This is the first time that Arsenal have finished outside of the UEFA Champions League places in two decades and a spell of inconsistency midway through the campaign proved pivotal.

Who have been the club’s worst performers?

In no particular order…

Francis Coquelin

The 26-year-old midfielder started the campaign with a regular starting berth, protecting the backline. However with Xhaka being eased into Premier League football on a regular basis, it quickly became apparent that as part of a holding duo, they don’t work together at all.

Coquelin tends to sit deep and dispossess opponents, but was regularly caught ball-watching or in two minds whether to tackle or delay and eventually challenge. This hesitancy, coupled with his inability to create chances when he does have the ball in central areas meant he was constantly making mistakes and had to be saved by others, committing needless fouls in the process.

Inconsistent displays saw him feature from the substitutes’ bench regularly during the latter stages of the season and it was no real surprise.

Alex Iwobi

Despite showing flashes of the individual brilliance that justified Wenger’s continued faith in the Nigerian’s ability, especially during a poor run of form, Iwobi has underperformed this season.

This has largely been down to inconsistent decision-making in the final third, which has been a constant source of frustration among club supporters who know he can perform better on a regular basis.

It can be easy to forget that Iwobi only turned 21 earlier this month and has a lot of learning to do, and his performance during a forgettable 2-1 home defeat by Watford in late January highlighted one of the reasons he’s so highly-rated in north London.

An energetic, promising performance while many of his team-mates were struggling under the pressure against the Hornets, it’s time for him to learn from a tough campaign and improve his adaptability to play in a variety of formations.

He is likely to have benefited from his extended spell on the bench and will be eager to avoid the same fate again next term.

Nacho Monreal

This one may seem like an arguable choice, but one or two month’s of decent performances do not mask the unconvincing displays beforehand.

The experienced Spaniard was regularly exposed as a weakness within the side and often crumbled under the opposition’s expectation that he would make a mistake.

Although his acceleration isn’t on the same level as Bellerín, you’d expect him to be better with his positional awareness and communication with team-mates to ensure support is there when required.

Instead, Monreal has looked hopelessly lost on a number of occasions, particularly against Swansea and Bournemouth as well as the big League fixtures this past season.

The switch to a back three has helped him with added protection at the back but his inconsistency has been too memorable to forget in a hurry.