Arsenal reach Europa League quarter-finals – but glaring issue remains

Arsenal scraped their way into the Europa League quarter-finals, with a nervy 1-0 loss at home to Olympiacos still ensuring they progressed through 3-2 on aggregate.

Go for broke and put on a show knowing a vastly improved defence can contain an admittedly poor Olympiacos side, or keep things tight and suck any enjoyment or life out of the coming 90 minutes and trudge over the line? So long as there was no soul-destroying defeat like last season, beggars can’t be choosers.

With the lineup selected, a midfield base of Mohamed Elneny and Granit Xhaka, who pose as much attacking threat as a furloughed Gunnersaurus, made it evident that this wasn’t going to be a gung-ho approach.

The Gunners were still going to have the ball, partly due to Olympiacos’ unwillingness to press, which meant making use of turnovers and breaks would present enough opportunities. There were, unarguably, more than enough chances.

Arsenal secured their place in the Europa League quarter-finals, but they still suffer from a glaring problem that Mikel Arteta is yet to fix

Generally though, it was sloppy. Passes went astray, communication was lacking and the whole encounter had an air of being a dead rubber Europa League group fixture as opposed to a chance to reach the last eight.

That wasn’t the case for Granit Xhaka and Kieran Tierney, who both weren’t great, but looked dead on their feet even in the first half.

After a soaring victory over Tottenham where there were magnificent performances across the board, opting for a more pragmatic approach in a clash where conceding at least three goals was all that could undo them, the logic is there. Chances will come. Don’t overexert yourself. Just don’t adopt a cocky, arrogant mindset.

Mikel Arteta had to make alterations as he will not be granted such liberties between now and the end of the season.

Arsenal could have scored four just as they could have conceded more. How exactly they didn’t score is remarkable considering the openings they made, while Martin Odegaard should have notched and assist or two in his short time on the pitch.

It was a bad performance. The scoreline isn’t, however, it reads 3-2 to Arsenal and books them into the quarter-finals, where they will now face Slavia Prague over two legs.

There needs to be consistency in the team and Thursday’s display doesn’t build towards that, nor does it make a strong case for any of the issues facing the side being solved: ruthlessness, individual errors and focus problems.

One glaring issue, however, remains.