Ask a dozen Arsenal fans to name their player of the season and, in all likelihood, you’ll get a dozen different answers…and that’s no bad thing.
In fact, it’s a testament to the sort of season we’ve had.
Yes, it ultimately ended in disappointment as we came up short of the Premier League title we had been dreaming of for most of the campaign, but it was still a season of remarkable highs and remarkable progress.
Since taking over as manager in 2019/20, it’s fair to say that progress has been slow and incremental under Mikel Arteta. Yes, there was the highlight of an FA Cup and Community Shield win in his first 12 months but our progress in the league especially was short of what we might have liked.
That all changed this season.
From narrowly missing out on Champions League football last year, Arteta’s young stars left their rivals in the dust this season and cruised their way back into the top four – out-scoring, out-pointing and out-performing everyone bar the bloated financial dopers at Manchester City.
In fact, the gap between themselves and fifth-placed Liverpool was a meaty 17 points.
So who stood out above all others this season? It hardly seems fair to pick just three, and you’d be entirely right to disagree, but here are my picks, such as they are:
- Martin Odegaard
- Bukayo Saka
- William Saliba
So, why Odegaard?
Even since Arteta brought the young Norwegian in on loan from Real Madrid, it’s been clear there’s a player in there – a technical, tactical, tenacious talent. While we only saw glimpses of it during his loan, our captain’s trajectory since signing as a Gunners has been stellar.
Like many others, it really was a break-out campaign. His energy and endeavour were never less than exemplary and his commitment to every match was total, from every pass to every tackle. While the onus was largely on others to step up and provide the goals this team needed, it was Odegaard who delivered in the biggest way.
A haul of 15 goals and seven assists in the Premier League was a stunning from the Arsenal captain and beyond almost any of our expectations. If he was a £35million player when we acquired him, there’s no doubting he’s an £80million player now. It was a sensational campaign and one which saw him lead from the front, both on the field and off it.
Saka’s inclusion in this list will come as a surprise to no-one and, frankly, what more is there to be said about this 21-year-old prodigy?
Coming into the campaign, Arteta had challenged Saka and Martinelli both with turning their promise and talent into tangible reward and my goodness to both deliver this season. Saka managed 15 goals and 11 assists all told in a quite superb season that saw him elevated into one of the game’s most promising young forwards.
And while there were some disappointing moments for the young England man, most notably the penalty miss against West Ham, it was still a handsome return on investment and a season on which I’m sure he will build. There is no doubt teams are beginning to make plans for Saka and seeking to negate his talents through myriad nefarious means but he he has shown, and will continue to need to show, that he can adapt and react and keep pushing on to new heights.
He really is the jewel in our crown and, as an academy product too, he occupies a special place in all our hearts.
Lastly, it’s only right to look to the other end of the pitch and the contribution of William Saliba.
Long have we pined for this young man’s inclusion in the first team and how we delivered in 2022/23. In fact, the case can be made that his untimely injury in the second half of the campaign was a big part of why the wheels ultimately came off for Arsenal, such was his importance to the team.
And it was in his absence that were able to appreciate just what the Frenchman brought to the team. Not only his athleticism and mobility, but his passing, his willingness to engage, his vision, his fearlessness and command of space.
For someone so young, Saliba demonstrated an incredible reading of the game and assuredness that normally only comes with great experience. He was not always perfect, nobody is, but he performed at a level far beyond his years and the majority of his Premier League peers. It was an amazing campaign.
Understandably, Arsenal fans the world over will be desperate to get the Frenchman tied down to a new deal, given his own has only a year or so left to run. Losing him now, having waiting so long to develop and deploy him, would be unforgivable.
So, there you have it. My stand-out performers of an excellent campaign. Almost to a man, this team performed some miraculous feats in 2022/23 so it really is saying something that these guys stood apart. Kudos to them and, indeed, kudos to the club not only for identifying these talents but to nurturing, developing and reaping the benefits of them too.
With the right additions this summer, it really could be an exciting season to come.
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