Forwards, Arsenal. Part 3 of the season in review

Hello and welcome to the 3rd installment of this year’s season review. Today I’m going to take a look at our front line, led by the captain himself, Robin Van Persie. But first, a quick note:

It has come to my attention that a well-know and much read Arsenal blog is doing his season review in almost an identical manner than mine this week, in the same order. I have been a fan of that blog for a long time but had no intention of that happening. If you notice, my posts have all come out sooner than his and I have avoided reading his, so any similarity to his posts in mine are purely coincidental. After all, great minds think alike.

Now that we got that out of the way, lets dig in:

I don’t really feel like I need to tell you how great RVP was this season. It’s no mystery. But to put it simply: He had the season of a lifetime. It’s amazing what you can do when you stay fit all season, isn’t it? 48 apps and 37 goals in total. Rivaled by very few other players at the club. PFA and FWA player of the year. Golden Boot winner. After 7 years of waiting for him to come good, he did. Did he ever. Arsene showed true faith in him and even making him captain was the right choice as he showed off his leadership qualities throughout the season. He’s a world class player, and one of the few on our team that could walk into the starting 11 of any team in the world. There’s not much else that I can say that hasn’t been said already, to be honest.

The big question on everyone’s mind is: will he sign a new contract? I will be addressing that in future posts but for now let’s stick to the format talk about the rest of the forwards.

At the beginning of the season we saw Gervinho start really well. Banging goals in and providing assists. His running with the ball, off the ball and passing ability were all early indicators that he was going to fit in very well. He struggled later on though and leading up to, and after the Afrian Cup of Nations, his form truly dropped off. He was missing some of the easiest chances we had all season and was indecisive when it came to his final ball.  When he returned from the AFCON he didn’t do much better but as the weeks went on, he recovered his form. He never really returned to the Gervinho we originally fell in love with but he showed positive signs. He was quite effective vs West Brom and Stoke in the final games and hopefully he can build on it leading into the new season.

Arshavin was a bit of a disappointment, to say the least. Not aided by the fact that he was played out of position, my favorite little Russian could not string together any good performances in the first half of the season before he went out on loan. He did produce some great moments, though. Provided some great assists for RVP, Park, and the winner at Sunderland to Henry. Im sure he wasn’t surprised to play out wide this year as, that’s where he’s always been asked to play, so why the long face Andrey? He often looked displeased, frustrated, and at times just plain uninterested. Perhaps him going back to Zenit on loan has rejuvenated him and he can come back and make an impact but if he’s happy to stay at Zenit permanently, I won’t be too unhappy. To be honest, I don’t miss him as much as I thought I would. I’m grateful for the many great moments he provided us and will never forget this http://youtu.be/-NfY3omX8MM

Perhaps part of Arshavin’s desire to leave was the rising of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. An attacking mid by trade, the speedster was mostly used as a winger this season and boy, did he impress. After his 12m move from Southampton, we were all left wondering: “Who the hell is this? Bloody Wenger signs another kid? Dammit!” And we were all forced to eat our words. The Ox featured in many important games for us and excelled in almost every one. His speed, control, and power are the perfect combination and his drive on the pitch is awesome. I credit him vastly for driving on our team performance vs Milan at home. He can shoot, he can pass, he can dribble, he can cross, he takes on his man, he does all the things you want Theo Walcott to do when Theo is not doing all those things. Some even tipped him to take Theo’s spot in the starting line-up. Not quite ready for that, in my opinion but he is certain to get plenty of games next season in various positions, especially if he does well in the Euros. Alex, in my opinion is one of the exceptions to the rule that for a player to start for us, he has to be experienced. I think we can all see what this kid is going to become and, I for one, am excited to watch him tear it up next season.

One player that found his feet this season, at long last, was Theo Walcott. We are finally seeing just how valuable he is to this team. He set up 12 goals this season and bagged 11 of his own. Not startling numbers but his running off the ball and overall approach to the game has matured on a steady basis, year by year. He stepped up his defensive side of the game too, often helping Sagna on that right side of the pitch. He’s embraced all of the duties that his position carries and I think he is finally seeing that he must  elevate his performances if he is to keep his place in the starting 11. When RVP himself says Theo was a big part of him scoring so many goals this season, you know he had a good year. His finishing has turned into borderline deadly and I believe he is on the cusp of the best season of his career. He is also another player who will be under a lot of speculation as to where his future lies this summer, I’m afraid. I believe it is with us but I hope he feels the same way.

I can only think that everyone at Arsenal gave Yossi Benayoun a big giant hug and kiss as he left the club.  The consummate professional that he is, deserves all the praise he has thus-far received. His contribution to the club in the latter stages of the season, carried us into 3rd and I will forever appreciate that. He didn’t make as many appearances as I originally thought he would. I don’t feel his future lies with us though, unfortunately. We have many wide players coming through and I expect Oxlade-Chamberlain to take his spot next season. His wages were far too high for us to consider making his loan a permanent deal and at 31 all he would get from us is a 1 year offer. I would be fully supportive of it, as his experience and dedication count for a lot, but I don’t see it happening. Thank you Yossi, for your contribution to our season!

This was a rather disappointing season for Maroune Chamakh and Park Chu Young with the Moroccan making a few more appearances than the South Korea captain. I honestly feel bad for both of them. In Chamakh’s case, a guy by the name of RVP stayed healthy all season and played all but a few games for us this season. On top of that, he was having trouble finding his feet when he did make the odd appearance or two. I believe the qualities we initially loved about Chamakh are still there. But w/o playing time, its very difficult to replicate past form. His ability to hold up the ball, aerial presence, and technical play are often overlooked because we see him miss shots, or opportunities to shoot. I think he is a very useful player and gives us a different dimension but his inability to establish himself this season when he did get the nod, was a big let down. Perhaps he can be that danger-man off the bench for us next season but he’ll need to really push himself.

Park is a big mystery to me. We saw him play 6 times (starting 4) and scored once. I can’t even make a proper assessment of him because there isn’t much to say. He never gelled with the team on the pitch. I can only imagine he had trouble understanding the manager’s direction, but then again, he speaks French, right? I just don’t get why we pulled off one of the biggest cockblocks of all time to have him just waste a whole season on the bench. Maybe he was not what the manager expected and he realized early on, that he wouldn’t be able to trust him. I feel bad for him, to be honest, but can only hope he finds a home next year and can return to playing on a regular basis.

Oh, before I forget, some bloke named Thierry Henry came on loan to us from New York Red Bulls  in January and made a hero’s return. The club’s prodigal son fired us into the 4th round of the FA Cup with one fantastic finish after Alex Song spotted his run through the Leeds backline. It was one of the best moments of the season.  Shit, it was one of the best moments, ever! He saved our ass vs Sunderland away and scored against Blackburn (f-u dubious goal panel!) in our 7-1 rout. Amazing. Simply amazing to see that as a fan. When I began supporting Arsenal, he had just signed and by the time he was through, I loved him like a brother. I still do, in fact. After all the shit moments we had this season, we deserved a bit of nostalgic vindication. Thanks again, TT

Well, thats it! The dramatic conclusion of our 4 part series will come at you tomorrow and I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have. Again, feel free to share, comment (good or bad), and suggest to your heart’s content.