The Gunners ended the campaign with a final day win at Sunderland to cement third place behind champions Manchester United and runners-up Chelsea.

The Frenchman was disappointed not to have run United even closer, but excited at the prospect of doing just that next time around.

He said: "It is disappointment because we didn't fight and work as hard as we have done the whole season to finish third, but hope for the future as well because we had such a young side and to get 83 points, it gives you a lot of hope.

an anti-climax

"We have made a big improvement considering last season, and we were very, very close.

"We had a conjunction of bad luck and as well, it was the first time this young team had to deal with big pressure. A combination of the two maybe cost us the title."

However, the promise shown by the side which triumphed at the Stadium of Light, courtesy of Theo Walcott's 24th-minute strike, gave Wenger cause for optimism.

He added: "Yes, of course it was an anti-climax, but part of football is to do the job when it is less prestigious and less glamorous, and we did that well.

"We didn't concede a goal, we scored - we should have scored more - but we had a very young side.

"Our average age was 22.3 without the bench, and with the bench, it would have gone down to 20. That shows you we had a very young side who still can play in a mature way."