Happy Friday kids. Guess what?
We’re still champions.
And we reflected on that, the parade, the Champions League final, and more in last night’s Same Old Arsenal podcast, [which you can watch here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0FpRuKnXLc). I’ll get the audio out later today on all platforms.
We also did a bit of a discussion over our predictions. I’m going to gloss over that, because I had Liverpool winning the Premier League and Brentford getting relegated, so it’s fair to say that my predictions can be flatly ignored as balderdash. I am always happy to be proved wrong when it means Arsenal are the beneficiaries. And we certainly were. But the discussion did briefly move in to the ‘_Player of the season_‘ award, and I have to say it is very lovely to have a debate/argument over that. That’s because there are plenty of names of players who could be in with a shout. You could easily argue either of the centre-halves, who were part of an imperious defence. You could probably make a very loose case for Gyokeres given his goals, but I think that could be shot down quite easily. He did what he needed to do for us, but he was hardly sparkling throughout. For basically the last five season’s the _Starboy_ has been in contention, but I think this season his injury set him back not only when he was away from the team, but before he got his injury (he must have been carrying something), as well as after his injury (again, I think it took him a while to get up and running, and Arteta was clearly managing his minutes).
I think most of us, however, would land on one of two people:
And to be honest, I think both would be very valid victors, because both have played massive parts in our season. Now, what I do have to say is that this doesn’t mean that other players haven’t had massive contributions this season. Eze in the North London Derby, Martinelli with his goal against City at home….Junior Kroupi…. 😉
But for me – and I’m hoping you’ll agree, the two standouts for our team are the aforementioned players.
And, again, if I’m honest, there really is only one winner: **Declan Rice.**
Let me give out some flowers to David Raya, though, because he has been phenomenal this season. And it’s amazing to think just how far he has come since we first got him on loan. I was a sceptic. I didn’t see the difference between him and Ramsdale. Aaron was a fine shot-stopper, he’d proved decent with the ball at his feet, he was a great character, and I loved the way he came across. And at first Raya had to grow into his position as number one, but he is now firmly ‘the guy’ and has absolutely saved our bacon at times this season. I remember first and foremost that save at the Scum Stadium to claw the ball off the line. There’s also that mad 3 seconds at the end of the Villa game in which he kept out John McGinn at The Emirates. There was a superb save against Brighton from Minteh that he clawed over the bar, as well as one against Liverpool earlier this year. He is by far and away the best ‘keeper in the Premier League, and the fact he isn’t Spain’s number one is the weirdest decision from a manager I have seen since Liam Rosenior decided he didn’t need Enzo Fernandez against Man City.
But Declan Rice is ‘The Man’. When we officially won the title, he was the first player I thought of and was happy for. He’s had a small portion of West Ham fans who have booed him at their stadium for some mad reason; he’s had some online saying he’ll never win a trophy; he’s had Gary Neville, such that his “It’s not done” was performative. But I also remember being knocked out against PSG last year in the Champions League and saying something like “the trophies will come. This team is too good for it not to happen”. He is a nice guy. He has time for everyone by the looks of it. He is – to all intents and purposes – the captain and leader on the pitch. He has an engine that is amazing. And, above all, he is (I’ll touch wood as I type this) quite good at avoiding injury (up until this point).
The way he can carry the ball through midfield is masterful.
The way he wins his duels is amazing.
He’s had 16 goals+assists this season.
He’s had the most minutes of any outfield Arsenal player all season.
He won the _BBC Player of the Season_ award.
He’s had so many man-of-the-match awards that I can’t even count.
I am convinced he’ll get the fans player of the season.
We sing “We got him half price” and that was tongue-in-cheek when we signed him. But he is easily worth upwards of £150million. There’s no way Arsenal would sanction his move anyway. Arteta calls him the ‘Lighthouse’ for a reason. He is the embodiment of what Arteta wants from his players: Energy, determination, focus, composure, a duel winner.
This lad has it all.
And I hope we get this version of Declan Rice – barring any big injuries – for manby years to come.
But what about you? Who is YOUR player of the season? Let me know in the comments.