Welcome to day two of our Gunners Town awards week. As you
will have seen from Monday’s piece, there was quite a variety in who our
writers thought was worthy of winning the Player of the Season award.
Today’s accolade is one that is
always uplifting, as it means that a player’s hard work and dedication is
finally paying off for them on the pitch, unless of course they were really
really awful at the start of the campaign.
Once again we assembled the opinions
of the Gunners Town crew to find out who they thought was Arsenal’s Most
Improved Player of the Season.
Jeremy Lebor – Per Mertesacker
I have the BFG as my player of the season simply because since the turn of the year, he has been our ‘most improved player’ and although not single handily responsible, he along with Laurent Koscielny did turn around Arsenal’s season. It is no coincidence that the BFG hitting super form was a deciding factor. For that reason, my vote for most improved player goes to him!
Batmandela – Aaron Ramsey
Ramsey has had a tough time since
he was chopped down by Stoke City’s Chief Orc Ryan Shawcross. He bore more than
his fair share of blame for last s
eason’s disappointments, despite being played
out of position. But he played through the booing, and when Arsene Wenger
finally started playing him alongside Mikel Arteta, Aaron found his mojo. He
proved he has huge heart, incredible stamina, and the desire to do whatever it
takes to ensure that Arsenal succeed. There are elements of his game that need
work: his finishing, his decision-making; but he has tightened his game, and
earned his place in the starting lineup. Twitter no longer implodes when he is
named to the squad, or warming up on the sideline. And Rambo must take the
credit for that.
Dave
Seager – Per Mertesacker
Hard to describe why a player
with 80+internationals is the most improved player in our squad but for me it
is Per without question. I distrusted him and felt he could not adapt to the
pace our league last season and felt the same most of this. However from
February alongside Laurent Koscielny he is a new player.
Darren
Wright – Aaron Ramsey
Rambo. Not Sylvester Stallone
Rambo but Aaron Ramsey Rambo. Was on the verge of great things but then had his
leg snapped by a horrible bastard called Shawcross. Taken him time to recover
from this but has been terrific in recent months.
Steve
Wellman – Aaron Ramsey
The boo
boys favourite, came into his own at the tail end of the season when
consistently picked in the right position. Again, the formation of Rambo’s
partnership with Mikel at centre midfield during the run in, gave us a platform
the snatch fourth place.
Andy
Wood – Carl Jenkinson
Last season the lad was a
disaster waiting to happen. I had massive doubts about his ability. I’ve since been
won over by his attitude and solid displays earlier on in the season. He was
very unlucky to lose his place to Bacary Sagna after getting into the England squad and
even more unlucky not to have won it back when it was obvious to everyone Sagna
wasn’t at the races this season. Jenko offers heart to the Arsenal team and is
possibly the best crosser on the run we have at the club. Hopefully he will end
up a club legend with 500+ games and plenty of medals to show for his time at
his beloved club.
Chris
Moar – Aaron Ramsey
I feel as though Ramsey has
turned into a completely different player since being given a run of games in
the midfield from January onwards. He seems more confident on the ball and is a
very good pivot partner for Arteta.
Ryan
Baker – Aaron Ramsey
Without a shadow of a doubt for
me, it has to be Aaron Ramsey. The second half of the season saw Aaron silence
his critics and put together a string of crucial performances in vital matches
(Totteham Hotspur and Manchester United spring to mind). Ramsey has come in for
some stick from his own fans, but after the second half of the season we should
be looking forward to seeing how much further Aaron can progress with his
Arsenal career.
Anna
Lvova – Laurent Koscielny
Laurent
Koscielny. Despite injury and spending a good part of the season on the bench
this is by a mile our most improved player of the year. He needed a game
run to get back to his form. He came, he conquered. By the end of the season
one could easily say he is currently one of the best CBs of the league.
Chris
Mader – Aaron Ramsey
That must be Ramsey. Aaron got a lot stick
during last and the start of this season. It took him a lot work to get back to
his best after his horrific injury. But in from January on showed us what an
important player he can be. Fought for every ball and never gave up. Winner
mentality.
Michael
Jeffares – Aaron Ramsey
It’s taken Ramsey a while to
regain his confidence and credit to Wenger for sticking by him. His performance
in place of Arteta against West Ham United at the Emirates seemed to ignite
something within the young Welshman and he hasn’t looked back since. His drive
and box-to-box play has been staggering. Even last Sunday, as Theo Walcott hit
the post in the 92nd minute, Ramsey was busting a gut to get in there. He must
look to add more goals and creativity to his game in order to excel in the
coming years.
Anushree
Nande – Aaron Ramsey
I have always been a fan of the
young Welshman, even through his bad patch post that devastating injury. He
just needed support and consistent game time to prove himself again. Something
he has done in ample measure this season. Never complains, takes it all on his
chin, doesn’t hide and has an impressive work rate. Still needs to improve on
his final ball and get more goals but that’s the next step after a fantastic
performance this year.
Special mention to Kieran Gibbs.
Abayomi
Aje – Aaron Ramsey
Was rightly and sometime wrongly
criticised at the beginning of the season but finished the season strongly. His
performance towards the end of the season shows we are probably going to have
the original Ramsey back. Played as DM, RB, LW, RW and even as LB and managed
to do his job
without sulking.
John Woods – Laurent Koscielny
I’ve already
outlined these in player of the year. Between Koscielny and Ramsey… and I’m
struggling to split them…But I think I’ll have to go with Koscielny.
Matt Littlechild – Aaron Ramsey
After a difficult first half to the campaign
where he was subject to a barrage of abuse both at games and online, Aaron
Ramsey has responded exceptionally well and was one of the first names on the
team sheet come the end of the season. His hard work, drive and never-ending
commitment to the cause during matches didn’t go unnoticed, and a goal versus
Wigan Athletic and the Player of the Month award for April provided just
rewards for a player who has gone from strength to strength since the turn of
the year. He’s the sort of player every side would love to have due to his
eternal engine, and if he can build on this end of season form heading into the
next campaign then great things can be expected from the young Welshman.
Gunners Town Most Improved Player of the Season – Aaron Ramsey
Do you agree? Let us know by placing your vote below and then either leave us a comment or Tweet us saying why that player deserves the award. The best answers will be displayed in the reveal piece next week.
Happy voting!
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