Part 2: Player-by-player summaries.
1.Jens Lehmann
Not the best of seasons for the mad German, deservedly lost his place to Almunia early on, ranted (a lot) unprofessionally in the newspapers, but played well when called upon. Still love him.
2.Abou Diaby
Clearly not a left winger, but didn't do too badly there when he was fit. His constant niggles are frustrating. I hope he gets more time playing in central midfield next season. He has lots of potential, but I don't think his long term future is at Arsenal, as much as I like him. He plays in almost the same position as Cesc, and so, unless we move regularly to a 4-5-1, I can't see him getting enough football here to achieve his potential. I would be very sad to see him go, but unless he somehow becomes a first team regular over the next season, he owes it to himself to move on really.
3.Bacary Sagna
Absolutely fantastic. This has all been said before, but he slotted perfectly into a new team, and played very well almost all season. Sagna barely had a poor game, defending very solidly and attacking effectively. Proved me wrong completely by proving just how far superior to Eboue he is (last summer I didn't think we needed a new right back. How wrong I was!). I hope he is able to recover fully from his injury, rest up during the Euros, and continue his form into next season.
4.Cesc Fabregas
Rightly acclaimed as one of the best midfielders in the world. There's not much to be said about Cesc really. He played very well at the beginning of the season, dropped of a little in the winter, and then picked up again later. The most interesting this to note is the harder edge he seems to have added to his game. To put it succinctly, he has become a right bastard on the field. His tackling is good, though the diving and exaggeration (see the Arteta incident against Everton) are slightly less welcome. Not a big problem yet though, he just needs to cut it out before it becomes one. Cesc really looks like future captain material, he drives the team on and it doesn't look the same without him.
5.Kolo Toure
Like many others, started very positively, forming a very effective partnership with Gallas in central defence. Looked tired and out of form after the ACN, but did all right at right back when he was called on to play there. Wenger's claim that he is going to sign another centre-back may cast some doubts over Toure's first team spot, but I am sure he will fit in somewhere next season.
6.Philip Senderos
Doesn't even nearly deserve the majority of criticism that has come his way. Yes he didn't play too well in the second leg against Liverpool, but when Kolo was away at the ACN, him and Gallas played very well together. He has shown before that he can play well when given a run in the side, and now is not the time for Wenger to lose faith. Swiss Tony he can still become.
7.Tomas Rosicky
Immensely frustrating. Looks good and really adds to the side when fit. Is hardly ever fit. Can he stay fit after the operation he's had recently, who knows? Let's hope he can, as a healthy Tomas would be a real asset to the side.
9. Eduardo
You have to feel sorry for the guy, just starting to adjust to English football, scoring goals, playing well, and then he gets one of the worst injuries I remember seeing. I hope he recovers fully and continues his progress next season.
10.William Gallas
In football terms, Gallas has had a good season. Played well other than a few matches, and was a key part of a defence that played very well in the first half of the season. The defence as a whole didn't perform quite so well in the latter half, though I don't know how much of this can be attributed to Gallas. As a captain, Gallas has been a mixed bag. When everything was going well earlier in the season, he seemed to be doing well, but as the tide turned, his captaincy was called into question. The Birmingham incident was worrying, as were rumours that his team mates had to give him a sorting out. To be honest, I don't have enough behind the scenes knowledge to say what should happen next season.
11.Robin Van Persie
See Rosicky. Great when he is fit, but can he stay fit? One of the best players in the league when he can play, so let's keep our fingers crossed.
13. Alexander Hleb
Similarly to many other players – first half good, second half not so much. Played very well to begin with, then started to look tired, and maybe hungry for ice-cream later on. By the end of the season had reverted to the old Hleb of the previous two seasons – very frustrating. I would still like to keep him a the club, as he is a very good player, but he is definitely replaceable if he does leave.
15. Denilson
I haven't seen enough of him this season to say too much, but he looked good in the Carling Cup and decent when I saw him in other competitions. After improving so much over the previous season, this his slowed (admittedly largely due to injuries) this season. We should see more from him next season, especially with Flamini leaving.
16. Flamini
Great season. He's leaving now, and will need to be replaced, whether from within or without the squad I don't know. Let's move on.
17. Alexandre Song
Very good (apparently) in midfield in the ACN, looked good at centre-back in the tail end of the season for us. I would have liked Wenger to give him a go at replacing Flamini, but it seems he will be a defender. Good luck to him – he was proved he can be a very useful part of the squad and looks set to play a significant role in 2008/09
19.Gilberto
It's been a tough season for Gilberto as well, being displaced by Flamini, and only getting intermittent time on the pitch. He has acted very professionally throughout, and, although his performances were very poor for most of the season, more recently he has played fairly well. I hope we can hang on to him for next season, as he is one of our few very experienced players, and with Flamini gone, we can't afford to lose another player in his position.
20. Johan Djourou
Apparently disappointing in his time at Birmingham. I've only watched him play one half of football for us this season, against Spurs, and he was awful. So was everyone else to be fair though. Chalk this season off and start afresh in the next, he has a lot of potential to fulfil.
21. Lukasz Fabianski
Showed enough in the Carling Cup and at the end of the season to suggest that he will be a good back-up for Almunia next season.
22.Gael Clichy
Player of the season. Absolutely brilliant. Barely puts a foot wrong, works harder than almost anyone else on the team. His final ball could use a bit of work, but other than that he is the complete package. The way he bombs up and down the left hand side until the final minute of a match is just incredible, he must have about 5 lungs and three hearts.
24.Manuel Almunia
Big step-up for the Spaniard this season. Didn't do much wrong, and appeared comfortable in the role of first-choice keeper. Not world-class, but very decent.
25.Emmanuel Adebayor
The stick he gets is incredible. Second top scorer in the league and he still gets slated. According to Opta he has the second best shots/goals ratio as well, which, considering that the main criticism of him is his finishing, is impressive. He has looked a bit lazy at times in the second half of the season, but I would put that down to fatigue. He pulled us almost single-handedly through the early part of 2008, and has every right to be exhausted. The next test is to prove that he can keep this up next season.
26.Nicklas Bendtner
Didn't get as much playing time as I'd hoped he would, but looked promising when he did. Decision making is still a bit dodgy, but works hard, has good technique, is great in the air and has scored several crucial goals. If he continues to improve next season, he will be challenging for a regular first team spot.
27.Emmanuel Eboue
Redeeming features? None. Useless. I don't care if Wenger thinks he gives the team defensive balance. He is awful. He did break John Terry's foot though.
30.Armand Traore
Didn't look great at left-back for much of the season, but apparently his future is on the left wing. I haven't seen him play there apart from 20 minutes against Everton, during which he looked promising. Lets see how he does on loan to Portsmouth next season.
31.Justin Hoyte
Decent player, good to have as a back-up, but he's never going to be a first team regular, and if he doesn't leave this summer, you have to question his ambition.
32.Theo Walcott
Looked extremely promising, and performances at Birmingham and Liverpool showed how much he has improved after recovering from the shoulder injury that dogged him last year. Deserves a starting spot at right midfield, especially if Hleb leaves. I look forward to watching him more next season.
Sorry about the length of that, I got rather carried away. In the next instalment I will be discussing what, in my opinion, we should do to improve next season, as well as a round up of all the news.