Arsenal vs Eintracht Frankfurt: Refocusing on what matters

Arsenal will always have hope in midweek competitions, where they aren’t mired in eighth place, but there’s something even more important here.

So the Premier League isn’t going the way Arsenal would have hoped. And in response, we are now in a position where Unai Emery is living day to day, he’s unable to focus on the future because no one knows if he will even be here in the future. Chances are he won’t be.

Which means that he is so focused on the immediate, as too many Arsenal fans are, that he is unable to dedicate his attention to the future of the club, and of the players under his charge. Which primarily impacts the youth players who, honestly, I’m far more excited about than Mesut Ozil or Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

But that’s why the midweek competitions are so exciting. Because even though we suck domestically, we still have hope in the Cup competitions, for what that’s worth. But the main draw of these midweek competitions now is to see the future of the club without being so tarnished by the present-day problems.

It makes sense why Emery has switched up the focus on his regular Premier League starting XI. It’s all superstars and veterans. The club is paying for them, might as well use them.

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It would be a far greater risk, far greater, to trust his fate on the younger players.

But in these midweek competitions, I think we can see more the way that Unai Emery would be playing without so much pressure on his back. Hopefully that doesn’t change today, but overall, he has actually handled youth development quite well. I was thrilled he gave Bukayo Saka priority over Nicolas Pepe and I was happy every time Joe Willock appeared in the starting XI too.

I like how quickly he’s integrated Gabriel Martinelli into the first team, and overall, that is what I am here to see. These young players develop, not these old players look sad and hopeless.

It might be awhile before we get to see that in the Premier League again, so being able to see it in the midweek fixtures is a nice little lens into what really matters at a time when everything seems to be going wrong across the board.

So try to enjoy it, if the club lets us. That’s what it all really comes down to in the end.