Arsenal finished their season on a high, going to Carrow Road and winning 2-0. That was the Gunners’ 24th win of the season, putting them on 79 points total…and securing another fourth place finish for the club.
Despite adding eight points to the 71 earned last season, and grabbing three more wins, Arsenal finish their season exactly in the same position that they finished last year. No wonder Arsène Wenger is a bit frustrated:
Unfortunately it’s the first time in the Premier League that you finish fourth with 79 points and it was very tight. I believe that Liverpool can be frustrated tonight, we can be frustrated, Chelsea can be frustrated because only one team can win it. But at the top the number of points made by all the four teams is top quality.
That’s a surprisingly restrained statement from a man whose side spent much of the first half of the year sitting first in the Premier League table. It sure seemed as though this, this would finally be the year that Arsenal would lift a trophy.
Instead injuries took a toll. Aaron Ramsey fell to a thigh problem on Boxing Day, limping off for over three months. Considering he’d scored thirteen goals in all competitions prior to that match, it was a rather big blow for the side.
But Ramsey wasn’t the only Arsenal player to fall victim to injury. Abou Diaby missed nearly the entire season, playing only the final few minutes at Hull. Jack Wilshere was out for nearly two months, again returning for just a few minutes against Hull. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain missed much of the season.
Overall, it was the amount of injuries preying on the squad that should be what frustrated Wenger. Who knows what sort of trophies Arsenal may have lifted, had they had, say, a healthy Ramsey for the entire season?
Of course, they still have a chance to add a trophy to the dust that’s gathering in the cabinet. Next weekend, Arsenal face Hull at Wembley, battling to lift the FA Cup. Perhaps after that match, we’ll hear what’s really on Wenger’s mind.
