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Arsenal's Europa League campaign has officially come to an end at the hands of Olympiacos as the Gunners fell prey to a 2-1 defeat at the Emirates.
In a game full of mistakes, the Gunners' lacklustre performance was punished by Abou Cisse, who scored the first goal of the night from a free header in the second half. David Luiz's incompetency to close him down resulted in the Premier League giants taking the first blow. Meanwhile, Olympiacos had a clear mindset: defend deep, hit on counter and try to take the game to penalties.
Unfortunately for Arsenal, the penalty shootout never arrived as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's brilliant equaliser in the 113th minute was not the last goal of the encounter. The Gunners defenders failed to deal with a cross put in by Giorgos Masouras in the 119th minute of the game and Youssef El-Arabi scored Olympiacos' second goal of the game to take his team into the Round of 16 of the competition.
While getting knocked out of a European competition is far from ideal, the defeat to Olympiacos probably came at the right time for Arsenal and this could turn out to be a blessing in disguise for the North London outfit.
In this article, we discuss three reasons why crashing out of the Europa League might be a good thing for Arsenal.
Also Read: Arsenal 1-2 Olympiacos (2-2): 3 Talking Points as Gunners crash out of Europe
#3 Reduced foreign travels during the season
To put it into perspective, if Arsenal hypothetically managed to reach the final of the competition, this would mean they would have played 7 extra games. The Gunners have now successfully escaped nearly seven games from their schedule, out of which at least three would have been to foreign lands.
Even though winning the Europa League was the best way for Arsenal to get back into the Champions League, now that they're knocked out, the fans and players need to look for positives and move on from the defeat.
There will be no more games away from England for the Gunners this term and this could prove to be a huge catalyst for improvement as Mikel Arteta and his team try to mount a serious assault for a top-four finish. With players like Kieran Tierney, Cedric Soares and Pablo Mari coming back, the London giants will have the upper hand over the likes of Manchester United, Wolves, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur if these teams are to go the distance in the Europa League and Champions League, respectively.
The fact that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Shkodran Mustafi, Bukayo Saka, David Luiz, and Granit Xhaka have played four games in the last 12 days could just be the reason why they could not cope up with Olympiacos on Thursday. While Mustafi suffered a thigh injury in the 108th minute, Aubameyang hinted that he suffered cramps during the game.
"I don't know how I missed this chance. I was tired and I had some cramps as well but it's not an excuse, I have to score this goal." Aubameyang told BT Sport minutes after the final whistle.
Fatigue clearly caught up with the players and Arteta's decision to bench Matteo Guendouzi, Lucas Torreira, Joe Willock and Ainsley Maitland-Niles, who were in peak physical condition, did not pay off.
Basically, it is a great advantage to have when you're playing as much as seven lesser games than your rivals. It improves your chances of outperforming them massively, as your players are less likely to tire and get injuries, whilst having more recovery time in case they do get injured.
#2 Fewer injuries, more recovery time
Although Arsenal have commendable depth when it comes to attacking options, the fact that they do not have enough options in midfield and defence is a serious worry for Mikel Arteta and the coaching staff.
Arsenal's midfield options are Mesut Ozil, Joe Willock, Granit Xhaka, Dani Ceballos, Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi. Out of the aforementioned name, only one player is a natural attacking midfielder. On the other hand, Torreira and Guendouzi have a similar set of skills, while Ceballos and Willock are two box to box midfielders. Meanwhile, Granit Xhaka is their only deep-lying playmaker in midfield.
In defence, Sead Kolasinac is likely ruled out for the season, whereas Kieran Tierney is yet to string five games in a row for Arsenal without getting injured. Calum Chambers has suffered a terrible knee injury which sidelines him as well for the season, and Rob Holding has still not completely recovered from his ACL injury.
This leaves Arteta with 3 natural defenders in David Luiz, Shkodran Mustafi and Hector Bellerin, considering Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Bukayo Saka aren't defenders per se, and January arrivals Pablo Mari and Cedric Soares are yet to play a minute for Arsenal.
Solely due to these factors, getting knocked out from the Europa League won't be the worst thing to happen as the coaching staff and players could now focus on dedicating their time and efforts in getting a top-five finish in the Premier League, which is not impossible considering Arsenal are only 7 points off Frank Lampard's Chelsea, who are currently fourth in the league standings.
Furthermore, Arteta demands unreal fitness levels from his players to play the type of high-octane football he wants to see. As a matter of fact, it feels like the Spaniard has overestimated his squad's abilities. He is having a difficult time trying to ingrain his philosophy in the players, and due to lack of leaders in this Arsenal team, the onus has fallen upon players like Aubameyang to lead the team and get them out of complex situations every now and then.
#1 Greater chance of winning the FA Cup and finishing in top six in the league
Easier said than done, Arsenal certainly have a better chance of doing something concrete in the FA Cup now that this is the only cup competition they are alive in. As stated before, while winning the Europa League was probably the Gunners' best way to get into the Champions League, the Gunners are still pretty much in the mix when it comes to finishing in the top five in the league standings.
The likes of Eddie Nketiah, Gabriel Martinelli, Reiss Nelson, Bukayo Saka, Joe Willock, Maitland-Niles and Guendouzi have proved to be reliable options in the FA Cup this season, as they recorded victories against Leeds United and Bournemouth.
Their performances against Nottingham Forest and Liverpool in the League Cup were nothing short of brilliant, which is conclusive proof that Arsenal might lack a lot of things but having top-notch young talent is not one of them.
In the league, the Gunners are only 4 points behind Manchester United and to make things more interesting, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men will be travelling to Goodison Park and then take on Manchester City at home in their next two league games, while Arsenal will be playing West Ham at home and Brighton away.
Two wins for Arsenal and a dismal run for the Red Devils could see Arteta's men come straight back into the fight for top four. Considering Arsenal's situation right now, even though they aren't at their best in terms of confidence, a trip to Portsmouth and a home game against West Ham should do them a world of good.
The bottom line is that although Europa League elimination is horrific for the players and fans across the globe, it is not as bad as it seems. This could prove to be the turning point for Arsenal. A silver lining amongst all the chaos.
