Arsenal Awards - Season 2011/12

Well we got there in the end. All things considered, third place was a very good outcome for us this season, given the dreadful summer we endured, the shocking start, injuries and bursts of poor form that all threatened to ensure our lowest finish under Arsene Wenger, and the possibility of missing out on Champions League football for the first time under his stewardship too.

But we limped our way over the finish line with a nervy 3-2 win at West Brom on the final day of the campaign, and it was very much a sense of relief and good riddance to the least enjoyable season that we’ve had for some time.

Instead of doing a text heavy month-by-month boring analysis of the season, I’ve decided to do as I did to celebrate the calendar year of 2011 and go for an Arsenal Awards themed blog to look back at the season just finished. Hope you enjoy!

Match Of The Season

ARSENAL 5 – SP*RS 2 – Premier League, 26^th February 2012

I think there are a few decent nominations for Match Of The Season. The 5-3 win at Chelsea, the late 1-0 win against Man City, and the 2-1 away win at Liverpool were all games of high intensity that we had to work incredibly hard to win. But none of them quite had the added meaning that our victory over Sp*rs in February had.

I don’t need to remind you of the scenes leading up to the game. But they were 10 points ahead of us in the League. Their best side in 50 years, our worst in the Wenger era. They went 2-0 up inside 35 minutes, and seemingly on their way to a 13-point lead over us that probably would have been too much to hunt down. But then something happened. Bacary Sagna had had enough, and rose highest to meet a Mikel Arteta cross to bring us back into the game. Moments later, and it was Robin van Persie whose sweeping left footed shot curled into the top corner. 2-2 at half time, then in the second half there was only going to be one winner.

It only took us five minutes in the second half before we were ahead through Tomas Rosicky, and Theo Walcott added two goals to the tally to complete a fantastic turnaround that ultimately was the beginning of the end of the supposed power shift in North London.

We won our next four games in the League to complete a seven game winning streak. Whilst at the same time, the wheels were well and truly falling off up the Seven Sisters Road, and Sp*rs couldn’t win a game to save their lives.

The hype around T*ttenham slowly began to fade after this, and they are now back in their rightful place which remains in our shadow. This match was a reminder once and for all, that North London is red.

Young Player Of The Season

WOJCIECH SZCZESNY

Maybe not the toughest category for competition, largely due to the absence of Jack Wilshere, the drop in form of Aaron Ramsey, the injuries of Kieran Gibbs, and the lack of game time for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Carl Jenkinson. But even had the above not happened, I think Wojciech Szczesny would have been in a good position to win this award anyway.

All right, we conceded 49 goals in the League this season. But we’ve had Szczesny to thank on more than one occasion, most notably for his penalty save in the Champions League qualifier against Udinese that helped us progress to the group stages.

The young Polish international has very much established himself as our number one, and has made great improvements to his game since he first arrived on the scene in the back end of the 2010/11 season.

Not the complete package yet by any means, and is still prone to mistakes with his distribution and can be rather eccentric when coming off his line. But I think he’s had a decent season, and mistakes made in the final few games can be associated to the fact he played through a shoulder injury, such is Wenger’s faith in him. He will only improve, and he's highly regarded by Arsenal goalkeeping legend Bob Wilson.  That should be enough to convince any doubters that this lad has what it takes… 

Most Improved Player Of The Season

LAURENT KOSCIELNY

What a season this man’s had. Especially after a difficult first season in English football, but now Laurent Koscielny is rightfully regarded as our first choice centre back, and in my view was exceptionally unlucky not to make the Premier League team of the year.

His positional awareness, reading and understanding of the game have been invaluable, as has his never say die attitude on the pitch. He’s outplayed several world-class forwards, including the likes of Fernando Torres and Sergio Aguero, and his consistency and bravery are admirable and vital in what’s been an otherwise struggling back four.

Definitely the man to base our back four around next season, and thoroughly deserving of his first French international cap, and place in their preliminary Euro 2012 squad for the summer. Would’ve had a serious sniff at Player Of The Year, had a certain Dutchman not existed.

Low Point Of The Year

MANCHESTER UNITED 8 – ARSENAL 2 – Premier League, 28^th August 2011

I hate this award, but it’s got to be done. Unfortunately, there are a few possible winners of this one. Defeats at Swansea, Blackburn and Fulham were all horrendous, as was the manner in which we ballsed up our superb recovery at home to Norwich only to concede a late shocker to draw. There’s even a good argument for the summer transfer window as a whole, and how that destabilised our squad, and resulted in the loss of our two best players from last season and a series of “panic buys” to make up for it.

But I can’t look past the 8-2 defeat at Old Trafford against Manchester United. It wasn’t only the result that was painful; and we all know, that was bloody hard to take. But the fallouts from it were horrific. We Arsenal fans suddenly became split, there were arguments, talks of protests, and generally awful behaviour from various members of our fine community. It became a miserable community to be a part of, and the shit stirring from most sides of the media didn’t aid it.

Luckily we did get past it though, and came out stronger at the other end. It’s only a bad memory now, but at the time it was an absolute nightmare.

Rising Star

ALEX OXLADE-CHAMBERLAIN

I was tempted in a way to make this a ‘Who To Look Out For in 2012/13’ award and give it to Jack Wilshere, but decided against it as I’m just more hopeful than anything that he’ll be fit for the start of the season. When he is back, he’ll need to be eased into the side, and we can’t put too much expectation on him too early. That’s what happened with Aaron Ramsey after his injury, and we all know how that worked out for him this season.

Anyway, I’m digressing. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was one of our main signings over the summer, but has been used sparingly by Arsene Wenger this season. He has bags of potential as we’ve seen on more than one occasion, and I’ve no doubt he has a huge future ahead of himself.

There were many calls from Gooners to use him more than he was through the tougher times in the back end of the season, but when Wenger did call on him The Ox didn’t quite have the impact many were hoping for, proving the decision to ease him in was the right one. He excelled against Milan, and was excellent in the home defeat against Man United, just to mention two of his many good moments in his first year in the Premier League.

He scored in each competition, and has explosive pace, strength and determination. We all hope to see more of him next season, and I’m sure we will. It’ll also be interesting to see if/how he’s used by Roy Hodgson at Euro 2012. Hopefully he returns with some international experience, no injuries and the chance to shine next season.

Goal Of The Season

ROBIN VAN PERSIE V EVERTON – Premier League, 10^th December 2011

It was the Arsenal 125^th anniversary game against Everton at the Emirates Stadium. The club had put on a fantastic show and there were plenty of legends in attendance. All that was missing was an Arsenal goal. And when it came, it was something more stunning than could ever have been imagined.

Alex Song made the goal with a delightful chip through the middle, and Robin van Persie let the ball drop over his shoulder and volleyed it into the far corner of the Everton goal. It was technically one of the best goals I’ve seen. Certainly this season, and it confuses me how two hit and hope shots (Cisse and Crouch) were deemed the best goals in the Premier League. But oh well, guess I’m biased.

RVP’s strike was controlled, calculated and he made it look easy when it was anything but. A fantastic goal, to mark a memorable day for the club.

Flop Of The Season

JU YOUNG PARK

A couple of worthy runners up in this award, first one being Andrei Arshavin who was nothing more than a passenger for the part he played this season. He arrived with so much potential, but has failed to really utilise it despite being excellent in bursts. Yeah he got a few assists this season, but was mostly useless, lazy and ineffective. I’d be surprised if we see him in our colours again.

Another one is Marouane Chamakh, who I do have some sympathy for. Because he was playing pretty well for us whilst van Persie was injured last season. But RVP got fit again, started scoring for fun, and Chamakh was left unable to get any kind of game time. He actually played OK when he came on against Norwich, but ultimately didn’t get the game time required to be of any use to us this season.

But I’m going to give it to Ju Young Park, a player we signed last summer from Monaco for just under £3m. Upon his arrival, Wenger said, “he will add true quality to our attacking forces and will be a valuable addition to the squad”. Sadly, he wasn’t.

Just one substitute appearance in the League, two appearances in Europe, and three starts and his only Arsenal goal in the League Cup, and I fear that’ll be all we see of Park in an Arsenal shirt. Can only assume he was purchased to be a backup striker and to aid our marketing potential in the Korean market, but Wenger realised quite quickly that he isn’t good enough for Arsenal, and for that reason he’s my Flop Of The Season and he has to be sold this summer.

Signing Of The Season

MIKEL ARTETA

Another who would probably feature on the podium for Player Of The Season, but Mikel Arteta has established himself as our midfield metronome, and by a long way was our Signing Of The Season in my view. Probably a player we should have signed a couple of years ago, but that’s irrelevant to this piece.

I’ll double this up and make his Mr Consistent as well, as he has been exceptionally consistent all season long, and until we beat West Brom on the final day of the season, we hadn’t won in the League when Arteta was absent. He controls the midfield, provides fantastic link up play from defence to attack, and generally made the team better with his presence.  He also popped up to score some great goals, including the winner against Man City, and a screamer against Aston Villa.

A fantastic signing, despite apparently being a “panic buy”, and he’ll be fundamental to our progress next season. Hopefully playing alongside a young lad called Jack. But let’s not get carried away just yet.

Emergence Of The Season

TOMAS ROSICKY

I felt like Tomas Rosicky deserved an award of some sort for the part he’s played in the recovery of our season, and I think Emergence Of The Season is a fitting tribute to his efforts. It was tempting to give him a ‘Breakthrough’ related award, but that seems more relevant to younger players, so emergence it is and what an arrival Rosicky had in the second half of the season.

It all appeared as if his Arsenal career was heading towards its end, and that he was nothing more than a squad player as we entered 2012. He was linked to a move away to German side Wolsburg, with several fans appearing to agree that it was time he moved on.

Luckily, he didn’t. And with Aaron Ramsey struggling especially in the difficult month of January, Rosicky stepped up and really took the attacking lead by the scruff of the neck in our midfield trio. From nowhere, he suddenly burst onto the scene and was at the forefront of our seven game winning streak. And having not previously scored in the League for two years, he bagged three goals in our run in including the all important third goal in the 5-2 win against Sp*rs.

A hard worker, Rosicky was the epitome of our effective pressing system, and never shied away from getting back to support the defence. He emerged with a bang, and I can only hope it wasn’t a one off, and that the Little Mozart carries it on into next season.

Champagne Moment Of The Season

THIERRY HENRY V LEEDS – FA Cup 3^rd Round, 9^th January 2012

It gives me goose bumps even thinking about it. The return of the prodigal son, the all time club record goal scorer, the best player I’ve ever had the privilege of watching play. I’m not big on footballing clichés, but it was almost meant to be that Thierry Henry would score on his return to the Emirates Stadium for Arsenal, in the FA Cup 3^rd Round match against Leeds United, of whom we were struggling to break down when he came on in the 68^th minute.

It only took him ten minutes to mark his return. And it was a classic Henry finish, too. Picked up an Alex Song through ball, collected it in his stride perfectly, and rolled it into the far corner of the net with an almost gentle side footer past the Leeds keeper. He’s the coolest character around, but the celebration that followed was nothing short of pure emotion. He loves the club, and it was a fairy-tale that he scored on his return to win us the game.

Sure, there are good shouts for the John Terry slip at Stamford Bridge, the fight back against Sp*rs and the consequent minding of the gap they so often told us about. And even the full time whistle at The Hawthorns, and the relief that ensued knowing that we’d finally done it and finished third to reach the Champions League for yet another season.

But for me, none of them come close to triumphant Return Of The King. It was a special moment, and one that only we Arsenal fans will ever truly understand the value of. Champagne doesn’t quite do it justice. It’s a moment that’ll be etched in Arsenal folklore for decades to come.

Player Of The Season

ROBIN VAN PERSIE

I’ve decided to save the best till last, and quite simply there has been nothing better than Robin van Persie this season for Arsenal. 36 goals in total, top goal scorer in the League, PFA and FWA Player of the Season, and the man who we relied on to get us out of the abyss we were facing, and lead us to the third place finish.

Yeah, we’re not a one-man team, and Robin will be the first to admit that. As he did in his acceptance speech for the PFA award, where he specifically praised Theo Walcott for his contribution to the Dutchman’s goals. But it’s a pretty scary thought to consider where would we have ended up had we not had van Persie in our side. One that I won’t explore now, tomorrow, or ever.

He’s been our hero this season. His leadership has been exemplary, and in my eyes he is an Arsenal legend. We can all only hope that he’s with us again not only next season, but the seasons after that one too.

It’ll be a nervy wait until we know what he wants to do, but in the mean time let’s just enjoy the class act that has been Robin van Persie in the 2011/12 season.