Appearing in the Team of the Season is a just reward for being an epitome of consistency for the entirety of a campaign, as each player competes against 19 other counterparts in a specific position on the pitch. Arsenal had gone beyond expectations this season to challenge for the Premier League, when all the fans had hoped for was just to return to Champions League contention, but a series of bad results in the business end of the campaign, proved costly for Mikel Arteta and his team, but some players within the squad have been recognized for their outstanding qualities in the cost of the season.
Shown below is the Team of the Season XI, featuring four Arsenal players.
Ramsdale; Trippier – Saliba – Dias – Zinchenko; Casemiro – de Bruyne – Odegaard; Salah – Haaland – Rashford
Congratulations to the four lads that have rightly earned a place in the Premier League team of the season, and I’d like to take a closer look at their performances in the Premier League this season.
Aaron Ramsdale
Key Stats:
Games Played – 34
Clean Sheets – 12
Goals Conceded – 39
Saves Made – 85
Ramsdale has been an ever-present for Arsenal this season, making the No. 1 jersey his for keeps after ousting Bernd Leno from the team and taking his jersey number after he departed to Fulham. This season, Ramsdale has been uber-consistent for the Gunners making critical saves with each passing game.
He will want to forget his error against Southampton, but we can all agree that there was no goalie deserving of the award this season. The only mystery remains whether Gareth Southgate will do the needful when the time arrives.
William Saliba
Key Stats:
Games Played – 27
Clean Sheets – 12
Discipline – Four Yellow Cards
Attacking Output – Two goals, One Assist
Tackles Per Game: 1.3
Interceptions Per Game: 0.7
Aerial Duels Won Per Game: 2.0
Clearances Per Game: 3.0
Dribbled Past Per Game: 0.1
Blocks Made Per Game: 0.4
Average Passes Per Game: 69
Long Balls Per Game: 2.4
Key Passes Per Game: 0.2
Pass Completion Percentage: 91%
William Saliba finally came of age this season following his loan stints at St. Etienne, OGC Nice and Olympique Marseille, shunting Ben White to the right back position and forging a telepathic understanding with Gabriel. His outstanding performances in just 27 games played showed how important he has become to this Arsenal side, so important that Arsenal hasn’t kept a clean sheet since Saliba’s last league appearance against Fulham in Craven Cottage.
In Saliba’s absence, the Arsenal defense has fallen apart like dominoes and it proved costly with the Gunners dropping points in critical games, while their fellow title challengers, Man City, closed the gap and eventually went ahead.
We are unlikely to see Saliba in action again this season due to his recurring back injury, and I can only hope he comes back strong next season, as well as the Gunners getting better backup in his prolonged absence.
Oleksandr Zinchenko
Key Stats:
Games Played – 25 (one substitute app)
Clean Sheets – 9
Discipline – Three Yellow Cards
Attacking Output – One goal, Two Assists
Shots Per Game: 1.1
Tackles Per Game: 1.5
Interceptions Per Game: 0.8
Aerial Duels Won Per Game: 1.8
Clearances Per Game: 1.1
Dribbled Past Per Game: 0.7
Blocks Made Per Game: 0.1
Average Passes Per Game: 64.5
Long Balls Per Game: 2.4
Key Passes Per Game: 0.7
Through Balls Per Game: 0.1
Pass Completion Percentage: 87.7%
I remember how excited I was when Arsenal was linked with a move for Ajax’s Lisandro Martinez, but he chose to join his former manager, Erik Ten Hag, at Manchester United, forcing Arsenal to go for their backup option, Oleksandr Zinchenko.
In all honesty, I wasn’t overly excited with the move, as Zinchenko wasn’t a regular at Man City, even though I caught glimpses of his quality in his Man City days. However, watching Zinchenko play for Arsenal, and seeing how he revolutionized our attacking play with him doubling up as a central midfielder and left back, I fell straight in love. The arrival of Zinchenko galvanized Granit Xhaka, giving him a new lease of life and honing his attacking output that became beneficial to the team.
Defensively, Zinchenko has been caught out a couple of times, but he offers a lot more to the side, which includes leadership, as he has visibly rallied the lads in hurdles, barking motivational words when the chips are down.
Martin Odegaard
Key Stats:
Games Played – 33
Man of the Match Awards – 9
Discipline – Four Yellow Cards
Attacking Output – 14 goals, Seven Assists
Shots Per Game: 2.6
Dribbles Made Per Game: 1.3
Aerial Duels Won Per Game: 0.4
Average Passes Per Game: 45.7
Long Balls Per Game: 1.6
Key Passes Per Game: 2.1
Through Balls Per Game: 0.3
Pass Completion Percentage: 84.4%
Martin Odegaard has been a phenomenon this season, raising the mantle of his captaincy and leading the team on the pitch where it matters the most. He has also turned up with many important goals that won games for the team when others couldn’t come through.
He won the Player of the Year award in the London Awards and it was much deserved. It’s good to see him getting recognized for what has been a downright outstanding season for him.
Sayonara.
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