A late surge by Arsenal, winning their last 4 games, has finally seen the Gunners rising up the Premier League table, but it is much too late for us to even reach the Europa League place, never mind the Champions League.
But now we may have to face a new challenge, as tomorrow (if results go as expected) we could pip Tottenham and Everton to a place in the inaugral European Conference League. We have seen over the last few years that playing in distance places every Thursday can affect your League form (although it doesn’t seem to have done Man United any harm this season) but with our highest possible position being 7th, we can only qualify for the 3rd tier European League.
But as far as Arteta is concerned, he just wants Arsenal to play in Europe. “It’s a new competition so I don’t really know what will happen.” he told Arsenal.com. “First of all, let’s try to finish as high as possible and then after we will determine, once we are involved, what the best way is to do it.
“We have experienced in the last few years how tough being in the Europa League is with the amount of games you play and the short turnaround that you have all the time in the Premier League. I think there is a lot of history there with teams that have been involved in the Europa League, and the negative consequences that has in the Premier League positions. But we’ve tried to give it the best possible go, we came a little bit short, but this club has to be in Europe.”
But even before we can think about the new format, and try and come to terms with some of the weird and wonderful clubs and countries Arsenal could be visiting, there is the small matter of getting three points against Brighton tomorrow, and hoping that Everton and Spurs lose.
I suppose, when all is said and done, if we are in it, we should certainly be one of the favourites to win it, so it could make next season even more interesting…