The Gunners did well against the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool last term but still finished 18 points off the pace.
United lifted the Premier League trophy despite a modest record against the other top sides and Clichy insists the manner of their triumph taught Arsenal an important lesson.
Arsene Wenger's men have impressively dismantled some of the less established teams in the top flight already this season, only dropping points against United and Manchester City.
Clichy feels his team-mates are now much more mature and able to give each match the focus it deserves.
"We realised last year that Man Utd were not the best team against the Big Four but still won the league, easy, by beating the smaller teams," the Frenchman told the Sunday Times.
"We were more focused on the big matches. Every player will tell you, you have to play from first minute to the last, but there's a difference between saying and actions on the pitch.
"Example: when we played last year against Hull at the Emirates we could have won 6-0. We were really fantastic for the first half-hour but after that we see players doing backheels, flicking the ball, losing some balls . . . and finally Hull came back, 1-1, 1-2.
"They deserved to win because mentally they were strong and they really wanted those points. Us? We thought, 1-0, okay it's an easy game."
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