Another season has come to an end, and the majority of Arsenal fans are pretty happy about that fact, given the way this one unfolded.

3Defence

Arsenal v FC Koln

Hector Bellerin 6

Bellerin has had a much better season than most supporters give him credit for. Whilst he was never consistently one of Arsenal’s best performing players, he had a lot of good games, especially considering just how many he had to play.

The right-back was one of just two players in the entire squad to complete 4,000 minutes in all competitions. With a complete lack of quality alternatives, Arsenal relied on Bellerin to play week-in, week-out, all season. I’m sure if he had some competition and a rest every once in a while his performances would’ve improved.

As it was, he didn’t hit the heights of his early days in the first team. The Atletico Madrid tie summed it up, where he was one of the best players in the first leg, before struggling in the second playing his third 90 minutes in a week.

I expect more next season, but this was by no means as bad as some people on social media would have you believe.

Shkodran Mustafi 5.5

It’s impossible to know which Mustafi you’re going to get going into any particular match.

Will it be the one that starred in a win over Spurs at the Emirates, or the one at fault for United taking a 2-0 lead in 11 minutes? The Mustafi who got seven consecutive league clean sheets, or the one who didn’t keep another one from the start of December until mid-March?

I think there’s a good player in there, but it’s so difficult to tell. The way he let Southampton, CSKA and Newcastle players all get a run on him to score in a single week implies some serious defensive deficiencies, yet statistically he’s somehow one of the players of the season. We’ll see how he does under a new manager.

Laurent Koscielny 4.5

Like Cech, Koscielny is a top quality player, who had a poor season. He played pretty well before the turn of the year, but the longer the campaign went on the more he struggled with injuries, and the more his performances deteriorated.

What made it worse was that he let the team down in the big moments. He didn’t do enough in the League Cup final, he was completely at fault in the Europa League semi-final first leg, and although there’s nothing he could’ve done to prevent his injury in the second leg, it just emphasised that Arsenal can’t rely on him anymore.

Koscielny is a very talented defender, but his body is letting him down and Arsenal need to prepare to move on. That said, we wish him the best of luck with his recovery, and hopefully he can come back at the same level as in previous campaigns.

Nacho Monreal 7.5

Whilst everyone around him in defence was having a difficult season, Monreal shone, for the most part. He started the season very well, and bar one mistake against Everton he was the clear front-runner for player of the season. A particular highlight was his goal-line clearance against West Brom.

The second half of the campaign was a bit more hit and miss, with injuries limiting his game time and a few more defensive errors, but he made up for it with a number of goals and assists.

Overall, a good season that cemented his position as a fan favourite. He still has more goals than Alexis Sanchez since the Chilean’s last game for Arsenal, which is nice too.

Calum Chambers 6

Chambers is another player on the long list of defenders whose injury problems disrupted their season. It took until December for him to really get fit and into the team.

After that he had a good season, when he played at centre-back. When he started at right-back, Arsenal lost three of their four matches, to Brighton, Newcastle, and Koln. That’s no coincidence. Arsenal need to buy a proper right-back and stop entertaining the idea that Chambers should play there.

Rob Holding 6

Holding had a good season in general, but didn’t play as much as I’m sure he would’ve liked. In fact he didn’t play a single league minute in November and December, despite the busy fixture list.

He was part of a solid League Cup defence that only conceded one goal in four matches, including keeping a clean sheet at Stamford Bridge. Then he didn’t make the squad for the second-leg and the final, and Arsenal conceded four goals.

Unfortunately he also has the stain of that performance against Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup on his record, and he really didn’t have a good game that day. He also played 90 minutes in the 4-0 against Liverpool, and was on the pitch for all six of Leicester’s goals against Arsenal this season.

In general, he had a promising season, but clearly there’s still work to be done before he makes the starting eleven on a more permanent basis.

Per Mertesacker 5

Mertesacker only played a very small part on the pitch this season, making 12 appearances in all competitions, and only two of those in 2018. His final start came in the defeat to Nottingham Forest, and despite scoring I think that game spelled the end for his playing career.

Thankfully he got one last run out against Burnley, and the fans gave him the send off his career deserved. He was a top defender over the years, but couldn’t show it for Arsenal anymore. Still, I’m sure his impact in the dressing room and on the training pitches was very valuable, and I’m glad he’ll head the academy next season.

Next up: Midfield