I'd say that it's actually better for a squad like Arsenal's to be playing in the Europa than not having European football at all.
It allows them to keep players that aren't starting regularly fit and sharp, while bringing back those with injuries like Wilshere.
They've definitely benefited from having a number of competitive games for their non-starters this season, as I thought they might.
Hopefully they'll have another chance to continue this beneficial run next season.
Yeah, I guess the Europa / Wembley factors have definitely been reasons to explain why we're neck and neck at the moment. It's worth mentioning that, in the same time you've had injuries to the spine of your first team, we've not had as many serious injuries to key players compared to previous seasons, perhaps barring Giroud. But even with players like Ramsey and Giroud out, we have enough depth for players to fill in e.g. Wilshere, Maitland-Niles, Welbeck etc. I'm not saying those players are top quality, because not all of them are, but they are capable of doing a decent job with our bigger players being out and that's something we've not had in recent years.
I completely agree that we have benefitted from the Europa League because it's given us a chance to blood some youngsters, whilst simultaneously give an opportunity to fringe players who may want to fight for a first-team slot. Players like Debuchy, Reiss Nelson, Chambers, Willock etc have all more than held their own.
But if we get through to the L16, it will be interesting to see what Wenger does at that point. Will he take it seriously or will he continue playing second-string/academy players in order to focus on getting into the top four?
We've made it to the semi-finals of the Carabao cup, too, which we traditionally never get far in. Although I won't lose too much sleep if we get knocked out, we are against London rivals and it is a chance to progress and win silverware, even if it's the least of our priorities. Again, will be interesting to see what type of team he fields.
We have a very congested fixture list in January, so we can't afford any more injuries. I'd like us to sign a few players as well, but January isn't an easy time to get the players you want. Inevitable transfer speculation regarding the futures of Alexis & Ozil won't do us much favours, either.
So to conclude, it's very uncertain times!
. Genuinely not sure what to expect of us this season. We have the potential to have quite a successful season, but also to languish in midtable and bottle the cup competitions. Who knows ey?
