Season review’s are an important part of football, every team sit down at the end of each season and discuss how they feel the campaign went, what could have been better and what could have been worse, so I’m going to give it a go for Arsenal.
First off, the signings. The first and arguably the biggest signing this season was Alexis Sanchez from Barcelona. Going from playing with Neymar, Lionel Messi and the like to Olivier Giroud, Danny Welbeck and Mesut Özil must have been an interesting difference (I’d like to think it was anyway, as they’re quite the opposite).
Despite this, Sanchez was a revelation for Arsenal in the first half of the season. He already had 18 goals by December, which tailed off considerably in 2015. The Chilean played in over 50 games in his first season, finishing on 24 goals. He’s also been moved around a fair bit this season, if WhoScored is to believe. He was well worth the £35million that was spent on him, in my eyes, though the effect he had at the start of the season seems to have worn off on some. 9/10.
Mathieu Debuchy was brought in a week later from Newcastle to fill the void left by the departing Bacary Sagna, who joined Manchester City on a free transfer. Unfortunately for Debuchy, it’s not been the easiest first season, and it’s through no fault of his own. His first few games for Arsenal were fairly impressive, though he did get sent off in the Champions League play-off game against Beşiktaş. He suffered injury in September, which kept him out for three months, returning in late December. He managed another month before dislocating his shoulder against Stoke, which kept him out for another three months. Debuchy played in the FA Cup semi-final win against Reading, but Hector Bellerin currently occupies the right-back position in the team and has impressed. Far from the season Debuchy would’ve wanted at the Gunners, so it wouldn’t be fair to judge too harshly. 6/10.
The third was some much-needed recruitment in the goalkeeping department, as David Ospina came in from French side Nice. Ospina played second fiddle to Wojciech Szczesny until the now infamous ‘cigarette in the showers’ incident after the Southampton loss. Ospina came into the side for the next game against Hull and hasn’t looked back. Although some performances have been fairly shaky, which seems to be a theme among Arsenal goalkeepers over the past 10 years (now would be a good time to refer back to the early days of Lukasz Fabianski and Szczesny), Ospina seems more than capable of holding down a number one position at Arsenal. A very smart buy for a mere £3million. 7/10.
Calum Chambers was the fourth player to be brought in during the summer transfer window. At just 19, this seemed like one for the future, despite the fact that the Gunners splashed out £16million to get the former Southampton man. Originally signed as a right back, Chambers was immediately thrown into the deep end, filling in for an absent Per Mertesacker at centre back in the Community Shield final.
The following few games really showed Arsenal fans what Chambers was made of, putting in thoroughly professional defensive performances against Beşiktaş and Aston Villa. His first goal came in November against Burnley, but performances started to dip and his inexperience at the top level became evident. Chambers had a rather torrid time at right back against Swansea and Stoke, seeing red against the latter.
Injury to Mathieu Debuchy allowed Chambers more game time on the right side of the defence, but he was soon swapped out for Hector Bellerin, a move which has seen the young Spaniard winning plaudits all season for his impressive performances. Not a bad season by any means for the youngster, who could have a bright future ahead of him at Arsenal. 7/10.
The final summer signing was a rather unexpected one, as injury to Olivier Giroud saw Wenger dip into the market for a deadline day striker. The result was Manchester United’s Danny Welbeck, who signed for £16miilion. While most people were impressed that Arsenal had gone for a pacey player up top, which was much needed, they were left fairly disappointed by the end of the season.
Welbeck has been involved in 27 league games for the Gunners this season, but has scored just four times, the least of all the Arsenal strikers this season. I’ve been massively disappointed with Welbeck this season, maybe it’s because I have too high expectations. But for me, even if he’s played out on the wing, an average of one goal every seven games is really not good enough for £16million. 4/10.
Gabriel signed from Villarreal for a fee of around £10million, but has not been involved as much as he or anyone else may have expected, mainly due to the upturn in form of Per Mertesacker, who, it’s safe to say, didn’t have the best first half to a season we’ve ever seen.
Gabriel has mostly had to settle for a spot on the bench, only coming into the team due to injuries to other players or for early stages of cup games. Six league games in total, as well as two FA Cup games. Arsenal have won every game that Gabriel has played in so far, conceding five goals. The Brazilian managed to get his first Premier League assist before the close of the season, flicking the ball on for Jack Wilshere to score against West Brom. It’s been a quiet start, but he may be the future of Arsenal’s defence at 24. 6/10.
Premier League
Now we’re getting into the good stuff. Despite a typically slow Arsenal start to the season, the second half of the season has been very good to Arsenal fans. There’s no doubting that the turning point was winning at the Etihad, which would also be my pick for performance of the season. A third placed finish is an improvement on the past two seasons, where fourth place has seemingly been the goal.
The major disappointment from the league campaign would be how quickly we were out of it. It may have been an unbeaten first two months, but two wins and six draws is definitely not title-worthy form. The second half of the season has seen just three defeats (to Southampton, Spurs and Swansea), but an eight-game winning streak has been key to Arsenal finishing five clear of their nearest league rivals. Dropped points against Swansea, Sunderland and Chelsea ultimately cost the Gunners a chance of a first top-two finish in 10 years, but it was clearly not meant to be. Another solid season, but I’m expecting some form of title charge next season. 7/10.
Capital One Cup
The Capital One Cup hasn’t been kind to an Arsene Wenger Arsenal side. The Frenchman has never won the tournament in his 19 years at the club, coming closest against Chelsea and Birmingham, losing both finals. This season was no different, as Arsenal were knocked out at the first hurdle, another defeat to Southampton. While Alexis Sanchez’s free-kick was a goal worthy of winning the game, Nathaniel Clyne’s reply was worthy of much, much more. His 30-yarder flew into the top corner. No real qualms about this tournament for me, we lost to the better team on the night, and to a cracking goal. I’m sure all Arsenal fans would agree that getting further in any tournament would be nice, however. 3/10.
FA Cup
Ah, the FA Cup. Easily the best competition that Arsenal have been involved in this season. Another season, another trophy for the club, and what a way to win it. The main difference between the run to the final this year compared to last year is that the Gunners have actually had to play away from the Emirates for some games. 2-0 wins against Hull and Middlesbrough at the Emirates, and a 3-2 away win against Brighton were rewarded with a tough trip to Old Trafford. Not much was expected of Arsenal in that tie, United being clear favourites on their own turf.
But it was written in the stars that one of their old boys would be back to haunt them. Danny Welbeck played at Old Trafford for the first time since leaving for Arsenal, and was on hand to capitalise on a poor pass from Antonio Valencia, rounding David de Gea before scoring to send Arsenal to Wembley again.
It was another struggle to overcome a Championship side at the semi-final stage, with an unfortunate mistake from Reading goalkeeper Adam Federici enough to see Arsenal scrape past them as 2-1 winners. The final was quite easily the most comfortable game of the entire cup run, a thumping 4-0 win against Aston Villa, including a rather spectacular goal from Alexis Sanchez, was the perfect way to end the season for the Gunners. 10/10.
Champions League
Something about Arsenal and European competitions really doesn’t mix. The Gunners haven’t made it past the last 16 of the Champions League since 2010, but this year, it was more surprising that they failed to do so. After getting through the group stage and finishing behind Dortmund on goal difference, they were lucky to finally avoid the likes of Bayern and Barcelona in the last 16. Or so they thought.
Arsenal fans tend to be very naive when it comes to cup ties and knockout games. Whenever the easier teams come about, most seem to forget about Birmingham in 2011, Bradford in 2012 and so on. Arsenal do not make it easy for themselves in the cup games. Ever. There is almost a sense of relief when the ‘lesser’ teams come out, and this season, it was more along the lines of ‘we might actually win something/get past this stage for once’. Very few also seemed to remember that Monaco had beaten Arsenal in pre-season. ‘Oh, but they don’t have Falcao any more, they’re no good without him, we’ll thrash them in February’ were just a handful of the responses I remember reading on the day of the draw. How that would come back to bite them.
It was the home performance which let down Gunners fans yet again. A 3-1 defeat was only cushioned by Oxlade-Chamberlain’s late goal, even though Monaco had gone on to score again after that. It was more a hope of ‘by how many’ after the first leg, with everything stacked against Arsenal. A 2-0 win in Monaco unsurprisingly wasn’t enough, and another early exit from European competition became a reality. A definite must-do-better for next season. 4/10.
Overall, it’s hard to argue for Arsenal having a below-average season, seeing as they’ve made improvements in the league (position, not points) and have now won back-to-back FA Cup trophies after that nine-year drought. Winning trophies is always a good sign as it gives the club something to build on. There’s definitely work needed, but it’s a welcome relief to see changes from last season, especially against most of the bigger teams.
It’s fairly obvious to most where the improvements are really needed, so hopefully we’ll see whether or not the club does the right thing in the summer to prepare us all for an even better 2015/16 season. My rating for the season as a whole – 7.5/10.
Player of the season
This comes as a surprise to nobody, but I have to give this to Alexis Sanchez. While his goals have dried up since the turn of the year, there’s no hiding that his performances have helped Arsenal to many vital points this season. The £30million fee was repaid almost instantly, and his determination and willingness to chase every ball is something that we all hope one day rubs off on the other 10 players on the pitch. Well, maybe not the goalkeeper.
Biggest disappointment
Danny Welbeck, for me. I’m a big fan of him, and I was delighted when he signed. Whether that was because we actually signed a player in a position where we desperately needed it or not, I don’t know. But this season, he’s massively disappointed me. The obvious highlights of his first season were the Champions League hat-trick and the winner against Manchester United, but, other than that, he’s done little to impress. The way he’s switched between the wing and the number nine role is also something I’m not so fond of, but I expect a lot more from him next season. It’s good to see that he recognises his own failings this season as well, and knows how he can improve. Fingers crossed we all get to see that improvement in the coming year.
Most improved player
Again, a no-brainer for me. Nacho Monreal has had a fantastic season, and I’m sure that many would agree. Not only is it proven in stats (I’m not all about that, but I’m going to use some anyway), but he’s had to adapt to a different role at times this season. He’s played nine games at centre back this season, and has also been the main man at left back. It’s clear to see that he’s worked on his game, and is more controlled on the flank.
While he offers less of an attacking threat than Kieran Gibbs, Monreal seems a more stable option defensively. There are rumours of a possible sale to Athletic Bilbao, which, although they don’t add up with Wenger’s plans not to sell a defender in the summer, I hope don’t end up coming true.
I’m sure that I’ll come back to do a season preview again in August, but hopefully you all made it through the 2,300 words I’ve managed to get out of Arsenal’s season. Solid, but something that can the club can build on with the right adjustments. Up the Arsenal!
