With the passing of yet another trophy (less) season (4th right!?) I find myself much more optimistic heading into next year and I am looking forward to hearing of our “big” signings coming this summer (Higuain? Jovetic? GerviNO finally leaving?!). That being said, here are my final thoughts on our player ratings for the 2012/2013 campaign. I am scoring based upon actual performance, not expectation (meaning, how did they play overall NOT did they meet/exceed expectations), on a scale of 1 (absolute rubbish) to 10 (couldn’t ask for more in that position) .

Let’s start back to front:

Keepers:

Wojciech Szczesny (6.5): The bean pole managed to work himself into the starting lineup, out, and then back in again after taking advantage of a Fabianski injury. The truth is, I am optimistic about our young keeper and that sways my rating of him a bit. Did he make decent strides this year? Well, considering he stood up to the challenge after being replace I would say so (not an easy thing for any young player to do). That said, his in-experience did allow for some questionable moves in-game that should (key word being should) go away with time. I am hoping for  a cheap, experienced keeper to come in and give him a challenge while adding to his arsenal (pun intended) for the future.

Lukasz Fabianski (6): Credit must be given where credit is due. Our bench warming former staple took full advantage of the younger Pole’s misgivings and didn’t look back. Until injured. Then boom, back to the bench for the final games. Given that he strung together a solid run of matches I would welcome him back with open arms but I believe that this is the best we have seen of him and his time has come to move on. He should do well for another year or two for another club (mid tier?) but overall more than solid performances given the cobwebs that enveloped his armpits for most of the season.

Vito Mannone (5): Energy. Vigor. A solid name. And a lack of height, smarts and positioning. You have to give him some credit though as he never failed to bring energy into his game and the effort was always there. That said, if you could watch an entire match with him in goal without sharting? Well my friend you are a better man (woman) than I. Service backup… at best.

Defense:

Nacho Monreal (7): Nacho Nacho man… I want to be a Nacho man. Wow, did I really just use The Village People for an intro? Meh. Oh well. Nacho did an incredible job given that he was signed late season, with Gibbs out and all of us reeling at watching Santos play, and was thrust into a new league/team. Amazing he didn’t get squashed a bit under the pressure (IMHO). He was dependable and made a few mistakes (that slide into the goal post was frustrating for me to watch) but you can’t argue with the fact that he was more than serviceable exactly when we needed it. Looking forward to the competition from him and Gibbs in the coming year or two.

Carl Jenkinson (6.5): Let’s just say I am a fan. He kind of produces Ramsey like games in that he hustles, is a little out of control but you can appreciate what he does in the end. Once Sagna proved healthy he was relegated to the bench but his commendable performances surely mean that if Sagna does in fact stay there will be a great competition at RB next year.

Kieran Gibbs (7.5): Produced some memorable goals, fierce work rate and played well on the counter attack. Quickly is establishing himself as the solid LB of the future for club and country but still shows some flashes of inexperience that produce a few too many opportunities for the opposition. Outside of his injury spell, and the competition from Monreal, Gibbs had a season to remember and build upon (please no TV5 re-hash!).

Bacary Sagna (6.5): Oh B.S. That is how I felt a few times during his down season. Everyone saw it. He acknowledged it. Yet, he still held down the fort for the starting spot and I am not sure that is a nod to his past or Wenger’s lack of confidence in Jenkinson’s future. Either way, he was serviceable and solid but the absolute lack of quality crossing and a few B I G hiccups surely make this a season to forget. Only question now is does he run for $ elsewhere or stick it out to prove us all wrong.

Per Mertesacker (7.5): The BFG was thrown in between Kols and TV5 and it wasn’t until late in the season we could truly say we appreciated his play in the game. Yes, no pace here. I don’t care. That isn’t his game and exactly how many CBs would you describe as having “pace”? Right. Exactly. Paired up per (yep, punny) Kols the BFG did exactly what he needed to do and fulfilled his role to perfection. Too bad it wasn’t until so late in the season. Oh well. Really hoping he is able to reproduce the chemistry next year. From the start. That would be nice. Oh, and don’t get me started on his red card. I vented enough about that post match… ugh.

Thomas Vermaelen (5): Oh Captain my captain… eesh. Well, paired nicely with the BFG (at times) but not Kols. Doesn’t help that Kols went on to solidify his spot later in the year. At this point it is probably best for him to forget this year, take the band away (give it to Arteta) and get back to just playing the game he knows best (which is???). He is more than serviceable at his position but maybe it was the pressure (?) or mismatch (?) that caused it all to fall apart. Time to hit re-set amigo.

Laurent Koscielny (8): Yeah, probably a bit inflated given his run to the end (yes, a bit off at the beginning) but he pulled it together, played incredibly well and paired nicely (like a fine wine) with the BFG. Outside of his early struggles there is an argument to be made that save for Cazorla it was his work that helped push us into the CL spot (literally with that goal… again). Put this man on repeat for next year and we should service nicely with a few more offensive goals.

Yeah, I didn’t mention the non-starters (my opinion) like Santos, Squill-parchese, etc. No point really. Not worth the words…

Midfield and Defense to come soon.