We’ve been here a lot under Mikel Arteta: a seemingly favourable draw, a second-leg at home, a good chance at some European silverware.
And yet, as we have repeatedly throughout the Spaniard’s reign, we find ourselves dumped out of the competition much earlier than we should and with all our eggs in the Premier League basket.
Many more sanguine fans believe this to be a good thing – no more distraction from our bid to win the league, but I don’t see it that way. As I said before the match, the Europa League was never the priority but a trophy is a trophy and a chance to win something should never be lightly cast aside.
After all, if we are going to compete in the Champions League next season, playing twice or three times a week on the domestic and European front will be a must – deep into March and April too. To feel as though we can just crash out of a competition in order to gain some sort of benefit elsewhere is, at least to me, silly.
Just look at last season. Dumped out of the same competition by Villarreal, many gleefully exclaimed our early exit would free up mental and physical resources for a Champions League, top four push. How did that turn out?
Likewise, we don’t find the likes of Manchester City, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich et al, throwing away the Champions League as early as possible just so they can focus on their domestic competitions. For me, the view that this defeat is somehow a blessing is misguided.
Don’t get me wrong, I expected and agreed with the manager’s decision to rest some players for Sporting. It was the right thing to do and a normal part of squad management in modern football. What I did not expect was those players who came into the side to be so ineffectual. As the manager said post-match, for the first 75 minutes, we were second best in all aspects.
Our passing was atrocious, our control of the match non-existent, our pressing was patchy and ineffectual and Sporting were all over us. That we somehow took the lead was miraculous in itself, to take nothing away from Granit Xhaka. A few good chances in the first half aside, we were outplayed by Sporting who worked harder and played smarter than us. From my view in the stands, Rob Holding was about our best player and that speaks volumes.
It wasn’t until the manager threw on Thomas Partey and Bukayo Saka, in response to being pegged back, that the penny started to drop, and the players started to perform with the sort of urgency and desire required.
When Martin Odegaard entered the fray in extra time, the Gunners took control and played in a way that befits their quality but it shouldn’t have taken so long and for the situation to become so desperate for a change to be made.
That is our Europa League campaign in a nutshell, though. We have rarely looked more than average throughout the entire campaign and last night was the result of that. Quite clearly, the players just didn’t take the competition seriously enough, while Sporting played with the sort of intensity and desire that saw them come out on top.
For me, it’s extremely disappointing, as most defeats are, and I don’t think it should so lightly be cast aside.
We toiled for the majority of the 120 minutes we were on the pitch last night and made an ultimately fruitless task much harder than it needed to be.
The pressure on the visit of Crystal Palace to the Emirates is now huge. Having dropped out of all other competitions, there will be no excuse for under-performance in the league and no excuse for distraction.
There is only one prize that remains to us know and I hope, having put all our eggs into that basket, that we don’t find ourselves wondering ‘what if’ should we ultimately come up short.
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