Dubai: Arsenal’s impressive ten-game run-in to clinch fourth position in the English Premier League felt like a “mini-title” to the Gunners’ players, according to winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Arsene Wenger’s side confirmed what will be their 16th consecutive participation in the Uefa Champions League next season with a 1-0 win away to Newcastle on Sunday to finish a point above north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur.
After losing 2-1 away to Spurs in early March, the Gunners went on to win eight and draw two of their remaining ten games to deliver the sweetest form of revenge over their neighbours.
That followed what had otherwise been a disappointing season for a club bereft of star striker Robin van Persie, who switched to Manchester United for £24 million (Dh134 million) last summer.
Speaking on the sidelines of an Arsenal Soccer School clinic at the Sevens Stadium here on Tuesday, 19-year-old Oxlade-Chamberlain said: “Being at a club like Arsenal, the main objective is to be challenging for titles. The realism that we couldn’t achieve that towards the back end of the season was disappointing.
“But you have to understand you are not always going to be able to reach the targets you make and you have to set new targets.
“We had tried to challenge for the title, but when we realised we couldn’t do that the new target was to make sure we could still qualify for the Champions League and maintain our football club’s status.”
Oxlade-Chamberlain, who signed for Arsenal from Southampton for £15 million in August 2011 and has gone on to make 59 appearances and score six goals for the club, added: “I remember being seven points behind Spurs at one stage and people had written us off, but pulling something like that off has proven once again that we are capable of playing at the highest level.
“People may say ‘Why are you so happy when you haven’t won anything?’, but in a way the last ten games was like winning a mini-title for us and to make sure we finished on a high is great for our mentality heading into next season.”
Of the vacuum left by Van Persie this season, Oxlade-Chamberlain, who has followed in his father Mark’s footsteps by representing England, said: “There’s no denying he is a world class striker and he has proven that again this season. But no team is about just one player and this season we have had to find goals from other areas of the pitch.
“It’s disappointing to lose someone like Robin, but it makes us stronger. We’ve had to find different things from other players and they have had to step up to the plate and take more responsibility. We’ve seen that a lot from our players this season.”
