Arsenal: 4 reasons why losing out on top four would be majorly disappointing

4. Arsenal Have No Excuses – No Europe to Contend With

Not being in Europe this season was viewed as a blessing in disguise. It is devastating for a club of Arsenal’s size that they are out of continental competitions for the first time in 25 years, but for the sake of the rebuild and resetting the course, this was actually welcomed.

Originally, having no midweek ventures off to eastern reaches of the continent ensured that Arteta would have no excuses to get his side into the top six with the additional time presented to him on the training ground to work on every aspect of the team.

That is now the Champions League. Not the Europa League.

Of those chasing a place in the top four – United, Spurs, West Ham and Wolves – only Wolves have no other competitions ahead of them other than the Premier League. That’s the boat Arsenal are in and they have to capitalise on their own failings last season as well as this season.

It’s one game per week. That’s it. While this team is still young and still learning to play as a group, the circumstances in the division and where they find themselves mean there is enough there to put in the right level of performance every week.

The team and coaching staff deserve immense credit for getting Arsenal into this conversation, but the work is far from over. It’s now firmly in their hands to bring Champions League football back to the carpet. Not managing to do so won’t be a failure as such, but it would doubtlessly be massively disappointing.

So it’s simple: don’t disappoint.