Arsenal Vs CSKA Moscow: The unwanted side the necessary side

Arsenal host CSKA Moscow in the quarter-final of the Europa League on Thursday night. For the Gunners, it is the unwanted side of the game that must be the necessary side. The clean sheet, above all else, must come first.

Between now and the end of the season, every Europa League game that Arsenal play in will be the most important game of the season up until that point. That began as soon as they fell out of top-four contention in the Premier League. It continues this Thursday when CSKA Moscow travel to the Emirates for the first leg of the quarter-final tie.

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As is ever the case with European ties, when playing at home, especially first, it is crucial that the clean sheet is preserved. Away goals can have such a huge swing on the game — even if the final aggregate scoreline is not impacted by the number of away goals, the pattern of the match and the approach that the two teams take at certain points can be greatly influenced — that limiting the opposition’s is of great importance.

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This is, for me, what Arsenal must do above all else on Thursday. Even a 0-0 draw, while far from ideal, still puts them in a good position to travel to Russia and allow them to play on the counter-attack, full in the knowledge that a score-draw would see them through to the semi-finals. That is the mindset that Arsene Wenger must instil into his team.

The problem, though, is that it is an approach that does not align with Wenger’s typically attacking principles. Now, I am certainly an admirer of the way in which Wenger demands his teams play. I am extremely glad that Jose Mourinho is not the manager of my football team. But sometimes his ideals slip into a state of innocence; sometimes his principles veer closer to naivety that respectable.

The defensive side of the game, for Wenger, is a side that is not all that wanted. He likes to steer clear of it, in training, in his team selections, in the tactics that he uses, in the personnel that he recruits. In everything that he does, Wenger wants to attack.

But in some circumstances, a more cautious, reserved, controlled, considerate approach is more sensible. I believe that this is one of those occasions. CSKA are a team that Arsenal should be expecting to overcome with relative ease. But that does not mean that they should be taken lightly. They sit third in the Russian league. They are in the quarter-finals of the Europa League, having squeezed past a very good Lyon side in the previous round. They are no pushovers.

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As such, the focus, the priority, the primary goal for the Gunners, on Thursday night, should be to keep the clean sheet, even if that comes at the expense of their attacking potency. Goals win games. So does stopping them. That is precisely what Arsenal must do.