Japan defender Takehiro Tomiyasu did not hide his frustration after Arsenal missed out on the English Premier League title by two points to Manchester City on Sunday, but was heartened by his strong finish to an injury-plagued season.
"I keenly feel how difficult it is to win the Premier League title," Tomiyasu said after Arsenal's late 2-1 home victory over Everton proved to be in vain.
City, who led coming into the final day, won 3-1 at home against West Ham to secure their record fourth straight league title.
"The fact that we had the chance to win it until the final game of the season really makes it even more disappointing," Tomiyasu said.
At Emirates Stadium, Tomiyasu scored his second goal for the club after drilling home Martin Odegaard's cutback in the 43rd minute, three minutes after Idrissa Gueye's deflected free-kick gave Everton the lead. Kai Havertz tapped home the 89th-minute winner but it was not enough to end the London club's 20-year league title drought.
While settling for the runners-up spot for the second straight year, Arsenal had a remarkable 16 wins, one draw and one defeat in 18 games since January, with Tomiyasu in the thick of things in the run-in.
Having returned to league action for the first time in three months in late March, Tomiyasu had initially been coming off the bench before claiming the regular left-back position. He started the final five games of the campaign and helped Mikel Arteta's side earn maximum points as they chased Pep Guardiola's men all the way.
"I had injuries and again couldn't play the entire season, so that's disappointing," Tomiyasu said. "But I want to take positives from getting to play in the last 10 games of the season, when things got serious and with the pressure from the title race upon us."
"While I had those injury spells, putting in proper performances over those final 10 games of the season would be remembered by the people watching. It'd have been even better to win the title on top of that, but it's a positive that I've managed to end the season strongly."
The 25-year-old, who in March extended his contract until at least 2026, is convinced the Gunners are on the right track after the Champions League quarterfinalists did not run out of gas like last term, although he also acknowledged dislodging City would be no easy task.
"There's no doubt Arsenal's football has evolved up till this point, even from the start of this season, and will continue to do so next season too," Tomiyasu said.
"Us not winning the league shows how consistent and used to title races City are. We used our experience from the last campaign to fight till the end, and we didn't stall like last year either, yet that still wasn't enough. I can improve some areas and will reflect on those."
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