Arsenal: 4 candidates for player of the season

It’s now time for the much-maligned international break, just as Arsenal have ten matches standing between them and a return to the Champions League next season.

28 matches have passed and so much has happened that you would need a documentary film crew to have captured it all. Ah, that’s right, there is one.

To be in the position they find themselves in after all that had gone on over the summer, at the start of the season and even in the middle of it, Arsenal deserve huge credit for. The race for the top four looks like it will go down to the wire and there are no runaway favourites, but it’s still within sight.

Across the season there have been numerous highs, as well as plunging lows.

Arsenal: 4 candidates for Player of the Season as Mikel Arteta’s side remain in the hunt for the Premier League top four places

Three defeats to start the season saw Arsenal sit rock bottom of the table, while exciting and commanding wins elsewhere have offered more than a glimpse into this team’s future. And, along the way, there have been some outstanding individual campaigns.

While it won’t be known for a while who will secure the Player of the Season gong, if the award were to be handed out now there are plenty of candidates choose from.

Best of all is that while some people may have their personal picks, if someone else were to win it there would be no complaints. This is a squad brimming with talent and always improving, but based on events so far there are some candidates who are in line on account of the seasons they’ve had.

Four right now are probably leading the pack.

1. Bukayo Saka

There isn’t much debate about this, is there?

Across the season so far, in order to be in the reckoning one needs to have maintained a certain level throughout. Of course, with ten matches left to play in the season there is time for others to enter the reckoning who perhaps started the season slower.

Someone who has been on form across the 28 games is Bukayo Saka. Tasked with taking his game to the next level and adding goals to his already glowing repertoire, the Star Boy has responded.

To have blown everyone away and carried the team as he did last season along with Emile Smith Rowe, expecting him to lift his standard further came with little doubt. However, to have developed as he has physically, become so tactical astute on the right side and keep providing goal threat is a credit to this magnificent young man.

Just as he has already there will be a hugely important role for Saka to play (ten 90 minute matches, you’d imagine) – for him to keep dazzling everyone until the end of the season.

Without doubt should be in the running.

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2. Aaron Ramsdale

Whether or not he hasn’t quite hit his best level in patches across 2022, he’s still been phenomenal in goal for Arsenal both in terms of distribution and shot-stopping.

But what should keep him in the discussion for player of the season goes beyond that. It’s as much about what he’s brought to this team as a defensive unit, and how he’s helped transform the way Arsenal build up play and conduct themselves with confidence from back to front.

While they are now different (better) defenders in front of him, one need only look at how the defence acted with Bernd Leno in front to see the improvement. Leno, who is a fine goalkeeper, doesn’t have the command or connection with his defence like Ramsdale does, nor did he ever have the connection with the fans.

Being a jovial character with supporters isn’t reason enough to be the in running for player of the season, though, and what Ramsdale is producing with his feet and his hands is superb.

Arsenal can build up in less predictable ways and that is aided by Ramsdale’s comfort in possession with both feet, range of pass, and the variation he has with his distribution.

He’s been outstanding on the whole and at just 23 years of age he’ll hopefully be with this club for years to come, as well as representing his country in the World Cup finals.

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3. Benjamin White

Someone who hasn’t been mentioned in many discussions about overall performance this season is Benjamin White, despite him being a near ever-present across all competitions.

The 24-year-old has only missed 180 minutes of Premier League action this season, with both of those matches being due to Covid, and has clocked up over 2,700 minutes in total.

While the overall tally isn’t some incredible record as countless others in the division have done likewise, it’s more about the consistency he’s shown during that time having come into a new side with a whopping £50m price tag slapped on his head. Someone who clearly doesn’t give a rat’s *** about what anyone thinks about him, he has got his head down and battled in every game he’s played.

The obvious point to pick out is his quality on the ball, but that overlooks what else he offers to this team. Despite irking some fans with his declaration for not watching football in his spare time, this is someone who lives and breathes every moment, full invested in the team and willing to take on responsibility and show leadership in times of adversity.

Always demanding the ball and trying to make things happen, he then has the requisite quality to feed passes through the lines or find men in behind. There were also initial concerns about his aerial ability and one-on-one defending, all of which has been dispelled as he’s excellent in both facets.

White is a superb all-round defender and the longer he keeps developing his game – it’s noticeable how he’s improved already under Arteta – the more chance he has of being recognised as one of the division’s best centre-backs.

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4. Martin Odegaard

It helps any chance of winning the player of the season award if you’ve been consistent throughout. And, if we’re talking about Martin Odegaard over this international break, that has not been the case.

Not long ago he was being left on the bench in place of a two-man strike force. Lacazette was playing ahead of him. Lacazette was playing ahead of him. Remember that?

At the time there were no great complaints as Odegaard was guilty of drifting out of matches. He hadn’t quite managed to adjust to his surroundings and his teammates, despite having previously been on loan.

But now look at him. He’s operating at a world class level. Even when factoring in the slower start he had to the season he sits atop all the creative metrics for Arsenal this season, from xA, to npxG+xA, to key passes, to progressive passes, to SCA p/90…you name it.

So while his form only began to pick up around November time, he’s still been in the team and clocking up stupendous numbers to match his mesmeric talent. Fans are off their seats soaking up his vision, work rate and silkiness on the ball. Adding some goals to his game has been most welcome too and and discovering that touch across the season means there is more to come from him.

If the awards were now then he would probably miss out on account of his early season form, but just like so many others (Emile Smith Rowe!) there could be any number of potential winners that nobody would disagree heavily with.