Arsenal 2020/21 season player ratings

Another disappointing Arsenal season has reached its conclusion, so it’s now time to reflect on the year as a whole and assess individual performances. Here are the final 2020/21 player ratings.

Naturally, as we finished eighth in the Premier League table, the majority of the squad receives average or slightly above average scores, with a few standouts at both ends of the spectrum.

It was a season of ups and (mostly) downs for the Gunners. Having sat in 15th place at Christmas, the team were able to turn things around to an extent in 2021, but still fell far short of the season objectives, missing out on Europe in the process – which may not be the worst thing – but showing form that resulted in them finishing just six points adrift of a top four spot.

Since Boxing Day, only Manchester City and Manchester United collected more points than Arsenal’s 47. Furthermore, only City and Chelsea conceded fewer goals than the 39 the Gunners shipped – undoubted improvements.

Arsenal 2020/21 season player ratings after Premier League season concludes under Mikel Arteta with Brighton victory

So without further ado, here are my end of season player ratings for the 2020/21 campaign.

Disclaimer: I didn’t include players who went out on loan or those who didn’t feature enough to warrant inclusion.

Goalkeepers

Bernd Leno – 6

A solid shot-stopper as always, but the German had a shaky second half of the season with a number of blunders. His distribution still leaves a lot to be desired, but he is far from the biggest problem in this team and it’s not a position we should be desperate to upgrade. On the other hand, with just two years left on his contract, we surely have to either extend or sell this summer. Knowing Arsenal though, we’ll probably do neither…

Mat Ryan – 6

Reliable the few times he was called upon, and you could see how much it meant for the Aussie to represent his boyhood club. Would happily take him back as a backup option on a free transfer.

Alex Rúnarsson – 3

Hasn’t started a match since his nightmare of a performance against Man City in the Carabao Cup. It’s pretty obvious that he was out of his depth and we would be better off promoting someone from the academy to be our third choice keeper. All the best to him if he is moved on as expected.

Left-Backs & Right-Backs

Hector Bellerin – 4

Has always been a popular character, but it’s now been nearly two years since his return from an ACL injury and he’s never quite looked the same. Actual defending has never been his strength, but he’s also lost some of his pace going forward. A decent start to the season tailed off drastically.

Combine that with Mikel Arteta seeming to want something a little different from his right-backs, and it feels like it’d be best for both player and club to move on at this point.

Calum Chambers – 6

A surprising re-emergence at the right-back position for the 26-year-old. His height is an obvious advantage defensively, but he has also been excellent at getting forward and putting in superb crosses. If he had a bit more pace he might be the ideal candidate for the position, but we probably need to sign someone else with more explosiveness to balance things out.

Still, he’s done enough to warrant an extension on his contract, which expires next summer. Versatility is crucial in a small squad without European football.

Cedric Soares – 5

Actually looked quite alright at right-back earlier in the season, but also filled in as a makeshift left-back for Kieran Tierney. Naturally, he was less comfortable there, and a couple mistakes led to him being somewhat harshly relegated to the sidelines.

The Portuguese international now seems to be third or fourth choice at both full-back positions; if things stay that way, then we should be looking to sell him this summer. There’s just no point in keeping that many defenders, especially with no European football next season.

Kieran Tierney – 7.5

An absolute lynchpin in this Arsenal squad. He’s become so vital – perhaps too vital – as an attacking outlet and chance creator, and we looked like a completely different team after his injury in early April. Some work needs to be done in the transfer market to address our over-reliance on the Scotsman, but he is undoubtedly one of the pillars in Mikel Arteta’s ‘project’, and a potential future captain.

Central Defenders

David Luiz – 6.5

I’ve done a complete 180 with my opinion on the Luiz signing from a year ago. It wasn’t always pretty, but he became a vital part of our building out from the back; we clearly missed him against Villarreal. You could also see his impact on the dressing room from all the farewell posts doing the rounds on social media. While it’s the right time to move on, I’ll always be grateful for his contributions to our 2020 FA Cup run. Farewell David.

Rob Holding – 6

A solid squad player. Has his limitations on the ball, but was rarely at fault in a season where Arsenal conceded just 39 goals, the third fewest in the league behind only Man City and Chelsea. With Luiz departing, there’s no real reason to sell Holding right now, and we could do a lot worse than having him serve as William Saliba’s backup next season.

Gabriel Magalhães- 6.5

Arsenal’s Player of the Month for the first three months of the season, which probably says more about how poor the rest of the squad was. But the 23 year-old had some really strong performances throughout the year, notably at Old Trafford and in the north London derby.

A bit rash and overly aggressive at times, but it’s clear he has a very high ceiling. Hoping he can form a formidable partnership with a certain young French center-back for many years to come.

Pablo Mari – 6

Doesn’t quite have the upside of the Brazilian, but the 27 year-old Spaniard was mostly tidy and reliable when called upon, particularly from Boxing Day onwards. At the very least, he’ll be a decent backup for Gabriel next season, but it’s not completely out of the question for him to win the starting spot. Either way, we seem to be all set at the left center-back position.

Midfielders

Granit Xhaka – 7

If you take away the two Burnley games, this was probably his best season in an Arsenal shirt. By far our most consistent midfielder, the decision to repeatedly play him at left-back was puzzling as it left a huge void in the center of the pitch.

For all his faults, he is a very good player with a wand of a left foot, and while we still desperately need to freshen up our midfield, I’d prefer to keep than sell. He is entering the final two years of his contract, however, so a decision will need to be made soon.

Thomas Partey – 6

Injuries have certainly played a part here, but it feels like we have rarely seen Partey’s best. Sometimes it felt like he was trying to do too much to prove to us all that he was worth the hype. Still, there were definitely signs that he can be the player we all hoped for, with his line-breaking passes and overall command of the midfield. Let’s hope a full pre-season will do him some good, as we need much more from him.

Mohamed Elneny – 6

He was about what we’ve come to expect: solid but unspectacular, save for a few stunning long range goals (take some notes, Partey). His contract expires next year, but I’d have no qualms with keeping him back as an inexpensive squad player who can be fourth choice.

Dani Ceballos – 4

A calamity of errors in the Europa League was seemingly the final nail in the coffin for his Arsenal career. There were a handful of decent performances here and there, but this season was a huge drop-off from his excellent Project Restart form.

He lacks the technical ability you’d expect from a Spanish midfielder with his infuriating overplaying and is nowhere near the quality we need to get back to the top level.

Emile Smith Rowe – 7.5

It’s no coincidence that our season completely turned around from Boxing Day onwards, when Smith Rowe made his first league start against Chelsea. The presence of a competent attacking midfielder made our attack infinitely more effective, and we accumulated the third most points in the league from that point onwards (any reward for that?).

Still only 20, his relationship and understanding with Bukayo Saka is a joy to watch, and extending him beyond 2023 has to be one of our top priorities this summer. Part of a truly exciting core.

Martin Odegaard – 7

It didn’t take him long at all to hit the ground running after arriving on loan in January. Alongside Smith Rowe, he helped provide the creative spark that we had sorely missed, and scored a couple nice goals as well.

There’s something very Ozilian about nearly everything he does, namely in the precision of his passing and his superior technical quality when compared to the rest of the squad. I tend to doubt we’ll be able to afford him on a permanent transfer, but would take him back on loan again in a heartbeat.

Forwards

Bukayo Saka – 8 (POTS)

An absolute gem and quite easily our Player of the Season, even is Smith Rowe runs him closest. Whether it was on either wing, filling in at left-back, or even in midfield, he was simply outstanding. The four key areas of player performance are often broken down into the physical, mental, tactical, and technical elements; this young man seems to excel in all aspects.

If there’s one area where he can improve, it’s his finishing, but at just 19 years of age, he’s only going to get better. We’ve got a generational talent on our hands.

Willian – 3

One of the club’s worst signings in living memory. Looks a complete shell of the winger who was a solid contributor at Chelsea. Yes, I know he racked up some assists over the course of the season, but these were mostly simple layoffs or set pieces that were brilliantly headed in by Gabriel.

The fact that he was allowed to start so many games before Christmas was probably Arteta’s biggest mistake to date. We must find a way to offload him this summer, or he’ll continue to take away minutes from the likes of Pepe and Martinelli.

https://twitter.com/Arsenal/status/1396534306021986318

Nicolas Pepe – 7.5

I may be guilty of some slight recency bias here (the Ivorian scored nine goals in his last 13 league starts), but it’s not Pepe’s fault that he was shoved to one side in favor of Willian for much of the first half of the season.

In 2021, as his playing time gradually increased, so has the consistency of his performances. Forget the price tag, this guy is a class finisher and is dangerous whenever we get him the ball in and around the penalty area. Needs to be starting week in week out next season, Willian be damned.

Alexandre Lacazette – 7

Our top scorer in the Premier League and in all competitions (13 and 17 respectively). He understandably looked much better when the likes of Smith Rowe and Ødegaard came into the team, and his link-up play remains a strong point.

Entering the final year of his contract, an extension just doesn’t make sense as we need to move in a different direction long-term. However, if we don’t receive a decent offer for him this summer, it’s certainly possible that he’ll stay for his one final year.

Gabriel Martinelli – 6.5

Helped inject some energy and life into a stagnant Arsenal team when he returned from injury in December. As the season went on he found opportunities harder to come by, and it remains to be seen if his best position is on the left or as a central striker.

Still, it’s clear he has the talent and hunger to make a big difference in this team, and Arteta must find a way to get him more minutes next season.

Pierre Emerick Aubameyang – 5

It was a tough year for the Arsenal captain both on and off the pitch. Some of that is not his fault as we struggled to create anything at all for him at times, but he wasn’t his usual lethal self in front of goal either.

When he’s not giving you 20+ league goals, it can become difficult to justify his inclusion in the team as he does not provide much else in terms of build up play. Still, I’m realistically hoping we can get at least one more good season from Auba at the top level, provided we surround him with the right players to support him.