If you were to look through a list of candidates for Arsenal player of the season last year, it probably wouldn't have taken you very long.
The Gunners slumped to eighth position in the Premier League and failed to qualify for European competition for the first time in a quarter of a century, but one of the few people able to make the disappointing results a bit more palatable was Kieran Tierney.
Either as a left sided centre back in Mikel Arteta's hybrid 3-4-3 at the beginning of the season, or a more traditional marauding left back in the later-adopted 4-2-3-1 the Scottish international's performances were a rare highlight, and there are some within the hierarchy at the Emirates who put their disappointing Europa League semi final exit down to his not being fully fit for those matches.
