Mesut Ozil: Finishing above Tottenham was good news for Arsenal fans after we let them down

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James Benge17 May 2016

Despite losing out on the Premier League title to Leicester Mesut Ozil maintains that Arsenal finished the season well by overtaking Tottenham to claim second.

Arsenal secured their best finish to a league season since 2005 with a 4-0 victory over Aston Villa on the final day, though second was only guaranteed as the 10-men of Newcastle hammered Tottenham 5-1 at St James’ Park.

Extending a run of 21 consecutive league finishes above their local rivals gave Arsenal fans some succour at the end of a season in which their title hopes were effectively extinguished by a three game winless run in February and March.

Though no side picked up more points against the rest of the top four than Arsenal, who were unbeaten in six games against their fellow Champions League qualifiers, draws and defeats against the likes of Swansea, Crystal Palace and Sunderland contributed to a 10 point deficit to eventual champions Leicester.

It is a margin that frustrates Ozil and the rest of the Arsenal squad but they can at least take satisfaction from their contribution to the party atmosphere at the Emirates on the final day as news filtered through of Spurs’ collapse.

He told Sport 360: “I think for us in the end it was important to qualify directly for the Champions League which is the second or third place.

“To be second in the last game of the season and be on top of Tottenham was also good for us and our fans. It was a good finish to the season.

“I think we dropped a lot of points that we shouldn’t have dropped like against smaller teams and I think that was the point in the season where as a team we weren’t strong enough to take just a point and go ahead.

“Especially after the Barcelona game we lost some points. That was a time when we weren’t good enough to just take points and go.”

Arsenal season ratings 2015/16

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Despite their disappointment this season Arsenal remain second-favourites to claim next season’s Premier League title, trailing only Manchester City, who will be under the stewardship of Pep Guardiola, in the odds stake.

Arsenal were without several leading players for the majority of the season, with Alexis Sanchez, Santi Cazorla, Jack Wilshere and Francis Coquelin all enduring extended periods on the sidelines.

“It’s a long season and a lot of things must go right in the season,” Ozil added. “One of the things is players getting injured which is one factor definitely.

“On the other hand we just have to focus more and with stronger players maybe coming in be competitive for next season and we will see where we end up at the end.”

Granit Xhaka is expected to be the first of those players to arrive, with the Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder hoping to seal a deal before the start of Euro 2016 on June 10.

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