Why Arsenal could be better off without top 4 by Leo
As we Arsenal fans find ourselves at the culminating point of our season, it seems we are all rooting for one conclusion: Top 4 and champions league qualification. Whilst this would certainly define the season as a success in most fans’ eyes, is perhaps not wholly true. In this article I will explain why.
Firstly, let’s look at the ramifications of missing out on champions league football. It is without a doubt that losing out on top 4, above all to Spurs, would have certain disastrous consequences (being damaging to both our pride and our twitter mentions).
That aside, it would make signing quality players a whole lot harder; some of our supposed biggest targets such as Manchester City forward Gabriel Jesus or Juventus man Paulo Dybala would prove difficult to convince, possibly not wanting to drop down from their current standards.
But beyond this, it is predictable that a bottling at this stage would place extreme pressure on our controversial hierarchy and our perceivedly sometimes-genius, sometimes-fool manager Mikel Arteta. Whilst this would be somewhat deserved, especially in the case of the club’s owners, it would be a hindrance to the supportive atmosphere and relations that have been so well rebuilt this year. Looking solely at these factors, achieving top 4 seems to be a necessity.
However, no need to panic Gunners fans: all is not as precarious as it seems. The acquisition of champions league football next year could actually make affairs at the club worse. As it is, no fan nor person at the club would deny that we lack squad depth. Even with a few good transfers this summer the situation would not improve drastically. As we’ve seen this season, losing only a couple of key players like Kieran Tierney or Thomas Partey was close to ruining our season; it took a miraculous set of Mohammed Elneny performances to prevent an even greater slide of defeats after our triple loss to Palace, Brighton and Southampton. Imagine absences like this plus extra mid-week games. We simply could not stand it. It would threaten to derail not only the champions league campaign but also the Premier League one, creating a similar unrest to the one previously described were we not to qualify at all.
On the issue of transfers, I believe that either way, the progress we’ve shown this season could be enough to convince high quality players to sign and who knows; Arteta’s relationship with Gabriel Jesus from their time at City could come in handy…. Taking these factors into account, perhaps it would be wiser to wait another year for champions league football; perhaps we are moving too fast.
Another two summers of recruitment to strengthen our already solid foundations may be pivotal.
Who agrees?
Leo Friedman
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