Written by Mean Lean on Thursday, 02 June 2011 00:26

At the start of season 2009/2010 I decided to write player ratings after every Arsenal game for the players who started the games, to go alongside my match thoughts. The same ratings were jotted down this season and the final figures are quite interesting.

I didn't rate substitutes as a five minute cameo can obscure the ratings and give you inaccurate figures. Players who started the games would be a cleaner and easier way of doing it.

I have calculated the average ratings for each of the players in all the different competitions. I wanted to know if the average ratings would match my thinking. I wonder if any subconscious bias would show up with my favoured players. I also wanted to know if the lower figures would match those who haven't been at their best this season.

The ratings have been broken down by competition, so I shall start this article with the Premier League only. In the next few days I shall include the other competitions.

Premier League 2010/2011

Player of the season.

I was very surprised with the results for the player of the season. Last season Robin Van Persie collected the highest average with 7.25 from 14 games, given his fantastic end of season form and run of goals, I would have expected him to have lead the way this year playing five games more than last season but in fact I have rated him lower with 7.05 which puts him in third place. In the Arsenal Vision end of season awards for this season, I claimed that Cesc Fabregas was my most disappointing player of the season as he struggled to wriggle free from injury but looking at the ratings, Cesc Fabregas has racked up the highest average ratings in total with 7.23 from 22 starts.

Perhaps I take the quality of Cesc Fabregas for granted and when Cesc is not quite at his best, he is still often one of the better performers on the pitch. I also think that when Cesc has been good this season, he has contributed to many of our goals and that has boosted up his ratings. His highest rating was 8.5 which he received on two occasions against Bolton and Wigan both at the Emirates.

Name                 Starts    Ratings
1. Cesc Fabregas    22    7.23
2. Lukasz Fabianski    14    7.21
3. Robin Van Persie   19    7.05
4. Bacary Sagna       33    7.03
5. Samir Nasri           28    7.02

Who wants the gloves?

With Manuel Almunia in disappointing form this season, it was mostly down to the Poles in goal to claim the number one shirt at Arsenal. Fabianski's injury allowed crowd favourite Wojciech Szczesny to take over the second half of the season and start 15 league games. Szczesny managed to gain an average rating of 6.90 which is actually lower than I thought he would get, probably due to our end of season slump. Almunia only managed 8 starts and finished with the 3rd worst total rating of 6.06 which for only eight games is quite poor but it was Lukasz Fabianski's performances that stood out, coming only second to Cesc Fabregas overall, he totaled a rating of 7.21 with some stunning performances at Manchester City, Wolves and Birmingham City all away from home earning him a rating of 8 in each of those games.

Name                    Starts    Ratings
1. Lukasz Fabianski   14    7.21
2. Jens Lehmann         01    7.00
3. Wojciech Szczesny   15    6.90
4. Manuel Almunia       08    6.06

Disappointment of the year

The bottom five players all have one thing in common. They have all had under nine starts in the league for season 2010/11. Some of that has been down to injury and some has been down to not being able to reach top form.

Kieran Gibbs has struggled with injury and has had to fight his way back to fitness on several occasions. He was given a run in the side during Clichy's absence at the end of the season and his lack of form and games meant that we did not get the chance to see the best of the Englishman. He only managed 4 starts and had the worst overall average rating with 5.38.

Denilson, Almunia, Ramsey and Bendtner also had low ratings but as I said, they have not had many games so it is difficult to really assess them without a run in the team. One player who did rack up an impressive 25 starts was Andrey Arshavin and in that time he managed 6 league goals along with 11 assists which is pretty good at any standard yet his average rating was remarkably low at 6.36, lower than the 6.68 he collected the season before with the same amount of starts.

Perhaps his work has been too subtle for my eyes at times but his lack of application at points during the season has lowered his rating when perhaps his craft in the final third may have pushed him further forward in the ratings for another supporter.

Name                Starts    Ratings
1. Kieran Gibbs        4    5.38
2. Denilson                6    6.00
3. Manuel Almunia      8    6.06
4. Aaron Ramsey        5    6.10
5. Nicklas Bendtner     3    6.17
6. Andrey Arshavin     25   6.36

New kids on the block

Five new players were added to the Arsenal squad this season. Three came in via the transfer market and two were promoted from the youth and reserves to the first team.
The two center backs were at the opposite ends of the spectrum with Laurent Koscielny coming out on top of the newcomers with an average rating of 6.92 from an impressive 30 games. Squillaci started ten less with only 6.65 as his average rating. Surprisingly Jack Wilshere came in at 11th overall but that figure should really be 9th as Lehmann and Vermaelen only managed to start in 1 and 5 games respectively.

Name                    Starts    Ratings
1. Laurent Koscielny 30    6.92
2. Wojciech Szczesny   15    6.90
3. Jack Wilshere          31    6.89
4. Marouane Chamakh  18    6.75
5. Sébastien Squillaci    20    6.65

Top Premier League team performances

The players ratings have been counted for each match and an average is calculated. Here are the top five performances judging by the ratings.

1. Wigan (h) 3-0 (7.77)
2. Manchester United (h) 1-0 (7.64)
3. Chelsea (h) 3-1 (7.59)
4. Birmingham City (a) 3-0 (7.45)
4. Manchester City (a) 3-0 (7.45)
4. Blackburn (a) 2-1 (7.45)

The ratings are massively down on last season's high of Tottenham (h) 3-0 (8.59) so I am wondering if either my ratings have dramatically lowered this season or if I have made a mistake in last season's Top Premier League team performances stats, that spreadsheet has gone walk abouts so I won't be doing anything about that now.

Team of the season based on top ratings in each position (Regardless of games played)

Worst team of the season based on lowest ratings in each position (Regardless of games played)

* Please note these figures are based only on the Premier League season 2010/2011

2009/2010 Player average ratings

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Comments (17)

• 02-Jun-2011 11:41 | | Rob
  

  How did Ramsey get a 6.1? He's been solid when hes played and I think a 6.6 would be more fair. Hasn't done any worse than diaby when played for sure
  
  But in general an interesting read. Nice to see how the stats (albeit very subjective ones) say our players did
  
  Good way of doing the player ratings for the season!

• 02-Jun-2011 11:42 | | GoonerSef
  

  I think people are forgetting how good Fabianski was at the start of the seaason despite the Newcastle games. You only have to look at Bob Wilson's thoughts to him to conclude that he is actually a quality keeper, as unnatural it is to say.

• 02-Jun-2011 11:46 | | Gerry Altman
  

  allowing for a margin of error, I dont see a heck of a lot of difference

• 02-Jun-2011 11:48 | | GoonerSef
  

  Yeah shout out to mean lean its v interesting

• 02-Jun-2011 11:51 | | MeanLean
  

  I think Ramsey's average is probably down partly due to his first team come back at West Brom, he didn't have a great game and apart from his great display against Manchester United he was poor along with the whole squad during our last games.
  
  I expect him to be much better next season though.

• 02-Jun-2011 11:51 | | MeanLean
  

  Between whom? Ramsey and Diaby?

• 02-Jun-2011 11:52 | | MeanLean
  

  I agree. I thought Fabianski for the most part was fantastic and Newcastle apart didn't make many errors at all.

• 02-Jun-2011 13:29 | | Man United Killer  - Man United Killer's Views
  

  Cesc is such an important player for us.The thing that impresses me most about Cesc is not his sheer ability to pass a ball or pull strings in midfield but his ability to spot running team mates.Its a much coveted gift amongs players.But I will have to say RVP gets my vote for 'best player' of the season.I say this because even when we didnt have Cesc,there were times when he single handedly rescued us.
  I feel that your ratings are a little harsh on Arshavin.Arshavin has struggled to produce the brilliance he has showed us in the past-so I guess many people will look at it from that point of view.That said,I think he has a lot to offer and I find it a little silly that some people are calling for his departure.
  The one person I feel bad for is Denilson.I dont seem to understand why and how we manage to play denilson in a defensive position.It is patently obvious that he is not a defensive entity.When Denilson has gotten in advanced areas he has been dangerous from outside the box.There are a bunch of good goals that the Brazilian has scored from outside the box.It makes me wonder what happened to him.
  The other person that I will have to mention is Eboue.Eboue has gone from one of the best full backs to a mediocre winger.In 2006 he was arguably the best full back in Europe.The took his form a little further until he was pushed into midfield.What a waste!
  I pretty much agree with the rest of your assessment.But sometimes I feel that the manager habit of playing some players out of position has brought out the worst in them and consequently made them incurred the fans wrath.

• 02-Jun-2011 13:58 | | MeanLean
  

  Good post MUK,
  
  You make some good points about our squad members. Eboue for example had some very high profile games in 2006 and was fantastic going forward, I think he was just too suspect defensively for a long term solution. However I do like the idea of keeping him for certain home games where the opposition will only sit back and defend.
  
  Denilson has been pushed out due to the very tough competition from Wilshere and Ramsey, I suppose Arsene can see more in them for the long term.
  
  If Cesc is sold (which I am not so sure that he will now) then Wenger may well have to look at a change in style because replacing a like for like is almost impossible. I cannot imagine anyone else producing anywhere as many assists as he can over the course of a season.

• 02-Jun-2011 14:58 | | Man United Killer  - True
  

  ML I like the fact that you mention our style of play in the final lines of your post.That makes me think about the fact that, when you take our team and Man United (who have won the EPL), it's not like there is a gulf in quality between us.I think that sometimes I lack of shooting and overelaborate playing has cost us games.We could easily have walked the league if we had made a few tweaks to our style of play IMO.
  Speaking of Cesc, rumors abound that he is leaving but I hope not.Nonetheless if he leaves,it will definitely go down as a big loss in my books but I find through the years that someone always steps up to the plate to make up for absence of star players.
  I am dreaming a defender,a defensive mid who knows how to pass a ball and a killer finisher...all this on top of Cesc staying...and then finally what I am most concerned about our style of playing.As far as defence goes,I dont even think the other departments of the team did nearly half as much as they can do help the defence.We must start to defend as a unit..but NOT attack as a unit.

• 03-Jun-2011 02:52 | | richie
  

  Bloody hell whats this? Muk gets thoughtful? Has someone nicked your name Gooner IMO we should attack & defend as a unit. The days when all that defenders did was to defend are over. I'm not saying I want our CD's to spend as much time in the opositions half as they do in ours but generally playing the way we do, keeping a high defensive line, they (the CD's) have to be flexible enough to join the attack if called on.
  
  This is where the team defending as a unit comes in because if one of our CD's goes forward to join the attack a midfielder has to be disciplined enough to stay back holding the defensive line, not only that but the midfielder has to be a good enough footballer to defend properly. Think of the later day TA (Mr Arse) doing what he'd never done under GG having the freedom to go forward and score. Which he did.

• 03-Jun-2011 12:54 | | Man United Killer  - Smart Mouth-Richie
  

  The fact that I dont agree with you does not mean I am not thoughtful. I will have you know toughtful is my middle name.Its just that you,ML,TL and I dont agree on some issues.
  Well, I agree with the points you make but I reason why I am in favor of defending as a unit but not attacking as a unit is that it does not compromise defence especially in fast paced leagues.
  Since the inception of inception of the dutch-made 'total football' which we play,there have been serveral derivatives of it.Usually in fast paced games or when you have slow center backs that is the philosophy adopted.The only problem is that,defenders in the Vermaelen,Bruno Alves mould who are capable of scoring goals can only do that from a distance for most part.

• 03-Jun-2011 13:11 | | Man United Killer
  

  typos!!!

• 04-Jun-2011 00:41 | | richie
  

  When TA played for GG no-one thought he could score goals apart from maybe a set piece header. But he ended up box to box scoring, which was great. Its not a problem for a defender to join the attack even if he ends up all the way forward in the opositions 6m box, as long as his team mates cover for him. Thats one of the reasons the jigsaw puzzle of player buying is more complex than the jurno's and many of our own understand. Players that fit easily into our system often aren't necessarily the obvious prem players put forward.
  
  Its only a problem for players who've never played in such a system. Player raised only in the old style traditional way where everyone holds their position have a problem adapting to the free-flowing interchanging of positions style. Which IMO is why its easier to work with younger players who can adapt. Its not only defenders like TV & Bruno Alves that can score goals (and its not only from a distance). It all to do with how good a footballer the player is. Again IMHO Brazilians normally adapt with greater ease because its closer to their naturally open game.

• 04-Jun-2011 00:51 | | richie  - praise where praise is due
  

  I meant it was a thoughtfully written post, not your usual AW must go if he isn't going to buy players (quality finished article) who are top class and if he doesn't finish with his youth developement scheem (thats failed).

• 04-Jun-2011 07:14 | | Man United Killer
  

  yes but we cant realize the Arsenal dream based on youth policy only!That's my point.

• 05-Jun-2011 02:38 | | richie
  

  Why not? There were Buzby's babes and Taggarts kids, that some fool commentator said a year before they started cleaning up "You never win anything with kids" Did he ever have to eat his words!

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