywhere near the first team last season. His defensive work is sublime and he has a killer long ball, but he can't shoot to save his life, but then again, we don't need him to score goals.

Mohammed Elneny- 7/10: This may seem a bit of a high rating, but I can never recall any moment of Elneny messing up. He has come in and done a great job of defending, transitioning into attack and attacking himself. The main issue is that we have players better than Elneny at what he does. Cazorla is a better attacker and Coquelin is a better defender. Not exactly sure where his place will be, but I am very happy that he is in the club. Hasn't staked a claim to be a first team player but I don't think he was ever bought to be, hence the high rating. For what he in the squad to do, he does it and does it very well.

Aaron Ramsey - 5/10: Started well playing out right, then started publically declaring his will to play in the middle and became a bit anonymous. Annoyingly with Coquelin, Cazorla and Elneny all in the middle we can't really put Ramsey there, but he can change games when things all come together for him. That one season where he ruled the roost seems a bit distant now. A series of unimpressive performances whilst being plonked into many different positions lead to a poor season for Rambo.

Tomas Rosicky- N/A: Like Wilshere he simply hasn't played enough to make any estimation at his grade. A shame to see his Arsenal career fizzle out like this, but we all thought it might. Clearly a popular figure at the club, he will be missed, particularly by the medical staff.

Santi Cazorla- 6/10: Played fantastically early in the season when our team was fully fit, he really makes us tick and we look like world beaters. Then a crippling injury ended everything. It showed how influential he was, when he was there Giroud was scoring for fun and Ozil was the league's best player. Hopefully he can come back and stay injury free next season.

Mesut Ozil- 9/10: The star player this season, racking up 19 assists, mainly in the early season when the whole team was fit. He proved this season that he really is a world class player and honestly he is a pleasure to watch every game. He is a bit defensively suspect but if you watch closely you sometimes get shocked seeing him track back and put a tackle in. His passes are great, he was always available and he set up so many chances this season. Worthy of his assist memes.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain- 4/10: He was supposed to finally kick on and have his breakout season. The talent has always been there, and his performance vs. Chelsea in the Community shield led us all to think it was now. It wasn't. All downhill from that game, seemed to have regressed from last season. Gave the ball away a lot, fired a lot of shots into nothing and never really impressed. Sad.

Theo Walcott- 5/10: I always try to remember Theo at his best, it seemed he had sorted out his passing and defensive game earlier on and was scoring for fun. Then, like the rest of the squad, he got injured. Then when he came back he was scared to rush in for fear of injury, sluggish and missed a lot of chances. Back to Theo of old. He had his chance to play upfront and it did not go well.  Disappointing.

Joel Campbell- 7/10: Every time he played he looked dangerous, direct and powerful. Everything Theo should have been. Had a great run of games in the squad and suddenly got totally shut out from the team. Wenger seems unimpressed for some reason. I recall a game that desperately needed a goal where Wenger brought on Theo and Joel. Joel made 3-4 chances and had multiple dribbled all within 4 minutes and Theo did nothing with 15. Hope he doesn't leave and gets more time, good to have him in the squad.

Alex Iwobi- 7/10: I don't want to get carried away with Iwobi as he is still young, but he really impressed this season. Usually played second fiddle in the academy to Akpom but really came into his own this season. Barely 700 minutes to his name and he has 2 goals,2 assists and plenty of chances at 21. Strong, direct and a real handful for defenders. Let's see what happens next season

Danny Welbeck- 6/10: He gave us all hope. 6 goals in 11 appearances after 9 months out is really commendable. He had a really fantastic impact to the squad that really needed something fresh upfront. However, he still spent most of the season injured. Beginning and end. He deserves more but he needs to stay fit and crack on with the solid work he was done already

Alexis Sanchez- 7/10: Compared to his first season it was a bit lacklustre. For 2/3 of the season he was either injured or performing poorly. Looked like he had burned out after constant football for almost 3 years. He just seemed to be running into brick walls and losing the ball. Then things started to click and he got back on form, ending his season with a tasty 17 goals.

Olivier Giroud- 7/10: Possibly the hardest rating in the squad. Inconsistent and not a media darling but he has proven how useful he is to the team, providing a centre point for everyone to move off. His touch and passing for a man of his size is astounding. In the air and at the near post he is lethal. Scored for fun when the team was on fire in the early season, then the injuries came in and the team stopped playing so well. Then came 4 months without a goal. He isn't a striker that scored out of the blue when the team is out of form, but when he is injured and not the in the squad we often play worse. A really tricky one, but 24 goals in all competitions is a good return and is one of the best strikers around in a world where there doesn't seem to be many. He just isn't a great one.