WHO was Arsenal's player of the season?

People deluded I'm back again now I know I'm late to the party where the end of season award show content is concerned but better late than never as we're just over a month to go until the 2024-25 Premier League season begins why not have a quick brief look back in time across the last season for the 2023-24 season and having a bit of award show people or my award show now as usual I welcome opinions you know football is universal football is ultimately a subjective game of opinions and I know this is going to spark debate so let me know who you would place in your you know first second and third player of the season award shows as I said we're just over a month until the Premier League season begins and kicks off again I thought I'd give you guys my top three performers I believe for me personally as an Arsenal fan from Arsenal last season now in third place but you know it doesn't really matter William Saliba I mean what can I say Rolls-Royce of a player Rolls-Royce of a defender we're very lucky to have him remember when people said Mikel Arteta didn't rate him he don't want him dissed at the other it's fair to say you know the loan spells I mean France the highs and lows in his early Arsenal career before he kicked a Premier League football for Arsenal Football Club it all worked out the last two seasons in fact we've seen what obviously he played every minute of the Premier League season in the one that's just gone the season before that it would have been the same before unfortunately there's an injury and you know in his first kind of debut season as a proper player at Arsenal I didn't think you could impress more but somehow he's found a way he's formed a formidable partnership with Gabriel he's been rock solid in that regard and he's already announced himself as one of the if not the best defender outright in the Premier League and in world football somehow he improved on the previous season as I just said for me the only time Saliba has really and truly looked his age it looked like a player that is in in his early 20s at centre-half has to be in the Champions League against Porto and Bayern Munich in which is to be expected it's his first kind of looking in that regards as great as he is he's still a young man and experience can be overstated but cannot be overrated again a Rolls-Royce of a defender you know firmly the modern day he's elegant he's calm it's almost poetic in defence you know there's nothing the man can't do he's good looking pause he's strong physically he can play out from the back he's got fantastic ability he relishes the battles he's got that calm arrogance about him and again I don't mean that as a criticism and the frightening thing is the man's 23 so he's only starting to announce himself at that higher level the man's going to go down in history in some capacity and hopefully it could be you know achieving trophies at Arsenal Football Club he will be here all day he's had several man of the match performances he stood up to be counted where you know the top attackers in the Premier League are concerned and pocketed them you know William Saliba would be third place for me he deserves it by all by every stretch of the imagination if he is player of the season all right for some people I can't disagree and I'm again while it's third second and third everybody shines together really and truly and you know you go back a few years um it used to just be Bakayo Saka we didn't have to think about this there wouldn't be a video so to know that you know I've had to somehow fight to whittle this down to three players where a lot of players have a a case to be player of the season it's it speaks alarm bells of where we're going as a football club so yeah in third place for me would be William Saliba and now in second place it would be Martin Odegaard the class weasian wonder god the best Norwegian in the Premier League I mean Holland's all right as well I guess in my opinion Odegaard is the poster boy of this new look Arsenal team you look at when he signed for this club and where we was and where we are now and the trajectory and the road that we're on where you look at him Gabriel and a couple of the players you know it signifies the upward trajectory Arsenal run you know for me Martin Odegaard can get a lot better I think pound for pound he is the best player to watch in Arsenal's team across 90 minutes he's got the technical ability he's always scanning he's got the IQ and I do think we'll get on to it but people underestimate exactly what in entails in his role in the Mikel Arteta team he has to be involved in all phases of play and and a lot of things people really so for me it would be in second place Martin Odegaard as I said the poster boy of the new look Arsenal team you know our club captain had another fantastic individual season in 2023-24 I think the eye test is all we need but you know where statistics are concerned of course he didn't get 15 Premier League goals but he got 11 goals and 11 assists across 48 appearances in all comps and we all saw you know he was vital to our attack in all phases of play he stood up to be counted in the Champions League you look at the tie against Porto where we you know stood up 2-1 penalties I think the man's amazing he netted eight goals in the Premier League you know he started with the win our way to Crystal Palace at the start of this season and then he's popped up with vital goals here there and everywhere you know the man's amazing whether it's the scanning on the pitch whether it's the leading the press will be one of the first players to lead the press whether it's you know the lovely assists you know we all saw the assist he had for Kai Havertz against Chelsea there's so much range in Martin Odegaard's play I genuinely think he stands up to be counted nine times out of ten and I don't think people give this guy enough credit both for the fact that we signed him for 30 million how good he is and how good he can be and how good he is getting I truly think he could be a world-class player one day like William Saliba like Bakayo Saka like Declan Rice if they're not that already as I said he stood up to a new numerous big games last season in my opinion he leads by example he's very demanding on himself and his teammates more than it appears really I must admit when he was named as the captain again I mean no criticism of this but I didn't think he fitted the mold of a traditional captain in England it's fair to say you know we can see now in my opinion why that's the case and I think for rival fans they need to learn if you leave Martin Odegaard unmarked in your area it's a scary sight for rival teams you know as I said there's been a lot of highlights I think he's an orgasmic player to watch the pass from Havart the pass for Havart's apologies against Chelsea you know he's amazing and I think he's becoming more complete he's keeping the essence of him which is a facilitator he makes players around him better he gets into great pockets of space he presses well he manipulates space very well the drop in the shoulders and the ball retention is amazing the range of assists he can you know hit dead balls he can do them scoop balls over the top he can play with low driven balls in behind that splits defense there's nothing he can't do with that left foot magic in that left foot a wonderful left foot you know again you look we've got issues on the left hand side but our right hand side Benjamin White, Bakayo Saka and Odegaard with the greatest of respect to Benjamin White on Odegaard and Saka in particular that's one of the best partnerships we've got in the team really and I think that relationship is second to none really and you can see why all of those three names I mentioned are all linchpins in the side the man's amazing and he's come a long way do you remember when some Arsenal fans wanted Maddison and Buendia over him I forgive you lot you know those first six months he spent at Arsenal Football Club initially alone were tough but it's fair to say the 30 million we spent on Martin Odegaard it's one of the best bargains both in Arsenal's case and obviously in the Premier League in recent years and I think he's truly a quality player and again I'm not saying he's the best but he's genuinely one of the most creative players I believe in world football and definitely in the Premier League officially where Arsenal were actually concerned I think he won player of the season for a second year in a row he became only the fifth player in Arsenal's history to win that people back-to-back he's joined Bakayo Saka, Thierry Henry, Ian Wright and for the older heads Liam Brady so if you're named even in Bakayo Saka's case but if you're named in amongst these sort of guys you're doing all right then you look at the four strikes in nine appearances between February and April which at the time was keeping us in the hunt of Premier League glory people he you know the start of the season of course there was some fluctuation but at the start of the season he had four goals in his first 10 games we all saw the community shield we all saw how he helped us against Manchester United at the Emirates his creativity ensured that he created more chances at a point from open play than any other player in the Premier League and again the other aspects of his game that Arteta demands of him he goes understated he was one of only four players to cover more ground in the division than 401 kilometers people and he amassed 35 league appearances of course at a point in the season I believe he had a concussion he was nominated for Premier League player of the season he picked up player of the month in December the same month he completed a century of Premier League appearances people when you look at his 150th game for Arsenal of course it was one to remember as obviously we beat Tottenham Hotspurs for the second season in a row in which he played the main part once again let's not downplay for a second the way he is already his contributions to Arsenal the defensive contribution defending from the front in our system continuously scanning ensuring that players lead the press with him as I said personally for me he's one of the most entertaining players in Arsenal's team in terms of pure technical ability as much as I love he is a player I would have loved to have seen or I wish was a couple of years older I would have loved to have seen under Arsene Wenger if I'm honest with you you know Mikel Arteta, Arsenal and Odegaard it's a marriage made in heaven if I'm honest with you after Kevin De Bruyne again he has the case to be the most creative player in the Premier League in my opinion he's also the first player on record since 2003-2004 to complete 100 passes 100 plus passes people create at least five chances and assist multiple goals in the same Premier League match the man is creativity the living breathing definition of it people even if you look at the first 24 top flight games this season he was the first player in Europe top five domestic leagues to reach 50 open play chances created and I know us Arsenal fans we have a running joke in that sometimes his teammates have robbed him of some world-class assists in the Premier League he has the joint second most total chances created joint third most big chances created and is full for expected assists he also at a time ranked top in terms of passing into the penalty area and through balls he was second to James Madison in that which again we won't talk on that because James Madison you know he's probably the only creative player in that team people he's an absolute all-action defender man the ability to occupy deeper areas over the pitch as well which was a case of last underrated and it reflects how vital he is you know and at turning 25 now we're at 25 he's matured immensely since his first sort of campaign in north London and you can still see the glimpses as to why he made his debut as a 15 year old and he's taking it to another level I mean he's got the perfect blend of what you want from a modern day creative player he finished the campaign ranked first for open play chances expected assist and shot creating actions and also through balls he also ranks first in the Premier League for possession one in the final third people so again Martin Odegaard for me would be second place in third place for me it's got to be Declan Rice it's got to be Declan Rice it's got to be Declan Rice you know I do think Saliba could have won it I do think Odegaard could have won it if I'm completely honest but why I give it to Declan Rice is slight new signing bias because I have to praise Declan Rice the biggest praise I can give is we need to give West Ham some more money if I'm completely honest with you or give them a discount for some one-to-way players because 105 million looks like pennies he's fitted seamlessly into this Arsenal team it's like he's come through the academy it's like he's been here 10 years you know he's had his you know he's showing other aspects of his game he's taking that traditional six stuff and reworking it in terms of what Mikel Arteta demands and he's taking it in his stride whether he's going to be a long-term eight or keep being a six who cares people because he's clearly intelligent he's coped with the demands nobody cares about his price tag and we all know the papers would have had a field day in that regard he's becoming an all-action midfielder I think his consistency from start to finish in this season has been a very high level which I don't think all of his teammates can say he's coped with the pressure of joining a big club in a euro season reworking how he plays trying to fight for a title again and he played he played a major part people as I said it feels like he's been here for years the only times I think Declan Rice has looked poor across a football pitch for Arsenal so far has been when the whole team probably could have done better and for me he stepped up in vital moments I look at Sevilla away in the group stages of the Champions League Manchester United at home I have to mention it but the hammer's got hammered and I'm sorry to burst your bubble but it was written in the stars that West Ham were going to concede a Declan Rice goal and what a screamer it was I know we only drew at Chelsea away but he stood up to be counted whenever we need him he stands up tall he's had his best goal scoring season which shows that he's willing to learn new things and take it in his stride and has the ability to do such and with the greatest of respect to Thomas Partey but you know the fact that we've signed Declan Rice and he's played so well and we've got another bit of physical presence in midfield has somewhat made you know Thomas Partey playing no real part of the season kind of cool if I'm completely honest with you the man can do it all you know he's becoming a more complete central midfielder and he's showing us just how good he is like don't get twisted I've always said I think Declan Rice has a lot more technical ability than people giving credit for and we all know he was good we've seen him for West Ham but when you're seeing him week in week out you truly get to see how good he really is and the man's amazing people as I said he's become a leader you know he's coped with the price tag he stood up to be counted in vital moments and I also feel Mikel Arteta was bang on the money when he described Declan Rice as a lighthouse and the man's been here two minutes and he's already become somewhat of a leader so it's testament to how he is as a person so for me Declan Rice has to be Arsenal's player of the season people but as I said in a positive way there's many players that could lay claim to this so yeah in third place I'm going William Saliba second place Martin Odegaard and in first place Declan Rice honorable mentions to Benjamin White Gabrielle you know I feel they're unsung heroes I might even I might even make another video about that and I'd also say Bakayo Saka as well I think what's side note but what's going against Bakayo Saka is that you know everybody's come to expect that now so you're doing your thing it's not really wow anymore but yeah it's nice that we could have several players that could lay claim to this and there's probably some that I haven't mentioned so that would be my first second and third people so once again Saliba third Declan Rice first Martin Odegaard second let me know your thoughts on who you would give it to and don't forget to smash the like button comment and subscribe thank you for listening peace