With the 2013/14 season review already published, it’s time to relive those moments that would that stood out from yet another exhilarating campaign. Arsenal had a great preseason tour in Asia but began the Premier League on a bad note with a defeat to Aston Villa. After a topsy turvy campaign, the Gunners had to make do with a fourth placed finish despite leading the table for a considerably long period of time.
The Champions League campaign was halted by Bayern Munich yet again and Jose Mourinho’s good record over Wenger continued this season and the Portuguese manager defeated Arsene Wenger in the Capital One Cup. However, the season ended on a high with the Gunners ending their long-standing trophy drought after winning Hull City in a pulsating final encounter.
With no further ado, I’ve created eleven categories for the voting sequence (polls) and I’ll be grateful if you select the category that best suits you then place your vote.
Enjoy!
Category One: Save of the Season
This season, Arsenal fielded Wojciech Szczesny for a large chunk of the campaign in the Premier League and Champions League but Lukasz Fabianski was the custodian between the sticks in the domestic cup competitions. As for Emiliano Viviano, he could just say that he enjoyed the London scenery for a year and he trained regularly at London Colney.
The nominated saves of the season include – Szczesny’s improvised save from Jermaine Defoe’s deflected shot against Tottenham (home), Szczesny’s superb save from Mila Jedinak’s shot against Crystal Palace (away) and Szczesny’s save from Moussa Sissko’s drive against Newcastle (away).
Category Two: Goal of the Season
As expected from an attacking side like Arsenal, the goals have rained in this season but there have been some that have stood out from the rest. Here’s my pick of the bunch – Jack Wilshere’s deft finish after a magnificent team move when the Gunner hosted Norwich, Aaron Ramsey’s belter against Norwich (away) and Tomas Rosicky’s chip over Vito Mannone following another great team move against Sunderland.
Category Three: Match of the Season
Arsenal fans watch their darling team play week in week out but there will always be some games that would last forever in the minds of the supporters. This season, my pick is – Arsenal’s FA Cup victory over Hull, the FA Cup win over Tottenham and Arsenal’s comfortable league win over Liverpool.
Category Four: Worst Match of the Season
While there were games that filled the fans with fits of euphoria, there were other games we couldn’t wait to see the back of. This season, Arsenal has had a plethora of horrible results but I had to sift from a host of them before concluding with – the humiliating decimation against Chelsea, the uninspiring drubbing in the hands of Liverpool and losing to the worst Manchester United side in decades.
Category Five: Most Disappointing Draw of the Season
Sometimes, it’s saddening to know that the difference between one point and three is just one goal but there were games when the Gunners failed to get that telling goal that would settle the game. My pick for the most disappointing draw of the season are Arsenal’s toothless performance against Manchester United at the Emirates, Arsenal capitulation against Swansea (home) and Arsenal’s home draw against Everton.
Category Six: Most Improved Player of the Season
This season, many players stepped up the plate to put up much-improved performances in contrast to how they played last season. Many players improved in all ramifications but my pick of the bunch was Aaron Ramsey’s performances all season long, the new-look Per Mertesacker and the consistent performances for Kieran Gibbs.
Category Seven: Most Disappointing Player of the Season
While there were some Gunners that put up improved performances all season long, there were others that had disappointing spells as the season progressed that made the fans call for their heads on a plate. This season, there were occasions when Nacho Monreal, Lukas Podolski and Bacary Sagna failed to come to the fray.
Category Eight: Youngster of the Season
As we all know, Arsenal is a club that gives chances to youngsters and there were some that took their opportunities with both hands when it arrived. My pick for the youngsters of the season are Serge Gnabry and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Category Nine: Unsung Hero of the Season
While it was evident that there were some players that took the spotlight for their performances, there were other players that weren’t really recognized on the pitch for their effortless work in making the team tick. Gooner Daily has recognized the efforts of Kieran Gibbs, Mikel Arteta and Laurent Koscielny.
Category Ten: Best Moment of the Season
This season, there have been several iconic moments but nothing stands out more than watching Mesut Ozil score his debut goal, lifting the FA Cup and seeing the team at the summit of the Premier League on countless occasions.
Category Nine: Player of the Season
Finally, this is the award that goes out to the best player in the 2013/14 season. All players gave their all to the Gunner’s cause but these individuals stepped up the plate and endeared themselves to the hearts of Arsenal fans. May I present – Aaron Ramsey, Laurent Koscielny and Olivier Giroud.
That’s your lot, my Gooner family.
Please make your votes count because the results will influence my 2013/14 End of Season awards post.
Feel free to check out how last year’s awards looked like.
Sayonara.
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