Pain in the Arsenal
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PITA’s Arsenal 2022/23 Player of the Season award

By James Cormack

LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 21: Rob Holding of Arsenal (C) and teammates look dejected after conceding their side's second goal scored by Theo Walcott of Southampton (not pictured) during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Southampton FC at Emirates Stadium on April 21, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 21: Rob Holding of Arsenal (C) and teammates look dejected after conceding their side's second goal scored by Theo Walcott of Southampton (not pictured) during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Southampton FC at Emirates Stadium on April 21, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images) /
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The future will decide just how successful a season 2022/23 was for Arsenal. Right now, despite the lack of silverware, the campaign appears an obvious success and the exponential leap in progress Mikel Arteta desperately needed after a woeful end to 2021/22. 

However, the Gunners must now kick on. They ultimately missed a huge opportunity, but are still in a position to compete with the very best the Premier League has to offer. Arteta’s men must continue to make strides, otherwise, 2022/23, instead of being looked back upon as the start of something special, will instead evoke pangs of ‘what could’ve been…’

Nevertheless, there’s optimism in north London that Arsenal are ever so close to returning to the promised land. The culture shift Arteta has facilitated has helped supporters fall in love with their club again, while the players leading the way are about as loveable as the Gunners have ever had.

Those at the core of Arsenal’s success are poised to be cornerstones of the club’s ascent under Arteta, and today we’re crowning our 2022/23 Player of the Season.

PITA’s Arsenal 2022/23 Player of the Season award

We’ve taken all the player ratings from Arsenal’s contests this season and calculated an average for every player. The player with the highest average rating (min. 15 starts) will be crowned our Player of the Season. So, without further ado, let’s get into it!

Gabriel (L) was an unsung hero in Arsenal’s success. (Photo by James Williamson – AMA/Getty Images)
Gabriel (L) was an unsung hero in Arsenal’s success. (Photo by James Williamson – AMA/Getty Images) /

5. Gabriel & Oleksandr Zinchenko (Average rating – 6.6)

We kick off our top five with a pair of defenders.

Oleksandr Zinchenko, signed from Man City last summer, has proven to be a borderline revolutionary addition to the Gunners’ arsenal. The Ukrainian has altered the way Arteta attacks contests, with his unique technical ability and capacity to play inside allowing Arsenal to control games in a manner they rarely previously did before his arrival.

While there are a couple of athletic and defensive concerns, nobody will question that Zinchenko has been an excellent signing. He was crucial to the club’s success in 2022/23.

Gabriel, meanwhile, was so often forced to cover for Zinchenko’s midfield forays and the Brazilian’s role almost went under the radar given its difficulty. Gabriel was always forced to cover a huge amount of ground in wide areas, but he did so with aplomb. The centre-back has come on leaps and bounds this season, with his positional sense maturing and ball-playing ability remaining at a high-enough level.

He was undoubtedly one of Arsenal’sunsung heroes during their excellent season.

Continued on the next slide…