Six weeks ago most Arsenal fans thought that we didn’t have more than a 1 in a 100 chance of finishing above Tottenham for the 21st year in a row, but in an amazing turnaround it was Spurs that collapsed at the end of the season, allowing theGunners to pip them for second spot on the last day of the season.
Their embarrament was amplified by losing 5-1 to a team that was already relegated, and who scored threeof those goals after being reduced to 10 men. Just like Leicester’s incredible title triumph, Tottenham’s collaps was nearly as unbelievable.
The Tottenham striker Harry Kane, who ended the season with the Golden Boot, couldn’t hide how gutted he was: “I think that’s probably the worst performance I’ve ever been involved with,” he said. “We still had a lot to play for, so it’s hard to put a finger on what went wrong. We just haven’t been good enough in the last few games – it’s not just Newcastle, we should never have lost to Southampton either. It probably started from drawing the West Brom game, but it’s hard to say exactly what went wrong.
“It would have been nicer to have won the Golden Boot on a better day, that’s for sure. It’s a personal achievement and it’s something I’m proud of, but if I had the choice between winning or having the Golden Boot, I’d rather have won. For me, it’s a little bit of a good feeling but overall I’m gutted we haven’t finished the season off strong.”
“We just haven’t been good enough. I think that’s two points from the last four games and that’s unacceptable considering how we played the rest of the season. All we can do is apologise to the fans. We have to stick together through tough times – and we’re still playing Champions League football.”
“What’s just happened hurts and it’ll leave a bad taste in the mouth over the summer,” Kane continued. “But in hindsight, you’ve got to try to look at the bigger picture. If someone had offered us automatic Champions League at the start of the season, we would definitely have taken it. It’s just a shame the way it ended.”
“We’re professionals and we wanted it to be us lifting the league. We have to use that as motivation for next year. It’s going to be another tough season. It’ll be a long old year but we have to cope with that at the top level if we want to be fighting for the Premier League again.
“We have to use days like this – and the whole of the last four weeks – as motivation. We have to learn from it. We have to learn how to finish teams off and finish the season off as well. If we had been still in the title run-in and this had happened at Newcastle, we’d have been even more gutted. If it had come down to the last day and something like this happened it would be even more hurtful. We just have to learn from it.
“Games like Newcastle and the last few weeks show there’s still a lot of work to do. We haven’t cracked it yet. We’re still learning, we still have to work hard and we still have to improve.
“But everything is in place so we all have to try to stay positive – us, the fans, the club – because we’re moving in the right direction.”
It certainly was an amazing end to the season, with all Arsenal fans dreading getting ripped by our Tottenham supporting mates, but the tables being turned so dramatically on the final day. It must have been especially hard for those young Spuds who have NEVER seen their club finish above Arsenal ever. Don’t you feel just a little bit sorry for them? LOL!
Sam P