Arsenal: Unai Emery ready for Champions League battle

Arsenal now turn their focus to getting back into the Champions League after the January transfer window shut on Thursday. Unai Emery is ready for the fight.

The January transfer window crashed shut at 11 pm, Thursday night. With that, Arsenal and Unai Emery now turn their focus to achieving the club’s only real goal this season: getting back into the Champions League.

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While there is a slight lack of romanticism to this target, it should not be underestimated how important achieving it could prove to be. Whether through the top four or the Europa League, the additional money it would grant in the summer window and beyond could be the difference between making the signings that the club want and not.

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It would also act as a statement, proving to the rest of the Premier League that Arsenal are no longer in a slow decline, a decline that began in around 2005. For the first time in a long time, they may even become a club that could spring a surprise or two.

The squad, while possessing some obvious holes that have only grown larger through injuries, does have plenty of talent and has shown up until this point that it can at least challenge for the top four. While some fans have questioned the lack of a defined style, some of the performances have shown promise for what the future might hold.

But even so, fans were clamouring for more than just Denis Suarez in the January transfer window. Arsenal are on the precipice of the top four. Whether Suarez will push them over the edge or is not is doubtful at best.

Suarez himself is an interesting acquisition. A player that has the potential to provide the crucial link between the attack and the midfield, with Aaron Ramsey departing in the summer and Mesut Ozil’s contract situation and relationship with Emery continuing to create headlines, the somewhat unheralded Suarez could actually complement the current squad quite well while adding a lacking skill set.

The absence of a dominant centre-back and genuine winger is still an issue, but considering the form of Chelsea, the injuries at Spurs and the unpredictability of Manchester United, a top-four finish remains a distinct possibility. For the first time in a couple of months, Arsenal are placed fourth in the table and are beginning to turn into some decent form, with the return to form of Laurent Koscielny has had a noticeable, if not transformative, impact on their defensive fortunes.

The Europa League, too, is a potential avenue back to Europe’s top table. It is well-known that Emery is something of a specialist in that competition, having won it three times with Sevilla and, with Arsenal being out of the other cups, he will place a great deal of importance on winning it.

This season so far has been difficult to characterise, with good and bad performance coming on an almost weekly rotation. Emery is still getting to grips with the demands of a club starved of success and a relentless division. But following early season tinkering, he seems to have settled on a formation — 4-4-2 diamond in the big games at least — and is slowly sculpting his players into what he wants them to be.

Emery’s task now is to find a set up that allows Arsenal’s attacking players the freedom to flourish against more defensive opposition, while retaining some semblance of defensive solidity. He also needs to work out how to improve the team’s away performances, as he cannot afford a repeat of the Liverpool game at either Manchester City and Tottenham.

There remain plenty of questions about Emery’s Arsenal, but one thing remains certain: they are still in the hunt for a Champions League return. It is now up to the coach and his players to make it happen.