Arsenal have been knocked out of the Europa League by Olympiacos meaning the Gunners have just lost their best chance of getting back into the Champions League next season.
It will be almost impossible for the North London club to make it to the top-four of the Premier League table by the end of the season meaning they will have to prepare for one more season of mediocracy.
And according to pundit Charlie Nicholas, Mikel Arteta might have done more than a decent job in such a short period of time but the new manager has not been able to solve the defensive woes of the side.
Charlie Nicholas told Sky Sports: “I am a fan of Bernd Leno, but he gets lazy and slack-minded, and the whole of the defence is like that.
“[Mikel] Arteta has worked on the shape and protection with organisation – it is better and it looks better, but the issue is not solved.
“I watched them win at Olympiakos, this was their best route into the Champions League. However, they are a million miles away from a team that would win the Europa League.
“This is not the toughest Europa League to win. Some of the teams that have come in from the Champions League are not as great as what they were. Sevilla are not as good, Ajax are now out too.”
While Mikel Arteta will obviously take some of the blame but in reality, the new boss has inherited one of the weakest defences in the Premier League from Unai Emery.
The likes of Mustafi, David Luiz and Bernd Leno have failed to steady the ship for Arsenal all throughout the season and to add to the woes, January signings Pablo Mari and Cedric Soares are yet to start games for the Gunners.
And by the time, these two players are actually fit to play for the first-team, Arsenal might not be even good enough to play in the Europa League next season.
