Premier League 2016-17 season grades: Arsenal

Arsenal finished fifth in the Premier League in 2016-17, but what grade do they get for their overall performance?

Arsenal’s 2016-17 Premier League season can best be divided into two parts. Up until mid-December, the Gunners were generally electric, playing a sweeping brand of soccer based on rapid counters and stylish exchanges of passes.

This eye-pleasing fare produced big wins at Watford, West Ham, Hull and Sunderland. There was also a 3-0 demolition of eventual champions Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium in September.

Yet as Christmas approached, the air went out of Arsenal’s title challenge. The Gunners lost consecutive away games at Everton and Manchester City after beginning December top of the table.

From there the season unravelled at alarming speed, with manager Arsene Wenger the target of frequent fan protests. Meanwhile, star duo Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil floundered around the turn of the year as speculation about their respective futures intensified.

An injury to Santi Cazorla also wrecked the expansive brand of soccer Wenger preaches. The Frenchman’s future became a source of debate each week as a toxic atmosphere created by disgruntled fans followed the the Gunners home and away.

It took a switch to a back three in April to arrest the slide. Yet winning seven out of eight games to close the season still meant Arsenal failed to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in 20 years.

The manager

This was Wenger’s most disappointing, strangest season in charge. He lost the safety net of annual Champions League qualification through a top-four finish, despite some progress tactically.

The first half of the season saw Wenger’s Gunners less tied to dominating possession. Arsenal were instead content to absorb pressure before striking selectively and ruthlessly on the break. The Ozil and Sanchez combination proved especially potent during this period, with the Chilean thriving after Wenger adapted him to a center-forward role.

Even when his formula failed once the calendar turned to 2017, Wenger still deserved credit for the shift to a 3-4-2-1 formation, a sea change for a manager rigidly faithful to a back four.

Yet while he may have riffed with it effectively at times, Wenger ultimately failed to keep his team focused and together at key moments. In particular, the Gunners reacted horribly to setbacks this season, with dropped points piling up instead of representing temporary bumps in the road.

The uncertainty about his future, specifically the 67-year-old’s unwillingness to confirm his plans once his contract expires this summer, had a negative impact. Wenger admitted as much to Sky Sports, following the season-closing 3-1 win over Everton on Sunday:

"But the psychological environment for the group of players was absolutely horrendous. It has been difficult.Certainly my personal situation has contributed to that."

Finally acknowledging the troubled waters he’d helped brew summed up a manager who struggled to adequately cope with the demands of his most difficult season.

The players

Sanchez was Arsenal’s man of the season, despite a lean middle period. The Chilean refined his game as both a goalscorer and creative force, per Squawka Football:

Keeping Sanchez, who like Ozil is out of contract in 2018, won’t be easy without Champions League soccer. Yet losing him would set an already daunting rebuilding process back further.

Of the new signings, Granit Xhaka took his sweet time justifying the mooted £35 million fee he cost the Gunners last summer. However, the 24-year-old steadily grew into his role and was outstanding during the last month of the campaign.

Xhaka has the qualities to be the possession metronome Arsenal missed while Cazorla was injured.

Another of Arsenal’s summer signings, center-back Shkodran Mustafi, was also a mixed bag. The Germany international was too prone to mistakes after signing from Valencia for over £35 million. In fairness, Mustafi did improve once Arsenal switched to a back three.

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So did Rob Holding, the youngster signed from Bolton Wanderers for just £2 million last summer. The 21-year-old’s emergence proves Wenger will still give youth its chance, with Holding following the same quick path into the first team as Hector Bellerin and Alex Iwobi in the last three years.

Overall

The lowest league finish in Wenger’s tenure, Arsenal’s lowest since 1995-96, is the worst preparation for an FA Cup final against Chelsea on Saturday, May 27.

Even winning the cup won’t take the sting out of finally missing out on the Champions League, especially with the futures of Wenger, Sanchez and Ozil still uncertain.

Grade: C-