Even though Arsenal managed to end the season above rivals Tottenham Hotspur once again, Arsene Wenger still isn’t happy with how things unravelled for the Gunners.
Spurs have been ahead of their bitter local rivals for much of 2016, but were ultimately pipped at the last as they fell to a surprise 5-1 defeat at Newcastle United, while Arsenal ran out 4-0 winners at Aston Villa.
The shock loss means that Spurs end the campaign in third place on 70 points, while Arsenal finish one point ahead of them in second.
“We did not start the season saying that we wanted to finish above Tottenham,” the French coach told journalists after the match, as per The Sun.
“We wanted to win the League and for a while we believed we could do it, so there is a frustration because we didn’t do that,” Wenger continued.
“We are not happy being second but there are 18 other teams behind us who would like to be in our position.
“You must not say that first is good and the rest is rubbish. We have made over 70 points in the Premier League and that is not easy,” he added.
“It looked like Tottenham would finish above us and they were in a better position than us for a long, long period, and Manchester City as well.
“But we kept going when he had a period that was very difficult for us, we kept our togetherness and that mental strength in the dressing-room got us through that period,” Wenger concluded.
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“The only target we had before today’s game was to finish second and we have achieved that.”
Intriguingly, while the Gunners ultimately finished higher than their London rivals, many will few Arsenal’s season as a failure, while Tottenham’s will be considered a success.
Spurs arguably overachieved by securing third place—their joint-highest league position since 1963—and an automatic spot in the group stage, while the Gunners failed to capitalise on the struggles of Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea and fell well short of champions Leicester City.