All that is left for Arsenal if we are to salvage any sort of happiness, dignity or some measure of success after the disappointing results in the Premier League and Champions League campaigns, is to win the FA cup trophy at Wembley in May.
It is also pretty important to maintain the club’s remarkable record of qualifying for the elite European club competition in all the years that Arsene Wenger has been in charge and in that respect I think everyone connected with Arsenal should be very pleased with how the Europa League draw went today, specifically with the fact that Manchester United were picked to play the Russian side Rostov.
The longer that Jose Mourinho and his players stay in the competition, the better for us. That is because they have one hell of a fixture schedule building up and we know how this can take it’s toll on a team. It is not just the increased chances of United dropping Premier League points over the next few weeks though, because they are coming to the Emirates at the beginning of May and that could be a crucial game.
If United are still in the Europa League at that time they will play their semi-final ties on the Thursday before and after facing us and that would surely give the Gunners an advantage. We might not want them to win the thing but United staying in for a while should be good for Arsenal and getting Rostov in the next round increases the likelihood of that.
Bob.