Monday 22 May 2017 13:15, UK
Petr Cech has urged Arsenal to keep hold of their best players and make sure the lack of Champions League football next season is just a one-off.
The Gunners go into the summer with Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil entering the final year of their contracts and yet to recommit their futures to the club.
After finishing fifth and missing out on Europe's elite club competition for the first time in 20 years, Cech does not think it will be a problem if they use it to their advantage like Chelsea did this season.
"Alexis has been brilliant, scoring a lot of goals," Cech said. "(Him and Mesut) are both exceptional players and obviously you always want to keep your exceptional players.
"That's the main thing is we need to keep the team together and try to strengthen it in the areas where the manager would like to, and then we will be ready to go again.
"If you have one odd year in 20 years, it is not a problem. I think the club has a strong foundation, a strong organisation and everything to be one-year out and come straight back in, like Chelsea did last season.
"Obviously, it helped them not to be involved (in the Champions League) this season because they could keep all their energy for the league."
Cech was upbeat after their final-day win over Everton, despite some fans chanting for both manager Arsene Wenger's and owner Stan Kroenke's exit.
"We have four more points than last season, so in a way you would think that we improve by four points and we would be in a similar position like we were last season," Cech said.
"But unfortunately the other teams ahead of us had a very good season. They managed to get points and we had a few results which didn't go our way. It was our mistake."
