English League Cup Final:Arsene Wenger was ambling off the pitch, his back turned on the shuddering pyrotechnics, as the Chelsea players bounced jubilantly on the stage with the English League Cup aloft in their midst.

The Arsenal manager does not generally take defeat well. This, after all, is a man who once had to stop the team bus as it departed from a game lost comprehensively by his Nancy Lorraine side at Lens in order to vomit, such was his sense of disgust. Yet, for all the late squabbling which marred this occasion, there was hope to be had here, even in defeat.

This youthful Arsenal team may not have claimed the silverware to cap their scintillating run to the final, but their time will surely come. In the vision of Cesc Fabregas and Denilson, the pace and threat of the lightning Theo Walcott and the power of the leggy Abou Diaby, Arsenal boasted a midfield quartet with an average age a little under 19 who had eclipsed Chelsea's experienced pedigrees for most of the opening period. The average age of Wenger's 10 outfield players together was only marginally more, at 21. No wonder the manager professed that his principal emotion at the end was pride.

Yet for Wenger there was also regret to be had in the explosion of emotion at the end of the match. "We lost a little bit our nerves with 10 minutes to go," he said. "You must keep those nerves, but it's a learning process. Until now we've been more lambs than wolves. You want an aggression level in your team, but you have to keep it under control.

"But I feel there is a great team spirit in this squad of young players and each time in the past when things have gone against us we have responded. That's why I was disappointed today because, if we had kept our calm, we would have had enough energy and mental resources to come back to 2-2. As it was, after the fight, the game never really got going again."

Older heads may not have reacted as feverishly. The scrap which erupted after Mikel John Obi's tug on Kolo Toure involved 14 players near the halfway line and drew both managers from the dug-out in an attempt to douse the fury. Jose Mourinho said, accurately, that the fracas had been born of Arsenal's exasperation at chasing a game in which they had excelled for long periods.

"Maybe it was a consequence of some frustration in the last part of the game and some boys lost a bit their emotion," the Chelsea manager said. "I know that everyone will talk about how great this young Arsenal team is. Don't forget that this young Arsenal team did in Liverpool what nobody has done (winning 6-3 at Anfield in January) and also beat Everton and Tottenham, so they are a young team but a very good team with a lot of really good players."

That was designed to focus attention on his team's ascendance, with the power and pace they demonstrated, particularly in the second half, every bit as admirable as Arsenal's slick approach. Yet it is frightening to consider just how potent a force these young Gunners could become.

For a while they even pushed Chelsea back. But power and pace gradually made its mark, the champions' average outfield age of 27.4 indicative of greater nous.

In the end the streetwise side prevailed. For Arsenal, slumped on the turf at the end, triumph will have to wait.

• Guardian Service