Johan Djourou admits League Cup final defeat to Birmingham City ruined Arsenal’s season

Johan Djourou – Arsenal (PA)

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Arsenal defender Johan Djourou has admitted that the club’s League Cup defeat to Birmingham City was the cause of their disappointing season.

Going into the final at Wembley, Arsenal were still in all four competitions, but the shock defeat began a run which saw them lose in the FA Cup to Manchester United and the Champions League to Barcelona before falling away in the Premier League.

The Swiss international has played 34 times this season for the Gunners, in part due to the continuing absence of first-choice centre-back Thomas Vermaelen, and he highlighted the loss to Birmingham as the turning point in their season.

“If you look at the mental state of the team, everything changed from when we lost the League Cup final, that was a big turning point,” he told Arsenal TV Online.

“Before, everything was going well. The team was on fire. We were not losing in the league and had beaten Barcelona at home, then this happened.

“We were expected to win, maybe too much and got surprised on the day.

“After we lost the Barcelona game, then at Manchester in the FA Cup, so it was a lot to take.

“When you are playing for all four trophies and you lose three straight away, it is difficult to take.”

Arsenal’s failures mean that it is six years since they last won a trophy, but Djourou wants the Gunners to show their quality by damaging United’s title chances on Sunday.

He added: “We know our record at home has not been that great lately, because we drew too many games, but we want to put things in order at home.

“When Arsenal play our game, no-one can stop us so we have to keep going and fight for each other, to give everything, that is where the difference is.

“We have done well against the big teams at home, and United are a great team – but we just have to show everyone we are better than them.”

And Djourou has joined his manager, Arsene Wenger, in arguing that Arsenal’s performance in the league has been better than most people envisaged at the start of the season.

“People were not expecting us to be that close to the title this season,” he said.

“Of course we are looking for that trophy which everyone wants and deserves, but looking at the bigger picture to be in the Champions League every year is a good achievement because not many teams do that all the time.

“It is tough to qualify for the Champions League when you look at what the other teams have done.

“We just have to keep going from here, from strength to strength.

“It is normal with a winning mentality to feel disappointed for the team, now we have to bounce back because things are not really settled yet.

“Chelsea have got in front of us, and Manchester City are behind, so we just need to keep going. We have big games and need to fight until the end.”