Europa League: Option of wildcard entry for Arsenal

Seeing the advent of Red devils in last year, might offer a hope for future ambitions of Gunners. Man United won three trophies during 2016-17 campaign inclusive of Europa league which gave them a wild card entry in UCL despite finishing fifth in the domestic league. Ferguson's era of domestic and European domination yielded countless trophies which came to a grinding halt in last four years. The adopted approach was for a long term solution by focusing on rebuilding of squad and manager. Focus was set up on winning the Europa League, in order to gain entry into UCL and compete at the highest level.

The story of Arsenal is not the same. After departure of the Invincible team and a financial debt imposed by large capacity Emirates stadium around 2005, the club took a more calculated approach of revenue maximising model. The squad lost most of high profile names to big clubs and with financially powerful domestic teams, the dream of winning championship faltered, with some FA cup wins. It was not bad after all if one looks at Liverpool, the model followed by Arsenal was more sustainable. But, at end of May lack of silverware does not fade away with higher revenues. Participation in UCL with top four finish domestically was a constant reminder that a time to inspect the situation became necessary after clearing the debt. The cash at its reserves in an inflated transfer market, rising wages and competing against big squads has made the task even more difficult.

So, it was important that they move on from a stage that catapulted their momentum to achieve future ambitions. Europa League is a great opportunity for Arsenal to win European competition and at same time, force entry into UCL. Domestic league results does not look promising and with dark clouds surrounding player's future commitment, Arsenal should adopt a calculated approach of winning in Europe's second league. Rotation policy is important to subdue injuries around Christmas time and have a strong squad in last three months. Winning first two matches of Europa League at ease is a blessing and provides them a cushion for next three months on domestic league. Knock out stages of competition might offer hard competition from Atletico, Dortmund or AC Milan but the strong position of these clubs in domestic competition will cramp their chances. 50 million of prize money by winning the European competition is an added incentive apart from some glory.