Although Arsenal are playing Newcastle this afternoon, everyone is well aware that this game can have little effect on Arsenal’s season. The only game in town for Mikel Arteta and us is Thursday’s big semi final second leg against Villarreal, with the prize of a place in the Final at stake.
A defeat to Unai Emery’s team would spell the end of Arsenal’s season, and many are thinking that it could also mean the end of Mikel Arteta’s time as Arsenal coach as well, but the Spaniard refuses to even think about defeat in that game. The boss told the Mail: ‘Well, I don’t want to think that way. I want to think that we are going to be in that [Europa League] final and then we are going to have really positive consequences after that game.
‘Consistency in results in the Premier League is very different to the Europa League, where we have been very consistent. We try to be as clear as we can in our messages.
‘There are some games where we have started really well and not finished that well. I don’t think there has been a pattern over the season.’
There is nothing wrong wth positive thinking at times, it can help with your mindset ahead of games, but as we have seen many times this season, Arsenal sometimes simply don’t turn up to make that confidence be reflected in the result, as witnessed in some of our Europa games as well as the League,
We can only hope Arteta is right, but as they say, if wishes were horses…..