When the end in Europe is deliverance: With a narrow core of players, Arsenal can focus on fulfilling the dream

They led, lost the lead with a shot from the half à la Patrik Schick and in the penalty shootout the Gunners’ season in the European Cups was definitely over. Arsenal fans have mixed feelings, but the disappointment is somewhat unexpectedly outweighed by the relief that their darlings can focus on their dream title.

Arsenal have struggled in Europe in recent years. Despite playing in the Europa League in five of the last six seasons, it has reached the final only once, finishing in the semi-finals twice and the eighteenth and 16th finals once.

The EL is hurting Arsenal

The Gunners’ long-term inability to reach the Champions League goes hand in hand with failures in the Europa League. It’s been a carbon copy year after year. Arsenal smelled a chance to get back into the LM through the cups, focused on them and failed.

The squad has never been wide in the sense that if a substitute comes on, the rest of the team is unaffected. And on Thursday we could see that even the absence of two or three mainstays affected Mikel Arteta’s charges extremely. Yet the current squad is a level above those of previous years.

Preventing injuries

The difference between the quality of the base and the substitutes was also reflected in the arrival of Rob Holding instead of the injured William Saliba. By surprisingly deploying the traditional league stopper duo of Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes Arteta has indicated that he simply doesn’t trust the other defenders that much.

And the huge playing load stemmed from the early injury and substitution of Saliba. Arsenal will avoid, or at least avoid, similar problems late in the Europa League. And the absence of Bukay Saka, Martin Odegaard or Thomas Partey because of “some EL” is something the Gunners cannot afford.

A tough road to triumph

Even if Arsenal were to advance to the top eight, they would probably have to go into the next matches with a full squad. Assuming, of course, that they would like to advance. And a rampant Manchester United is chasing the overall triumph, for Juventus even after deducting points it is the primary goal.

At the same time, Arsenal may not be that interested in the Europa League. Qualification for the Champions League is virtually assured and the title is the primary goal. Mikel Arteta is relying on 15 players who couldn’t handle regular English weeks. That way there will be more time to regenerate.

Source: Arsenal