Arsenal: Is Arteta right about Bernd Leno & Dani Ceballos mistake?

Arsenal put one foot in the Europa League quarter-finals with a 3-1 win over Olympiacos on Thursday, a match that adds to the panoply of examples of everything right and wrong within this team.

Three goals away from home in any European fixture is an excellent result when you only offer one in reply. Martin Odegaard, Gabriel and Mohamed Elneny all scored wonderful goals but the sloppiness that handed Olympiacos a route back into the clash takes centre stage. Again.

This year alone Arsenal have conceded 14 goals. No less than seven have been the direct result of unforced errors. By hook or by crook, this team are adamant in undermining their own progress with a unique ability of gifting the opposition.

On three occasions in Athens they cocked the gun aiming straight down. It misfired twice. No fortune the third time, which they deserved.

Arsenal: Mikel Arteta reveals reason behind endless mistakes after Bernd Leno and Dani Ceballos moment in Olympiacos win

Speaking after the game, Mikel Arteta sought to clarify the foolishness – putting words to the bemusing treadmill of ineptitude that can only stay quiet very momentarily.

"“No [it’s not a confidence issue], it is just when we have to play it,” he told the official Arsenal website. “You know you have to play the ball to this player, but when is the difference… is it now, a second later or a second earlier? “That gives the opponent a chance to press or intercept a pass or not and that is where the difference is. To discriminate the decision making and when it has to be done is what dictates in the next action whether you are successful or not. But it is not about stopping or discouraging the team not to play, we just have to understand when to do it and that’s crucial.”"

The bottom line is, this mantra of playing out from the back won’t change. Love it or hate it, it’s here to stay. Two mistakes in two games involving the goalkeeper and the deepest midfielder have sparked furore over the insistence of heaping pressure onto the players. Why persist? Shouldn’t Arsenal adapt?