Arsenal handed Champions League opening by Spurs, West Ham & United

With the way that the Hammers, Spurs and Red Devils have played recently, there is no question that Arsenal has found themselves in an incredible position regarding the Premier League table and Europe next season.

While the Gunners are level with Tottenham regarding games played, they are three points up on following Spurs’ recent three-game league skid. As for West Ham and Manchester United, things are looking even better.

Arsenal has three and two matches in hand respectively, and they are only mere points (two and one) away from each side. By the time that the Gunners are even on matches, should things go right, they could very well be up by a considerable margin over each team, with matches against United, the Hammers and Spurs included during the rest of the year.

A sweep of those three teams by this Arsenal side could go a long way in pushing the Gunners towards the top of the Premier League by the end of this season, while losses to any or all would muddy the waters even with games and points in hand. The schedule for these Gunners is favorable, yet results, as we have witnessed from those aforementioned sides, have continued to make the circumstances ahead appear rosier still.

Arsenal needs to be in the Champions League – and their rivals failings have opened the Premier League door

What will have to be navigated until those matches are the other matches, which most pressingly include back to back home visits of Brentford and Wolves. The first will be a revenge game for this club and its players after the opening season loss to that team in their London home, while the second will be a tough game that Wolves will hope to steal after the difficult loss they recently suffered to Arsenal.

Arsenal is a massive club – in spirit, as much as popularity and history – and in order to get the type of players who reflect that talented and accolade rich history, this team must be playing at the highest level. The Champions League is that level. While the money and roster dynamics are great incentives for getting into that competition, it is really what that competition means to other players around the world that is so significant.

Not only does it become easier to purchase players with all of that money and the roster spots and whatnot, but it becomes easier to lure players to the club and to keep them for the long-haul. As Arsenal continues to rid itself of older, more expensive players while younger, more talented players come to the forefront, more experienced or expensive players likely will be brought in, and greater participation in the best tournaments of the world is only going to aid that recruitment process too.

Now, will Arsenal necessarily win that tournament like it might have the chance to in the other European tournaments? No. While they have a chance, there are so many talented, experienced and seasoned outfits in the Champions League each year that it will always be a difficult task for any first-year UCL outfit. The Europa League and Europa Conference League are easier and might help this team to build confidence, yet it wouldn’t attract anywhere near the same calibre of player that Arsenal wishes to grace the Emirates turf.

This next summer will be another period of  big-spending for this team, between all the contracts they’ve cleared out already and all that are set to expire. There will be money to throw around in north London and the Kroenke’s appear ready to do just that. With a UCL birth added to that equation, it would be difficult to imagine that large purchases would not be green-lit with enthusiasm after such a turnaround would have taken place in such a relatively short period of time.

But it could all very well happen. The best way for this to happen, however, is for Arsenal to find their way into the Champions League next year through a top-four finish in the Premier League.

These young men would be putting themselves and their club in the best position for next year and the years to come by somehow being able to make that happen – which the Hammers, Spurs and Red Devils have all assisted with over the last days.