Arsenal must target a top six finish for Europa League qualification

The Europa League provides a route to Champions League qualification and must not be ignored.

This season qualifying for the Champions League via a top-four finish is almost certainly not going to happen but there is still a way via winning the Europa League and any chance Arsenal has of progressing beyond where they are right now, has to include Champions League football.

Not playing in Europe’s elite competition has severe consequences, it is a huge financial hit, it hinders player acquisition and it creates scenarios where some of our best players want to leave in order to play in the Champions League.

Arsenal simply has to do everything in its power to get back into the Champions League and that means taking the Europa League seriously.

Hand on heart no Arsenal fan can truly say that Mikel Arteta’s men will definitely finish top-four next season, in fact, I would suggest it is probably unlikely.

By finishing seventh or below the Gunners will probably miss out on next seasons Europa League and while some fans may welcome that, it closes a huge door to Champions League qualification.

Look at the transformation at Tottenham because of their Champions League participation and then compare that to the decline at Arsenal.

Any top club that is consistently outside the Champions League declines over time and the road back can take years. That is evident now with Arsenal and teams like AC Milan in Italy.

I understand why some fans want Arsenal to miss out on Europa League qualification, it is a Micky Mouse competition dragging the team and fans all over Europe on Thursday nights playing substandard games, no one enjoys that but we really have to look at the big picture.

If Arsenal manages to win the Europa League this season it would overnight make attracting top talent far easier and boost the transfer budget significantly.

Targetting a Europe League qualification spot every season when Champions League qualification via the league is doubtful is a no brainer to me.

29 Comments

  1. So now we happy to target the 6th place trophy?

    Either win El this season or drop out and focus on next season EPL.

      1. You assume we have the ability to feature in EPL and win El.
        From what I have seen the last 3 seasons, this one included it look highly unlikely.
        I would rather put all eggs in one basket than spread them and achieve nothing.

        1. Last two season semi-finalists and finalists and either time would have secured a route to the Champions League and you want to ignore that.

            1. Yes and then we went on and won the CL and then the world club cup and have been entered into the 2022 world cup as a nation. See, I can answer your questions in exactly the same vein. Now, shall we get serious? You want to cut off a route to Champions League qualification for what possible reason?

  2. We should have gotten Thomas Lemar or Rakitic last January. We need midfielders who move with the ball. Midfielders who shoot more often. Goal scoring midfielders. Arteta should stop playing Lacazette and Aubameyang together for now. No more time to experiment. Also, Ceballos should be starting games going forward. we need more creativity in Midfield.

    Torrera Ceballos Ozil

    Pepe Aubameyang/Lacazette Martinelli

    Stop playing both Aubameyang and Lacazette together.

    Things are not looking good. we need to start getting 3 points going forward. Bench Guendouzi and Willock for now. They should be subs at most. When Guendouzi starts games, it does not give me any confidence. very slow. dwells on the ball longer than expected. not strong enough. no football intelligence. He is still raw. Should have been loaned out.

    1. Skills1000 agree with most of what you say but we should of sent Cabellos packing in January as he was so desperate to leave also it seams EPL is to tough for Ozil and should of sent him packing too, as you say we should of bought decent AMF player or called back Smith Rowe to start more games for us to be ready for the next season

  3. Maybe we have a parade when we finish 6th.
    What can we use as a trophy? Is there a qualification certificate or something we can lamin or is it laminated already?

      1. Exactly 6th place trophy to play mickey mouse football.

        Something we mocked spuds for, so let’s celebrate.

        1. When Tottenham was playing in the Europa League there was no entry into Champions League. I cannot understand why you are not grasping the significance of winning the competition.

          1. Isn’t the truth Martin, and Invader Zim would appear to be just one, that some fans just don’t grasp obvious concepts. Simply put and at the risk of sounding arrogant, a FEW fans are dull witted. ONLY A FEW, BUT THEY DO EXIST.

  4. Why can’t we target Europa League Victory for CL qualification…
    Why such low targets
    Let’s write off this premier league season and just concentrate on Europa League because if we win that then league table doesn’t matter this season

    1. Now that we concentrate on EPL games, we are ten on the log. Succinctly put, we are just 2 games away from relegation zone.

      So, you want us to ignore league and get relegated. Then win Europa to qualify for UCL but representing England from Championship.

      We faced the hitherto worst Chelsea team in Europa final. We were comprehensively beaten black and blue. This year, there are more teams that are better than that Chelsea’s.

      Please stop typing from gent.

  5. I agree we must put out our strongest team in every Euro game from now on. If we don’t we will become a mid or low table side in the future. The historical passion for our club is now diluted by the excessive business, portfolio regime, of owning many clubs (which limits the investment in any one club). This method does not take into account of the love of the supporters because it is detached. Once we had a board of David Dein, Danny Fiszman who sacrificed their daily lives for our truly wonderful club now we have an owner who has sacrificed the club to profit their daily lives.

  6. A very fair summation of reality by Martin about the importance of making top six, if possible, though highly unlikely in my view. Top four is well beyond us and has been since before MA came. Only true realists say and know this about top four. Not because the gap was huge at that time but simply because we have a modest team only and we are precisely where we deserve to be now,in tenth place. Realists know that is true and do not indulge in self fantasies about top four, as some foolishly still do.

    So what are the chances of top six then? Very modest but we do have a winnable run of fixtures now and we have to win the next six or at worst five wins and a draw to be even properly in top six race, given the teams ahead of us. That is POSSIBLE, I see, but just not likely. The defence IS now tighter but we are not scoring goals, so the chance of winning five or even six Prem games in a row is statistically VERY unlikely. Hope is good and hope is healthy. But self fooling is harmful to us personally and to our club. Common sense if you think properly about it. I did say IF you think properly. Some do; many do not!

  7. John, the obvious concept that some don’t grasp is that we have not won the El the last two times around. On each occasion we failed to make top 4 and are where we are.
    So let’s dump the El, focus on EPL and maybe make it back into UCL.
    This is what some fans don’t grasp, dim witted ones, some but not all.

    1. Invader Zim, Copy cat language shows you are trying to learn something from me at least. But sadly, the plain concept of Euro winning meaning we get CL means nothing to you. It is not only about winning CL abut also about enriching the status of our club and attracting better players. MANY ABOVE POSTS HAVE TOLD YOU THAT BUT YOU EITHER WILL NOT SEE IT OR SIMPLY FAIL TO UNDERSTAND, in just the same way that you fail to notice my name is spelt Jon, not John, but let that pass. Perhaps, as ample evidence shows, you fail to notice many obvious other things too!

    2. Invader Zim

      I would suggest that even if we forfeited the Europa League next season, we would be very unlikely to finish in the top 4. Even if Arteta was able to buy the best in the world, a top four wouldn’t be guaranteed. There is no guarantee so putting all your eggs in one basket won’t work. Even with all the money that was thrown at Man City, it still took a few years for success.

  8. No, let the league be a learning ground, use the EL for champions league qualification and if failed to win EL then concentrate full-on on league next season. Sacrifice one for the other, that’s the best we can do right now. I know EL isn’t a cake walk but anyway it’s better to give it up if we can’t win it, and concentrate on the league next season.

  9. On current form and looking at all the other sides in the EPL….and considering the amount of remaining league games, we may finish below 6th place. We are though in the Europa Cup right now. We almost won it last season, even up to a lot of the first half of the final until our sudden collapse. Hopefully we can target top 6, but other teams seem to be better than us at the moment so that will not be easy. Cup games are different and we could make a big attempt to get to the Europa Cup final. We may fare better against Europa Cup teams than the Physical teams in the EPL. IMHO.

    1. Sean,
      I believe that the winners of the FA Cup also get a place in the Europa League (maybe at a qualifying level) so that is another cup that Arsenal need to focus on too.

  10. What people dont realise is our revenues are down because of no CL and will be down even more with no EL.Getting to a EL final brings us good revenue and a chance of CL football. No EL football and we are west ham or crystal palace. We have to aim higher but we must have European football or we are dead as a team.

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