Arsenal legend, Martin Keown has noted that the team was playing for second place right from the beginning.
Merson said there was no need to be embarrassed for coming second, recalling how Arsenal, under former manager Arsene Wenger came second four times before winning the league.
After leading for much of the campaign, the Gunners fell short at the final hurdle in this season’s race with Manchester City once again.
But notably, the performance of Mikel Arteta’s side has been a significant improvement from those of last season.
Merson told talkSPORT, “When you have to readjust to come 2nd, it’s a difficult adjustment.
“I think for Arsenal it was very evident that that’s what they were playing for. Then you fall away because some people don’t want 2nd best, but sometimes 2nd is not the end of the world.
“The Arsenal team that I played in, in the seven seasons that I managed to hold onto Arsene Wenger when he came in, we came 2nd four times. You can come 2nd, there’s no embarrassment about coming 2nd.”