Arteta told lessons must be learned at Arsenal after top-four disappointment

Arsenal need to do some soul searching this summer, says Nigel Winterburn.

The Gunners failed to bag a top-four spot this season. Mikel Arteta's men were battered 3-0 in the north London derby against Tottenham earlier this month and then slumped to a 2-0 defeat against Newcastle. They cruised past Everton on Sunday with a 5-1 win on the last day of the season, but Spurs secured the final Champions League spot after beating Norwich 5-0.

Winterburn reckons lessons must be learnt. “Looking in from the outside, in January, Dusan Vlahovic looked like the deal they were trying to get done and once they couldn’t get that sorted, they decided that there wasn’t an option they were prepared to take a chance with so they decided to go with what they had," said the former defender.

“But I won’t criticise and say that’s the reason. We need to analyse the whole season as a whole and look at where they came up short. At the start of the season, I didn’t think Arsenal would get fourth spot.

"But when they beat Watford, they put themselves in prime position and we can’t hide from that fact. They should have hit the go button but instead they went into reverse."

The wheels started to come off in April following back-to-back defeats against Crystal Palace, Brighton and Southampton.

Arteta's men did find their form again with four wins on the bounce after that, including impressive victories over Chelsea and Manchester United.

But the second mini slump at the business end of the campaign undid their previous hard work.

“This season has been a bit of a missed opportunity for Arsenal given the position they found themselves in so late in the season," he added.

"Fans would’ve taken fifth place at the start of the season but sometimes opportunities open up and you must take them."

Winterburn was speaking to Paddy Power

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