Arsenal can win Europa League and secure top six – but will they?

Taking revenge on Olympiacos regarding the shock upset of last year’s Europa League competition was, I’m sure, pleasant on some level for some of the individuals involved with the match last season for Arsenal. Yet were this to be the crowning achievement of the season, then we could state that the club’s priorities are out of whack.

No, this victory across two legs was simply a stepping stone as the Gunners find themselves in the quarterfinals now, with an easier draw and potential semi-final matchup than they could’ve ever hoped for. The club must take advantage of this, they must soundly defeat Slavia Prague, before facing the winner of Villarreal vs Dinamo Zagreb.

In that matchup, Mikel Arteta may face the man he succeeded at the Emirates, fellow Spaniard Unai Emery, and while Emery was unable to guide Arsenal to this title there is little doubt that Emery is a master of this tournament – having won it on numerous occasion previously with Sevilla.

But we are getting ahead of ourselves. Slavia Prague will be no easy out at this stage of the competition. They handily took care of Rangers, and despite the grotesque circumstances surrounding Glen Kamara at the end of the match, will offer stout competition across two legs to a team that desperately needs to win this competition for European play in the coming season.

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Professional performances can see Arsenal on through

When the Gunners take to the pitch in just under a weeks’ time, they will have had time to rest, followed by a match to get back into the swing of things as they say. This first matchup is not only a chance to jump out to a lead against a team that will be played again a week later, but should also be considered as a chance to further the momentum of the year in its entirety.

While Arsenal don’t appear to be locks by any stretch of the imagination to make it back to Europe without winning the current Europa League championship, especially after the West Ham setback right before international break, the final months of any campaign are jam-packed with surprises that no one usually can imagine. Manchester City appear safe by my estimation, but surely two through six are open for debate.

While Manchester United, Chelsea and Leicester appear safer than not, West Ham remains a serious question, as do the outsiders like Tottenham, Everton, Aston Villa and Arsenal. Therefore, winning each and every game only improves upon the foundation that is already being built at the club.

Yet to do this, either in Europe or England, the entire team will have to play winning, positive football.

Arsenal Can Win the Europa League With Fearless and Positive Football

That means the likes of Nicolas Pepe, as well as Willian when he is called upon, the trio of remarkable young talent, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Emile Smith Rowe. It will take the captain, Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang, as well as his close friend, Alexandre Lacazette. It will require great play from not only Thomas Partey, but both Dani Ceballos and Martin Odegaard; poor play from one or the other will simply not do

Arteta wishes for his side to be creative and to control possession. He must allow for his club to assert this flair and feeling against a team like Slavia Prague. While they are no pushovers, they should be a club that the young and old of Arsenal can take advantage of over the course of two legs, building confidence all the while for whoever they would face in the matches to come.

While facing Villarreal in the semi-finals would be no simple question for Arsenal to answer, it is certainly not set in stone that the Yellow Submarine will get passed Zagreb. Despite the fact that they lost their coach to prison just days before beating Tottenham in the last round, it must be noted that stranger things have clearly happened.

On the other side of the bracket, however, while Manchester United will have a harder match than they might anticipate against Grenada – Roma and Ajax appears to be a truly super quarter-final tie.

For all teams involved, winning offers only nominal relief. A clash between Manchester United and either Roma or Ajax would offer another really wonderful match of high quality opponents; should Grenada get to the semi-finals instead however, the headlines will talk lovingly of the Spanish underdogs as they once spoke of Ajax themselves.

Were Arsenal to find itself in a position like just two seasons ago, in the finals against an English club, the second time in three seasons might very well be the charm. Against any of the other three, the club, on paper at least, appears to be in a positive spot, while I would wager that the toughest non-all-English-Europa League final would undoubtedly feature Ajax against Arsenal.

Those two legendary outfits battling it out would be something special, but in any event, Arsenal needs to find victory in the matches leading up to whichever fictional encounter we’re dreaming up.

Without the volition that comes to a team with compiled victories, the teams ambition will be lost on itself. So many of the players, regardless of age, do remember how it felt to watch Chelsea beat them in Europe; they want to win this trophy for themselves and the badge, as well as the boss, and so with great effort and focus, can certainly accomplish this goal.

Will they? This remains to be seen, for now.