Arsenal: Stuff your panic in a sack, everything is just fine

Arsenal lost another first leg, this time to Rennes, but you can go ahead and stuff any faux panic in a sack, because there is nothing to be worried about.

Here we are again. In the prematch build-up, I was guilty of acting like Arsenal were in too good of a place to suffer the same kind of disappointment that they felt against BATE Borisov in the last away first leg they were in, yet here we are, not down 1-0, but down 3-1.

There is a reason to roll your eyes, sigh, get frustrated, and perhaps curse aloud once or twice. After all, losing to a mid-table Ligue 1 side is not something that we want to make a habit of doing. They feel leagues below us, so why are we losing to them at all?

It wasn’t like this was a complete team collapse, though. Sokratis had an out of body experience, getting sent off just as his side were hitting their stride, and as is usually the case in such a circumstance, everything fell apart.

Unai Emery was handcuffed, the team had to play a man down for the majority of the match and, in the end, Arsenal ended up looking quite pathetic, like they did against Borisov.

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But again, that all stemmed from a bizarre individual implosion from Sokratis. It wasn’t because of an overlying failure, or bigger picture issue. Sure, we could have taken some chances better, we could have been up three goals before Sokratis was sent off, but at the end of the day, everything changed when Sokratis was sent off.

And at the end of the day, think about it. A 2-0 win can overturn this scoreline. Anyone who doesn’t think that the Gunners can beat Rennes 2-0 needs a firm slap to the face. They’re delusional. If we want to evoke memories of BATE Borisov, then also talk about the second leg, a match that Arsenal rocked 3-0.

Sure, Rennes are a bit better, but our club can get the job done, and don’t even try to tell me otherwise.

It’s disappointing to lose at all, and it would have been nice to not repeat what happened in the last round, but now that it’s happen, why would we react the same as then?

We’re going to be just fine. Rennes is not going to knock us out of the Europa League. I guarantee you that much.