Arsenal Season Review 2009/10 The Players.

For the last part of my season review I'm going to have a look at the individual players and rate their performances for the season. On Tuesday I listed the highlights of the season, and I forgot to mention my own personal highlight was my trip to the Emirates to see Arsenal beat Burnley 3-1, and I meet some really nice people that day too.

On Wednesday I forgot to mention in my lowlights of the season that my personal worst moment was the Saturday morning that I spent sitting on a plane in Dublin airport waiting to take off before eventually, after four hours, having to abandon my trip to the Everton game as the airport was closed due to a tiny amount of snow.

So to my player ratings for the season that has just finished. I'll try to be as fair as possible and judge players by their actual performances and not what I think they are capable of or not capable of. The marking system is as follows.

3—Very, very poor(not good enough to play for a Championship team even).

4—Poor (capable of playing for Hull).

5—Below average (not good enough for Arsenal but usable in a crisis).

6—Average (a squad player who can play the odd game).

7—Good (Good enough to be a first team regular without setting the world alight).

8—Very Good (A star of the first team and always one of the first names on the team sheet).

9—Outstanding (A crucial player to have fit in every single game).

10—Magnificent (Cesc like in their performances).

Let's start with the goalkeepers and unfortunately the marks aren't going to be too high in this area.

Almunia—I've never been a fan of his and I don't think he's good enough to play for Arsenal. He had a poor season and his decision making has got worse. His defenders have no confidence in him, and it leads to mistakes at the back. I don't believe that he has been actually injured when he has been left out, and that can only mean his confidence is in tatters. We need a top class keeper and the manager has to ditch this project as a lost cause—4.

Fabianski—I held out hope that he could be the keeper that we needed to oust Almunia, but almost every time he plays he makes a mistake of epic proportions.  He may have the potential to be a very good keeper, but that won't be realised at Arsenal where he is like a blinded rabbit in the headlights and we need to get rid of him. His mistakes against Porto were a joke, and as a result his score reflects that—4.

Mannone—He came in for a few games when the two above players were injured and he did exceptionally well against Fulham before a bad mistake against West Ham let them back into the game to ultimately gain a point. He has potential but he also has a lot to learn too and a spell on loan might benefit him.

Szczesny—He played the first Carling Cup game of the season against West Brom when we won 2-0, and he did well enough, but after that his chances were limited due to age and inexperience. As a result he went on loan to Brentford and there have been very good reports about his performances for them. He has huge potential and hopefully he can fulfill that at Arsenal in the not too distant future, but I can't see him being first choice for next season. His score reflects the fact that he only played one game for us but that he did well on loan—6.

Sagna—He was a revelation in his first season, but an injury he suffered late in that season against Chelsea has had an effect on his game ever since in my opinion. This season he still defended well most of the time, but his crossing left a lot to be desired at times when he got forward, and I long to see the player who had such a fantastic debut season re emerge—7.

Eboue—Last season he had his trials and tribulations, particularly when the fans turned on him at home to Wigan. I was there that day and even though I didn't join in on the booing I thought it was justified given the complete lack of effort he put in. I have never seen a professional player play so badly and seemingly not care about it. To his credit he has put his head down and worked really hard, and as a result the fans have learned to love him again. He has become a cult figure and his commitment and effort on the pitch cannot be questioned. However I still think he is a little dodgy defensively and he's also too prone to diving for my liking—6.

Clichy—Another player who has had terrible problems with injury this season and as a result his game has suffered. He missed a lot of games before Christmas and when he came back he clearly wasn't match fit, but he played out of necessity and his performances suffered. He has gradually improved and personally I think he looks like he is close to his best again and we will hopefully benefit from that next season—7.

Gibbs—This should have been the season where he made his breakthrough to the first team, and possibly travelled to the World Cup as back up to the ex Mr. Tweedey, but again injury blighted his season. He was very unlucky to break his foot when Clichy was injured and he hasn't played a game since that night last November. For me he's certainly one for the future and I'll be happy to see him make his return next season—6.

Traore—He managed to start in nine Premier league games and I can't remember him playing well in any of them. It would seem that left back is the preferred position for him although he did well in a wide left role while on loan at Portsmouth last season. I can't see him having a future at Arsenal to be honest, and I wonder if next season will be his last one—5.

Gallas—When he made a shambles of his job as captain the fans weren't too happy with him, and it looked like he was a certainty to leave us, but to be fair to him he has kept his head down, his mouth shut and got on with what he does best—playing football. His partnership with Vermaelen has been very good this season and if it wasn't for his late season injury we may have had a better end to the season defensively anyway. Having said all that it does look like we will lose his services for next season as his contract is up and he's over 30 which usually spells the end of a career at Arsenal—7.

Campbell—When we signed him in January I was absolutely dismayed as I thought it was a step backwards and I didn't think he was up to the job any more. I was delighted when he showed us that he hasn't lost his passion and desire, and to be honest, he showed a few of the other players what it means to play for Arsenal at times. I'm still not sure that he is the future of Arsenal central defence but he can play the odd game when others are injured once he isn't called upon to play more than once a week—6.

Vermaelen—His first season at Arsenal went really well and he performed better than I had hoped for when we signed him last summer. He was the top goalscoring centre  back in the Premier league, and having played for Ajax he can play football properly as well as being an excellent defender. His partnership with Gallas was crucial to us at times and hopefully a suitable partner can be found for him next season. My only gripe is that in some of the really big games he got caught too far forward as we chased the game,  and it led to us conceding more goals. A defenders first job is to defend and he needs reminding of that occasionally but then again so do most of our defenders—8.

Silvestre—What can I say about a player who was signed when the boss told us he would only sign top class players to improve the team? He is the exact opposite of that description and he scares me every time I see him in an Arsenal shirt. I'm not accusing him of not trying, but in my opinion he simply isn't good enough and I would prefer to see some of the youngsters get a chance before him. His contract is up this summer and I have heard no talk whatsoever of a renewal being offered so we can only hope that we have seen the back of him—4.

Djourou—His only game all season was the final one against Fulham where he played 28 minutes after a season wrecked by injury. There's a lot of hope for him for the future but he will have to get himself injury free and live up to that hope before too long or he will be another player to find another club within the next couple of years. 

Senderos, Bartley and Gilbert all played a few minutes here and there in fairly meaningless games and it's hard to judge them on those but I think Senderos will leave this summer as his contract is up and I can't see Gilbert making the grade in my opinion. However Bartley did well on loan at Sheffield United and he's a real prospect for the future. Personally I thought his loan should have been cut short if it was possible when both Gallas and Vermaelen were injured so that we could see how well he performed in the first team. Surely he would have been better than Silvestre.

That's it for today before I bore everybody to tears but I'll run through the midfield and attacking players tomorrow. 

Here's a few goals from the top scoring centre back in the Premier league.

See You Tomorrow.