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My Quest to Find Arsenal’s Top Performers
Flipping through match highlights last Sunday, I suddenly wondered – who’s actually carrying Arsenal this season? I’ve watched every game but never sat down to compare them properly.
Step 1: Gathering the Evidence
First thing Monday morning, I grabbed my laptop and opened three tabs:
- Premier League official stats page
- My own notes app with game ratings I scribbled after each match
- Arsenal fan forum threads about player performances
Scrolled through goals, assists, and those defensive numbers that don’t make headlines. Noticed some players like Partey kept appearing in “top 3 performers” fan polls despite injury time.
Step 2: The Eyeball Test
Decided stats don’t show everything. Rewatched condensed versions of our last 10 matches on Tuesday night. Paid special attention to:
- How often Saka got double-teamed yet still created chances
- Odegaard’s off-ball runs that stats never capture
- Gabriel’s recovery speed during counterattacks
Drank two coffees and fell asleep with the tablet still playing Chelsea away match.
Tripping Over My Own Bias
Thursday morning hit a snag – realized I was overrating players I personally like. Example: almost put Tierney in top 5 just because I love his hustle, but Zinchenko actually influenced more games. Had to cross-check with:
- Post-match presser comments from Arteta
- BBC pundit ratings (even when I disagree with them)
- My mate Dave’s brutal WhatsApp critiques
The Final Revelation
Friday afternoon spread everything on my living room floor – stat printouts, notebook scribbles, screenshots from forum debates. Ranked them by:
- Consistency across full season
- Game-changing moments
- Impact when team struggled
Surprise discovery: Ben White’s been quietly brilliant at right-back despite all talk being about attackers. Almost put Rice #1 but Odegaard’s creativity edges him out by a hair.
My Top 3 (Fight Me)
- 1. Martin Ødegaard – that man’s passes are glue holding our attack together
- 2. Declan Rice – transformed our midfield within months
- 3. Bukayo Saka – even when marked into next week, he delivers
Special shoutout to Saliba too – our defense collapses without him. Anyway, this took my whole week but finally satisfied that itch to know who’s really shining.