Arsene Wenger admits that securing third position and avoiding a Champions League qualifier in August will make a massive difference to Arsenal.
The Gunners ended the season coasting to a 4-1 victory over West Bromwich Albion which, coupled with Manchester United’s draw at Hull, ensures automatic progression to the group stages of Europe’s premier competition and two less games.
Speaking after the final win of the season, Wenger noted: “It’s a massive difference. You go away and you can play in Turkey between two Premier League games at the start of the season, which is never easy.”
Having watched his side fail to score in three consecutive home games, the boss couldn’t help but be proud of the way his players ended the season in style.
“We have played some quality games but recently we haven’t been able to score. Today, every chance we created we scored in a convincing way.
“The first half was of top quality. After half-time we tried to keep going but we eased off a bit and the second half was less convincing, but we still had chances.
“They had one or two as well. Overall we did the job well today and we finished the season on a high. Now we can focus on the FA Cup final and come back next season.”
Next up for Arsenal its Aston Villa in the FA Cup final, however, somewhat understandably given the end of the league season talk turned to the club’s prospects of mounting a title challenge next time out.
“We hope that everyone comes back from international duty in good shape,” continued Wenger.
“We have to start strong and we can prepare for that well now because we have no qualifier for the Champions League. We’ll see if we can do something to strengthen the team after.”
This season we were rubbish starting off. This next season I think we have a great chance to get a strong start. And if Shad keeps the players fit and we can rotate to keep them fresh enough we will do so much better.
Title challenge definitely possible.
AW is so right.Those early Season qualifiers have been a nightmare in the
the last few seasons.
Yeah, why always Turkey?
its edible.
but always got us a bit serious early in the season.. i always feel that arsene wenger experiments a bit in the beginning and such things work only if u have intelligent players on the field.. so one should hope that cazorla and arteta stay 🙂
For Arsenal’s sake I hope Chile packs their bags early so Sanchez can have a proper rest. That, summer transfer businesses done early, a psychological win over Chelsea in the Community Shield (after we beat Villa in the finals of course), and I’m pretty certain we can mount a challenge. A lot of ifs I know but my optimism is getting the better of me 🙂
Should we beat Villa and play Chelsea, I think mourinho will set his team up to lose or to give us a false sense of confidence. If they lose they’ll be motivated and we will be complacent.
I doubt his ego would let him.
Sanchez might not be the only reason we want Chile out quickly, if rumours are to be believed…
Would have been very nice to get 2nd but can’t complain with third as long as we win the cup, even though we have less points than last year I’d say it’s been a much better season.
We’ve really got to push for the league next year though, haven’t really got any more excuses, we’ve got a great squad and have to make those key additions early this summer, no Champions League Qualifier or World Cup hangover or Stadium Debt excuses anymore, we have to go all out now.
if we win the FA cup, me think it would have been a decent season. I hope we do better next year in the league.
I would like Arsene to strengthen the squad so that we can improve on our league position next season, or dare I say it, win the Premier League title.
No time to rest with the FA Cup Final just 6 days away. It’s time to rewrite history if we can go on to win a record 12th FA Cup! COYG!
A new number 1 goalkeeper and competition / cover for coquelin should be our immidiate concern in the transfer window.
Realistic targets for me would be go get Cech from chelsea and then Sami khedira on a free…
Should still have plenty left in the bank if a world class player becomes available
We are getting close !
COYG
Khedira is past it. Schneiderlin would be a better prospect long term. Also, a strong but mobile striker should be on our list.
umm…Strong and mobile like Sanchez, Walcott and Welbeck?
I have to agree. Khedira a bit injury prone. Schneiderlin seems a better fit, better accustomed to the PL too. And if we can get a more clinical and mobile striker that would be massive, Welbeck should’ve been that striker but he hasn’t really taken off. Lacazette or Higuain, not to displace Giroud per se but as an alternative. We saw what a mobile front man could do against West Brom.
Doesn’t that mean we already have that mobile front man?
I may be in the minority here but I still think that Szczesny can do the job for us here. I have this fear that we will sell him somewhere and he will become a top top goalie. I feel that it must be something beyond his goalkeeping that is bothering AW because after the last two games by Ospina I can’t see how he would not get a chance to go back in goal. I just have never been able to really warm up to Ospina. Still bothered by his height. He is the shortest goalie in the BPL… Read more »
Szczesny hasn’t suddenly lost his great potential, it’s just if his head will let him reach it.
Before the season we would have settled for 3rd place and an FA Cup. Plus much better performances against top sides and a much more balanced squad. This season is a B+ for me. This time last year we were hoping to challenge for the title, but in hindsight we just had too many gaps in the squad and we spent the first half of this season finding the right balance. We have everything in place now, just 2-3 good signings, some luck with injuries, and natural progression, we will definitely challenge for the title.
Arsene knows best
A very decent season. Team is improving year on year. Nice steady progress methinks and genuine reasons for optimism… By the way, whatever happened to Cheyu and his mad biscuit analogies ? Or Rambling Pete ? Got many a laugh from those two.
The last few seasons of qualifiers have been quite nerve wracking. We are never in top form and playing against teams usually that have a few more games under their belts. Great record in them, but too many close calls and something we don’t need early in the year. We obviously are in the best position in terms of squad strength heading into the Summer than we have been in years. No major departures or drama, two high priced superstars showing their quality this Spring, the young players on the team continuing to mature and improve, no major injury issues… Read more »
I would say its been a par season.If our fitness management has really improved,next season with schneiderlin,cech and maybe fekir (sterling I like but maybe his attitude..I don’t know).Improvement in transitions(counter attack and stopping the counters),a goalkeeper who can command the box and not make errors and a hazard type dribblingmeister in tightest of spaces are what we need to challenge for the title. Also,how we manage alexis(going to miss start of the season) next season is also going to be crucial. Ox has also been very unlucky with injuries in recent seasons.He was superb in the first half of… Read more »
A season without those increasingly difficult qualifiers is a promising start. Not only does it mean that the preparation for the season changes favourably, but it also alters our approach in the transfer market and nullifies any wait-and-watch approach from prospective signings. Let’s hope we can use this opportunity to make the 2/3 signings that we need to challenge on all fronts next season.
The last two seasons the team has stepped up that f.a cup win was the start especially when we beat liverpool then look at c/lge qualifiers hard stages v top teams, now arsenal fc have a better chance and also table position plus we seen what gunners can do in big matches nice goals yesterday v brom and
I liked the way theo and j10 hugged physio also ox and key players looking good so a double then f.a cup coyg.
Sanchez was on the periphery of the appreciation lap, wasn’t clapping the fans and looked very down. Hope that was just due to a frustrating game. Compare with BFG though. He looked like a captain. Great performance but wba were on the beach first half. Interesting selection decisions for AW next weekend. I’m going to my first FA cup final at age 50. Only other final was 2-1 over mug smashers when Charlie messed up rushy’s record. COYG!
Believe me Arsenal will be in the cl to make up the nos.I will be pleasantly surprised if they can go all the way.To do that we need atop class gk.Ospina is just a competent one and nothing to be excited about.Then we need a top class destroyer. We have too many creative/constructive one. We need someone who can stop the other side from playing,though Wenger may not agree. As for being out of the qualifier,it remains to be seen whether Arsenal can improve their cl record. Beating WBA 4-1 is noting to crow about.It would have been better to… Read more »
Surprised in this moment of joy for all ‘real fans’, your comment is so negative?……..personally, I dont know what you are on about mate, but winning WBA or Sunderland both generates 3 premier league points, so where is the advantage in winning sunderland over WBA? …..plus winning by a margin of 4-1 increases the team’s confidence, more especially so, where the opposing team has just trounced the “new champions”, a rival, 3-0?……. (Boring Boring Chelsea!!!!!!) I can only conclude that this guy is a ‘fat gooner’ wannabe, ……thumb down baiting?…….and if thats what you are? you will get your thumb… Read more »
I’m more optimistic about a new season than I have been for a long time, maybe 10 years or so. One or two quality additions and I feel we can at very least be in the mix in the last 10 games.
With that said, I don’t think City or United will be as poor next season, so we’ll have to be at our best from the get go.
we need to buy three quality players, one top goalkeeper, sczesny out, one top striker, on top DM we can win the league