Player Ratings 2013/14 - Part Two: Defenders

It’s been an interesting season for the Arsenal defence. On the one hand, they’ve continued and progressed from having a pretty good 12/13 season and have finished the season with a significant amount of clean sheets. However, the season also saw a number of heavy defeats, in which we conceded 21 goals in four games. Those games really did hammer the team and tarnished our defensive record and is something that really needs looking at next season. But, of course, you cannot blame the defence solely for those defeats and on the whole they’ve had an excellent season.

Bacary SAGNA (RB) - 3

31 years old - 48 apps / 1 goal (PL) / 3 assists (1 FA Cup / 2 CL)

Probably one of the best right backs we’ve had at the club, Sagna has been a rock for us again this season. He is very much Mr Consistency, reliable and professional at all times. After some recent struggles with injury, including two broken legs, Sagna has been back to somewhere near the form that excited many fans when he first arrived at the club. When fit, he’s among the first names on the team sheet and it’s always reassuring to see him take his place in the starting line up. However, the signs of age are starting to show. He’s noticeably struggled more with the effort of getting up and down the line all game, every game and he’s certainly lost a couple of yards of pace. Not only has this stopped him getting forward as effectively, but he can’t recover when caught out of position as well as he could before. Despite this, he’s still more than worthy of being our first choice right back.

Unfortunately, while his performances on the pitch have been excellent as usual, his season has been played under the cloud of an expiring contract. As ever with these things, the longer the contract goes unsigned, the more likely it is the player will leave and it seems that after nearly a year of wrangling, no agreement has been reached. Reports now suggest that he’s set to join the long line of Arsenal stars to jump ship to Manchester, with City offering a supposed £140,000 p/w contract. There is no way we could, or even should offer a contract like that. Sagna has already started the decline that age brings and although he might find a few more years at the top as a centre back, £140,000 p/w for a player his age is lunacy. We’d all love him to stay, but after a long and loyal service to the club, he will likely leave with our best wishes and heartfelt thanks.

Season Rating - 8/10

Worst Moment - Everton 3-0 Arsenal (PL) - Sagna lost the ball in a terrible position, allowing Everton to break quickly and seal the game with a third goal.

Best Moment - Arsenal 2-0 Liverpool (PL) - Difficult to pick a stand out moment or game for such a consistent and reliable player, but his performance against Liverpool in November was particularly fine.

World Cup? - Yes. Sagna is part of the French world cup squad competing in Brazil, hoping to forget the last couple of disastrous campaigns.

Will he stay? - Probably not. Contract negotiations have not progressed well and with the Manchester clubs offering huge wages, it’s almost certain he’s played his last game for the Gunners.