Fifth Place: A Disappointment but No Tragedy

You successfully completed your task of winning and yet it wasn’t enough.

We all knew this could happen since it wasn’t up to us. All we could do is hope for the best, but the others didn’t let go. We have no choice but to accept the situation as it is. At least we ended the season on a winning wave and gave a pretty good team performance. It definitely wasn’t easy; we played a whole 75 minutes with ten men.

Did the disappointment dawn on you after the final whistle?

Virtually we were in the fourth place until just about the 45th minute, since Liverpool hadn’t scored. But towards the end of the first halt they did score, then added another goal and never gave in after. Both the fans and us knew we might just miss out on the Champions League. It wasn’t all about the last game.

What was the true reason behind you not qualifying then?

We’ve been doing all we can lately. We won the last five games. It’s the February-March period we should be regretting; we squandered a lot of points then. We’ve earned 75 points this year and that just didn’t suffice for top 4. Last year we came second with 71 points. What can you do.

How much of a tragedy is it for a club like Arsenal to miss out on the Champions League?

It’s not much of a catastrophe if this is the first time it’s happened in 20 years. A lot of other top-tier teams haven’t been able to avoid it, either.

Will the Europa League pose a challenge for Arsenal?

You should respect just about any competition. It’s still a European cup which is absolutely worth winning. I’ve gotten to win the League before and I really do value that medal.

In addition, you could still add silver lining to this season by seizing the FA Cup.

We’ve got one last important match ahead of us. If we win it, it’d be a spectacular finish. There’s a world of a difference between winning any given trophy and winning none whatsoever.