Arsenal gear up to face their first test in the Europa League, a home fixture against Bundesliga outfit, FC Koln. This fixture is Arsenal’s first in Europe’s second tier competition, after being a regular Champions League team for the last 19 seasons.
Arsene Wenger has made seven changes to his Europa League squad. The likes of Cech, Koscielny, Lacazette, Welbeck, Ozil, Ramsey and Xhaka were all excused from training duties on Wednesday. This has evoked a mixed reaction from fans and pundits alike.
It doesn’t take much cramming to come up with the conclusion that the reason behind this is that Wenger has one eye on Arsenal’s visit to Stamford Bridge over the weekend. Arsenal have had a stuttering start to the current league campaign and will look to steady the ship before anything else.
It isn’t hard to disagree with Wenger’s decision here, as another capitulation at the hands of the reigning champions might not go down well for the Arsenal faithful. As if the loss of Oxlade-Chamberlain and a failed transfer window weren’t enough, a lackluster league campaign is sure to be the final nail in the coffin for Arsene Wenger’s tenure.
Arsene Wenger’s reluctance to commit the team’s cause to the Europa League justifies his decision. On asked if he would prioritize the Europa League, the Frenchman said,
“For us it is a good opportunity to focus completely on the Premier League,”. “I would say that the Premier League has, in my opinion, taken over from the Champions League interest-wise.”
He was asked if he would prefer to take the Europa League route to the Champions League next season, as the fight for a top-4 spot in the Premier League intensifies year after year, to which he replied,
“You cannot go into the season and think that,”
“I always was not in favour of that, because I think at some stage it can influence on the championship. Because if a team is in April in a position where they have more chance to win the Europa League they can let some games go in the championship, and not completely focus on that competition.”
Given Arsene and Jose’s bittersweet relationship, it wouldn’t come as a surprise to many if that was a direct dig at the Portuguese.
Arsene Wenger’s decision to prioritize the Premier League has its sceptics too. As mentioned earlier, breaking into the top 4 requires a lot of consistency and a world-class squad with considerable squad depth. It still remains to be seen if Arsenal can maintain any sort of consistency into the league campaign; and while they do have a world-class squad, they lack the required squad depth.
With that being said, wouldn’t it be wise to prioritize the Europa League? Apart from a direct route into the next edition of the Champions League, it would hand Wenger his first ever European trophy. After the heartbreak in the finals of the UEFA Super Cup in 2000 and the UEFA Champions League in 2006, it could be the one trophy after which he steps down as Arsenal manager?
It would be a fitting end to a remarkable managerial career of one of the most influential managers in world football.
