We’re not good enough, says Vieira
Arsenal needed a point against Valencia in the Mestalla Stadium in order to progress into the last eight, but Norwegian striker John Carew saw them off with both goals in the Spanish side's 2-1 victory.
Although that was Arsenal's only defeat in the second phase, the harsh reality is they blew their chance of joining Manchester United in the quarter-finals by failing to win any of their three home matches.
"If you go out of the Champions League it means you're not good enough to go to the next phase and we have to accept that," said Vieira.
"It means we have to improve and then we shall see what might happen next year. I thought we played well in virtually every game, especially in the second phase. But we won only one game and you need to win more than that if you're going to go through. There were too many draws and then we lost the one we couldn't afford to lose. It's difficult to go through if you don't win any of your home games in the second phase. We had three chances to win at home but didn't take any of them."
When Arsenal went out of the Champions League at the same stage last season they bounced back to win the league and FA Cup double, and Frenchman Vieira is calling for a united effort from the squad to repeat that feat. They have the chance to put themselves immediately back on track as they face Everton in the Barclaycard Premiership on Sunday and then travel to Chelsea on Tuesday for an FA Cup replay bidding to book a semi-final clash with Sheffield United.
"We need something extra, something that will make the difference for us," said Vieira. "We don't have the extra thing at the moment and we have to work on it and make sure we do get it. We have to do it as a team, working together because you win and lose together. That is just something we need to have and we must find it.
"The title is still there for us and it's on. Of course we shall try to win it because we need to win something for the club and it's important for us to do that. We have big games coming up on Sunday and on Tuesday. This is the right time for us to show how strong we are."
Vieira's sentiments were shared by fellow Frenchman Thierry Henry.
"It's a fact that our home form let us down and I won't try and hide from it," said Henry. "If we'd won against Ajax or Roma we might be through now rather than out. But you can look at these things for a long time and it won't change them it's a bit sad if you have only regrets.
"I believe there is a great strength of mind in this squad. We've shown in the past that we can respond when we have our backs to the wall and bounce back. Last season, when we went out we had the same squad and by the end of the season people were saying we were a great squad because we won the double. You just have to combat the minds of people by winning other things.
Added Giovanni Van Bronckhorst: "Winning four points away from home is a pretty good haul, and you'd think that would be the sort of form that would see you through.
Unfortunately we only got three draws at home, and that's why we're out. I think a lot of teams came to Highbury to defend for the draw, and it's always easier to do that than to attack. We played good teams that knew how to defend deep, and we just couldn't break them down, despite having the chances.
"The Champions' League was a competition we desperately wanted to do well in, and of course it's a blow to have that dream taken away for this season. Our object now is to be back in the Champions' League next year, and to have learned from our mistakes.
Alex Ferguson admitted it was "a surprise and a pity" that title rivals Arsenal and Newcastle both slumped out of the Champions League.
"The variations of what could have happened in Arsenal's group should have been perfect for them if they had lost they still could have gone through. "It's unfortunate and a pity that the three English teams didn't go through."
Meanwhile, Arsenal are to make an official complaint to UEFA about racist abuse of their players by Valencia fans during last night's Champions League match.
The Gunners players were incensed by the abuse from supporters of the Spanish club and afterwards Patrick Vieira even accused European football's governing body of "hypocrisy" for failing to punish offending clubs severely.
Vieira said after the 2-1 defeat: "John Carew has apologised to me for the behaviour of the fans. But UEFA are hypocrites they keep saying they will do something about it but all they are doing is fining clubs £2,000-3,000 and nothing really happens. We were expecting it in Valencia because it happens anywhere. It is not the first time that we have received it and it is not going to be the last."Carew himself said: "Patrick was very angry about what happened and I was angry, too."
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