Arsene Wenger believes Tottenham Hotspur will again challenge for the Premier League title under Mauricio Pochettino, despite their end-of-season collapse.
Arsenal boss Wenger maintained his record of having never finished below Spurs after the Pochettino's side took two points from their final four matches, allowing Arsenal to leapfrog them into second place on the final day of the season.
However, until the final month it was Spurs, rather than Arsenal, who looked capable of catching leaders and eventual-champions Leicester City, and Pochettino's impressive work at White Hart Lane earned him a new five-year contract last week.
Wenger told broadcaster beIN Sports in quotes reported by the London Evening Standard: "Pochettino has given his team a great dynamic, they play attractive football, he has given his team a style and given belief to Tottenham again.
"They can win the league again. That's a remarkable achievement. He's one of the promising, hard-working managers in the Premier League.
"Tottenham had a very good season. But they were very close to us. That means the expectation is so high for us that it's difficult to please people."
Despite pipping Spurs to second, it was a disappointing season for Arsenal, who established themselves as title favourites after beating Leicester for the second time in mid-February, courtesy of Danny Welbeck's last-minute winner.
However, shortly after that victory defeats to Manchester United and Swansea saw Arsenal's momentum evaporate and Wenger believes those matches were decisive.
"We are disappointed from not having won the Premier League so anything else you can never say you will jump over the roof or something like that. But being professional is also to prepare the future of the team and to take care that the team plays at the top. It's an achievement even if it's not what we wanted," he added.
"We are very disappointed because we felt for a long time that we could win the league but we also knew we had very difficult away games and they would be the real test for us.
"At the real important moment of the season we lost at [Manchester] United and at home to Swansea. That was the killer for us. What hurts most is not to be first."