Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta admits failing to qualify for Europe would be a major worry for the Gunners
MIKEL ARTETA admits that failure to qualify for Europe would be a major worry for everyone at Arsenal. And he warns his target will become impossible if the Gunners do not immediately put a winning run together. ARSENAL NEWS LIVE: Follow for all the latest on the Gunners It is 25 years since Arsenal last […]
MIKEL ARTETA admits that failure to qualify for Europe would be a major worry for everyone at Arsenal.
And he warns his target will become impossible if the Gunners do not immediately put a winning run together.
ARSENAL NEWS LIVE: Follow for all the latest on the Gunners
It is 25 years since Arsenal last failed to reach Europe but with the team currently tenth in the table there is a real danger of missing out this time.
That is why Arteta is putting all future planning on the back burner so he can focus his efforts on salvaging the season.
Arsenal have not won back- to-back Premier League games since the first week of the campaign but boss Arteta said: “If we can win three or four games on the trot we will be right up there challenging.
“But if we are not able to do that then the dream of being up there becomes impossible.
“If Arsenal are not in Europe next season it’s a big concern for everybody.
“So we cannot waste these four months just thinking about next season because the hurry of a big club is now, not in the summer.
“I don’t look at next season at all because what happens then is only going to be a consequence of what we are going to be able to do right now.
“So I am just looking at what we can do to get better and where we can improve.”
Arteta believes his side must beat Chelsea tonight to stand any chance of challenging for a top-four finish.
They sit ten points behind Frank Lampard’s fourth-placed Blues and defeat at Stamford Bridge would effectively leave them needing to win the Europa League to get back into the Champions League.
There is even the threat that Arsenal could finish seventh and be forced to play in the Europa League qualifiers in July.
Arteta said: “I am always positive so I don’t want to think about things like that.
“We have a lot of issues to deal with at the moment and I prefer to think that things are going to go well and we can achieve what we want.”
Chelsea snatched a late win at the Emirates three weeks ago after being dominated in the first half.
The Gunners have won just one of five league games under Arteta, who said: “We need to win this game. It’s very, very important if we are to fight for the top four.
“I loved the first 35 minutes against Chelsea — how aggressive we were, how much we wanted to attack them and put them under pressure.
“That is the way I always want my team to play but then Chelsea changed their system and we found it difficult to deal with that.”
Arsenal will again be without suspended skipper Pierre- Emerick Aubameyang tonight and Arteta will be looking to Mesut Ozil to contribute more.
The playmaker has been praised for his recent displays but has not scored all season and has made just one assist.
Arteta added: “The demands we have put on Mesut are to make the difference in every game.
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“To do that he needs the right structure and players around him.
“He could have had more assists and probably more goals in the games under me.
“But overall his performances have improved a lot.”
