Is it time for Arsenal to forget Top Four and aim for the Cups?

After the honeymoon of Unai Emery’s 22 game unbeaten run, the wheels have come off and Arsenal have dropped to six points behind our London rivals Chelsea and are set to face them this coming weekend. Even if we win (somehow!) we will still need to improve drastically to overtake them, and we have the small matter of Man United flying up the table behind us.

According to the Arsenal legend Ray Parlour, we should just be concentrating on winning a trophy via the cup competitions. Parlour told TalkSport after the West Ham defeat: “Poor performance from Arsenal but for me it’s all about the cups this year.

“Realistically, top four would have been so difficult to make with the teams they’re up against with Chelsea and Tottenham going well and watching Liverpool beat Brighton and Man City. United could go on a run with their new manager in tow.

“I’m looking at the Europa League from Arsenal’s point of view and the FA Cup.

“Over the years the FA Cup has probably kept Arsene Wenger in a job so these are the sort of trophies they’ve got to try and win this year.”

Obviously with Emery’s brilliant record with Sevilla in the Europa League this must be our Holy Grail this season, but we also have Chelsea and a few other top teams to contend with in that competition as well, but surely it is our only real hope of getting back into the Champions League at the moment?

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11 Comments

  1. Unai won the Europa league when it was rather easy to win. Now the competition has be come a bit difficult and with our defense the worst ever I have seen, I can’t see us winning this either.

    1. I don’t think it was easy for Emery, because he managed a club that has less resources than Arsenal. But Chelsea could be a tough competitor because of their owner’s ambition and wealth

      Arsenal should have looked up to Atletico Madrid’s system, because they have less popular brand but manage to stay competitive due to good scouting and youth development

      1. Spot on, gotanidea.
        By the way, Gavana is the only person I have heard, who has discounted Unai Emery’s achievement in managing a club to 3 Europa League wins.

  2. Are defense is shambles and has been for the whole time with our new coaching staff.

    No new players have been brought in, we will keep on conceding goals. We might just finish the season with 60 goals conceded, and we don’t have a chance to win the Europa League when our defense is so crap.

    1. The defenders need the help from the other outfield players

      Had Liverpool’s DM, CMs and wide players (fullbacks and wingers) pressed half-heartedly, I don’t think VVD, Lovren and Gomez could withstand their opponent’s threats

      Scoring a quick first goal would also be useful to change to a more defensive strategy. Arsenal got conceded first in many games this season because their attackers cannot break the opponent’s defense quickly

      1. Thank you Sue. Unfortunately the current negativity of many on this site isn’t brightening my day! ??

  3. Realistically did anyone seriously believe Emery was going to get us a Top 4 spot in his first season?Especially with the chronically unbalanced squad he was left with.The 22 game unbeaten run papered over too many cracks.We were very fortunate to win games when playing so badly in the Premiership.The Spuds And Micky Mousers were the highlight performances for us so far this season.
    The Mancs next week will determine our season I believe.Win that game and we should get the confidence back.Lose and it’s the Europa League only and I feel there are far too many teams better than us that have dropped down from the CL.
    As for fourth place in the Premiere League.Not a chance with our defence.

  4. We should always try to win every game. If we beat Chelsea we are 3 points from 4th. No reason to give up this early in the season. There are some dangerous teams left in the Europa league but it does seem the more likely path even though it is still a long shot.

    I am more interested in keeping the squad improvement going and starting to improve as a team. I am not so impressed with our collective effort lately. It almost seems we have abandoned our pressing game.

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