Unfancied at the start. Unlikely to hang onto our Champions League status. Fifth or Sixth. Not after the first 90 minutes of the season up at Goodison we weren't. Sun shining brightly and Denilson hinting he might just be Brazilian after all with a sweet top corner effort to put us one up. Vermaelen introduced himself with a much needed toughness twinned with a sheer enjoyment of winning headers he shouldn't, which saw him just as effective at the opponents’ end as he was our own. Debut goal. Cesc was on fire, seemingly even more powerful than before whilst notching two goals. Gallas nodded in. Eduardo tapped in. 6-1 stroll. Champions in waiting. Expectation.

I love opening games of the season like that. Like Wimbledon 1988, Plough Lane.

The Good…

Vermalen. Goals and strength, I've already mentioned. What a left foot. A fantastic first season for the former Ajax defender, who at times during the season, has played on despite a broken hand and crack in his leg. His body finally gave up just as our season did at the sh*thole in April, but he will be a valuable asset to the spine of our team next year. Trust earned. Great signing.

Alex Song continued his transformation from boo boy at Craven Cottage to a player sorely missed when his calm reading of the game and screening in front of our back four is not available. Immense at times and one of the first names on the team sheet.

His workload helped Cesc reach a season best tally of 19 goals. Tottenham at home, driving run from the halfway line. Sometimes goals just make you laugh. This, so shortly after Van Persie had put us one up, was one of those. Gems. The two against Aston Villa. Cameo. Coming off the bench from injury with his team in need, scoring two great goals before returning to the bench with injury and points secured. Character. His determination to drag his team to victory in difficult circumstances at Stoke after Shawcross showed he's not the boy from Barcelona anymore. Spirit created. He became a man this year. A man it has been a privilege to watch mature into the world class player he is today. He improved once again this season past. It's frightening to think he's only going to get better. His last contribution to our campaign was an equalising penalty with a broken leg against his boyhood team. Guts and Class. We can only hope his inevitable return home is delayed for another summer at least.

Van Persie. Up front on his own with two supporting. It took a small amount of time to familiarise himself with the new role, but once he did up at City, he thrived. With Cesc and Vermaelen, he completed a strong, in form, spine to our side. Unfortunately, but not so surprisingly, injury again struck Robin and saw him sit out five months of the season. He scored 14 goals from 10 starts. Double his starts, double his goals, we would have been closer come May. Due a full season.

Arshavin at Old Trafford and Merseyside. There were all too few glimpses of his undoubted talent, but they were great when they came. Big games. Away. North West. Old Trafford firstly, with a wonder strike that should have set us up for a fantastic win. Then Anfield. Again. He likes it there. His top corner winning stunner sent the away end delirious and secured a win on the back of an Arsene rant following a dire one goal down first half display. The boss found a hairdryer in the Anfield changing rooms and questioned whether some of the players were good enough to play for Arsenal. I wonder what he said after Wigan.

Barcelona at home makes it into the 'good' of the season as it was simply sublime. Such occasions are what the Champions League is all about. An honour. The first half of football was the finest I have seen. I'm a little surprised the club haven't added a fee to renewing season tickets this year as a result. For the same reason I include the return leg, where I witnessed the greatest individual performance from Lionel Messi, taking umbrage at our cheek to take the lead. For an all too brief moment we were one nil up in the Camp Nou. Is it better to have loved and lost, or to not have scored at all?

Other plus points of the season worth a mention are;

The 'Arsenalisation' of our new stadium, culminating with the scrapping of the coloured quadrants for a North Bank and Clock End next season, aided by the return of a clock inside the Stadium. It seems that Gazidis is a good man to drive the club forward. The Highbury Square development has rode out the downturn to be debt free. We are in a financially sounder position than most of our rivals. Time to spend some?

Also encouraging; the progress of Ramsey before the assault, Nasri's impressive goal and hint of potential against Porto, and the surprising re-signing of Sol. Hungrier than when he left and a symbol of what has been missed.

Experienced Winners.

***For more of my Arsenal based ramblings, follow me on Twitter @TheArsenal_

Tomorrow – The Bad…