Back in Europe!

Morning all.

Last night wasn’t a good one for British teams in Europa as both West Ham and Leicester City were beaten. Rangers are through to to the Europa League Cup Final though which is good for our old left-back Giovanni van Bronkhorst, whilst in France, Nelson and his Feyenoord team-mates dug in deep to draw with Marseille and secure a place in the Europa Conference League Cup Final. Frankfurt await Rangers and Roma will play Feyenoord.

The futures of William Saliba, Reiss Nelson and AMN are yet to be decided although all three still have at least a year to run on their Arsenal contract. As do Lucas Torriera and Matteo Guendouzi but the latter two are not expected to return this summer. Guendouzi the footballer is good but the antics which come with his game let him down. Even if Saliba commits his future to Arsenal, I can’t see him dislodging either Gabriel or Ben White next season, nor can I see him pushing ahead of Rob Holding either. But, with four centre-backs, perhaps five if Daniel Ballard comes into the squad, it’ll be easier for Mikel Arteta to rotate his players in Europe and the domestic cups.

Arsenal cannot finish outside of the European places now which is incredible really after the start we had this season. The Brentford result was as bad as the performance but, did anyone honestly expect us to beat either Man City or Chelsea with a fully fit squad, let alone one hit by Covid and injuries? No in my opinion but the way we lost is what shattered my hope for the season ahead. Different players, same mistakes.

So much has happened since that 5-0 thrashing by Man City. Peaks and troughs followed and with them, my thoughts on Mikel Arteta did the same. Often I couldn’t work out what he was doing, why he persisted with certain underperforming players and in turn, not giving others a chance. Looking back, perhaps he was just letting us or even the board know that player x,y, or z wasn’t good enough, or right for his way of playing. I’m guessing of course but how can a manager tell the board he wants a player as good as Aubameyang gone, without the evidence to support his idea? In the end, Aubameyang wrote his own script. But what about the rest who until injury hit us, have barely featured? One could argue that that’s what squad players are for, especially after going out of the domestic cups and without European fixtures to contend with.

Arsenal have not been able to take a handsome lead in fixtures which would perhaps have led to squad players getting more minutes in the second half of a fixture, instead it’s usually been Eddie Nketiah and Emile Smith Rowe who Mikel Arteta has turned to, especially when we’ve needed a goal or two, or Rob Holding if we’re trying to defend a fragile lead.

That should change next season as the five substitutes rule is reintroduced and all being well, with a number of new signings this summer, we’ll be able to convert more of the many goal scoring opportunities we so often create because that’s what’s prevented Arsenal from securing 3rd/4th by now. Goals. I don’t take any notice of this “xG” rubbish as what the eyes see tell us all how many goal scoring chances Arsenal have thrown away. Rectify that and we’ll be flying next season. Ok, we’ll be better.

Right now though, I’m just glad Alex Lacazette tested positive for Covid a little while ago, if he did, because it’s allowed Nketiah to come into the team. He’s causing defences all sorts of problems with his pace and movement, something Lacazette doesn’t have. Nketiah is a tough cookie too who doesn’t go to ground easily. Hopefully he’ll start again on Sunday as we take on Leeds Utd at The Emirates. I’d love it if he walked away with the match ball too and wouldn’t be at all surprised if he did.

As for Mikel Arteta, I think he’s done a lot of good things since that Brentford defeat and he deserves credit for for that. A lot of credit really and if he secures top four this season, then one has to say he and his team will have achieved far more than was expected of them. I know other clubs have let us back into the race for 4th spot but if that rule is to be applied, then we let them in too by losing games we should have won. What matters is how we finish but whatever results come our way over the next few weeks, Arsenal will be back in Europe next season.

See you in the comments.