Sport
Rio Ferdinand urges Arsenal to use title heartbreak as fuel, and Martin Odegaard want to ‘push to win everything’ next year
Rio Ferdinand has urged Arsenal to take the agony of losing the title this season as motivation for the following campaign, and Martin Odegaard has promised that the Gunners will return “even stronger.”
On the last day of the Premier League season, Kai Havertz scored a late goal to give Arsenal a 2-1 victory over Everton, demonstrating their contribution.
However, that was unable to prevent Manchester City from defeating West Ham 3-1 and winning the trophy for a record four times in a row.
Arsenal finished the season two points behind City with 89 points.
“Arsenal gave everything this year,” said TNT Sports expert Ferdinand. “They have been magnificent.
“The squad have been brilliant. The management has been fantastic, the recruitment has been great, but they are playing against a team that has been the most dominant we have seen in Premier League history.
“There is no words that can be said that will be any consolation to these players, it’s a tough moment, they will have wounds that will be open for the whole summer. These things take a long time to get over, but you have to use every experience.
“A bad experience is not the be all and end all, you have to turn it into a positive. Mikel Arteta works a lot on the mental side of the game behind the scenes and he will be tuning into that going into the new season.”
Arsenal have now come second for the last two seasons.
A year ago they were five points behind Manchester City, now they have closed that gap to two points.
“Arsenal are just one step away,” said TNT Sports expert and former Arsenal defender Martin Keown.
“This hurts because they were dreaming of doing something special, but you have to use this as oxygen for next season and make sure you get the necessary results.
“You are almost looking at perfection now. Arsenal have picked up 16 wins from the last 18 games and they are not champions, so there’s no disgrace here.”
Arsenal captain Odegaard spoke on the pitch following the win and insisted the team would “come back stronger”.
“I am so proud of the progress we are making, when I first came here to today, it’s such a big difference,” Odegaard said. “We have changed the club, I think you all believe in us now and I can’t wait to come back after the break and make you guys [the fans] even more happy.
“I think we are on a good way. We were closer than last year, now we have to use the break and come back even more stronger and even more hungry and we’re going to push to win everything.”
Match-winner Havertz added: “I feel sorry for all the Arsenal fans and for us, we gave our best but it wasn’t enough.
“Maybe in two or three months we can say it was a good fight but I feel like we deserved more. It wasn’t enough at the end but we go again next year.
“Hopefully we can go again next year and give the Arsenal fans what they need…it’s tough but I can tell you next year we will be even better and will give everything again.”
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