Arsenal's Player of the Season

Goal.com names the top three stand-out performers for the Gunners in 2011-12 and then declares the overall winner. Have your say below!While recent slip-ups against QPR and Wigan, as well as the home draw with Chelsea, have served as small reminders that there is still work to be done at Arsenal, the buoyant mood which now surrounds the Emirates as we enter the final games of the campaign is in stark contrast to the one which greeted the Gunners’ slump at the start of the season.An opening-day goalless draw at Newcastle was followed by defeat at home to Liverpool and an 8-2 humiliation at Old Trafford, but with Robin van Persie well and truly leading the charge, Arsene Wenger’s side gradually embarked towards recovery.Defeat to Sunderland in the FA Cup fifth round and their 4-0 humbling at the hands of AC Milan in the Champions League last-16 first leg looked to have threatened their revival, but this time they did not descend into crisis, with the likes of Mikel Arteta, Thomas Vermaelen and Theo Walcott joining their Dutch captain at the fore to put together an impressive end to the yearBelow, in alphabetical order, are Goal.com's three nominees for Arsenal’s player of the season, based on their club performances in all competitions. We then cast our vote at the bottom before leaving it up to you, the readers, to have your say.The 24-year-old has become a formidable presence in the heart of Arsenal’s midfield this term, providing muscle in the centre of the park to a side which is renowned for its fragility.Calm in possession and a creative passer, Song has truly established himself as a key player for the Gunners over the last year, and not only has a total of nine assists in the league helped demonstrate the creative side to his game, but they have also ensured the absence of Jack Wilshere has not been felt too heavily.He may have only scored once himself all campaign, but his memorable lofted through-balls for Van Persie’s volleyed goals against Everton & Liverpool, as well as a series of impressive displays in the Champions League, suggest the Cameroonian will be a key factor behind any Arsenal challenge next year.The Polish stopper has impressively stepped up to the mantle at Arsenal to provide solidity in a position the Gunners had notoriously struggled to fill since Jens Lehmann's departure.A total of 17 clean sheets in all competitions during 2011-12 makes impressive reading, and on the field the 22-year-old has provided much-needed leadership from the back, with the former Legia Warsaw man often showing maturity beyond his years when marshalling the defence.Szczesny has also contributed a number of timely saves this season to bring his side back from the brink. He successfully thwarted Udinese’s Antonio Di Natale front the spot to set the Gunners on course for their 14th successive appearance in the Champions League group stages, while in early March, he kept out a Dirk Kuyt penalty as his side secured a morale-boosting away victory over Liverpool.A continuation of the 28-year-old’s flying form from the second-half of last season has seen Van Persie firmly established as one of the Premier League’s leading lights in the current campaign.A return of 28 league goals this term, with another seven coming in the FA Cup and Champions League, speaks loud enough for the Dutchman’s output over the last year, but it is the manner in which he has led the line that saw him rewarded with this season’s PFA & Football Writers’ Association Player of the Year awards.At times Van Persie has provided Arsenal’s only goal threat, with his hat-trick in the 5-3 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge a real watershed moment in the Gunners’ campaign, while mirror-image volleys in victories over Everton and Liverpool have demonstrated his outstanding technical ability.It is impossible to look beyond the Dutchman this year, who has been inspired in front of goal throughout the campaign and has assumed the role of captain seamlessly.While Szczesny and Song have consistently performed throughout the year, and have both played significant parts in the Gunners’ revival, Van Persie has well and truly led from the front, with not just his goals, but leadership and aura sealing his place as Arsenal’s Player of the Season.