Wojciech Szczesny has issued an apology on behalf of the Arsenal players after failing to win a trophy.
Keeper says disappointment will spur on Gunners next season
Wojciech Szczesny has issued an apology on behalf of the Arsenal players after failing to win a trophy this season.
The Gunners have unravelled since losing the Carling Cup final to Birmingham, getting knocked out of the UEFA Champions League and FA Cup by Barcelona and Manchester United respectively.
And Sunday's 2-1 defeat at home to Aston Villa leaves them in real danger of being overtaken by FA Cup winners Manchester City in the race for fourth place in the Premier League, meaning a Champions League play-off could be on the cards.
Although Szczesny accepts it has been a hugely disappointing end to a campaign which promised so much, the 21-year-old insists those bitter experiences will stand the squad in good stead to achieve long-overdue success in 2012.
"I totally understand the frustration of the fans, and we apologise for our lack of trophies this season," said the goalkeeper.
"This is one of the biggest clubs in the world and we should be winning trophies every year."
Szczesny added: "We will have much more desire next season as we know how close we were this season to win the Carling Cup and Premier League.
"That gives us more motivation and desire to go for it next year, and obviously we will be one year more experienced compared to what we were this year."
No psychological damage
There have been suggestions that the Wembley defeat to Birmingham dealt Arsenal a psychological blow from which they never really recovered, but Szczesny believes they should have been able to put that setback out of their minds.
"If you ask my opinion, I put it behind me straight away and I was focused on all the games coming up," said Szczesny.
"Obviously I was disappointed not to win the Carling Cup, but for me it made no difference to what happened after. You have to ask the other players what they thought about it.
"I think when we lost the Carling Cup we still had a very good chance to win three trophies, and we are disappointed that we didn't."
Szczesny has at least gone some way to resolving Arsene Wenger's goalkeeping problem, producing some consistent displays since being brought into the side because of injuries to Manuel Almunia and Lukasz Fabianski.
"Obviously I am happy to be playing for Arsenal and I am trying to do my best, but if we look at this season we never won a trophy, so it is disappointing for me," he said.
"I think we have the quality to be winning the Premier League.
"It is just a matter of can we make that next step?"
