Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta points to Liverpool and Chelsea examples as he plots revival for Gunners
CBSN
Arsenal crashed out of the Europa League last night and are on course for their worst season this century
Mikel Arteta insists Arsenal can learn from the seasons of European exile endured by Liverpool and Chelsea as he bids to revive his faltering project in north London. Elimination from the Europa League semifinals by Villarreal on Thursday night means the Gunners are almost certain to miss out on European football for the first time since the 1995-96 season. Their only hope lies in a dramatic late scrabble up the Premier League table. Currently ninth in the Premier League table, they are five points behind Liverpool in seventh -- good for a place in the inaugural season of the Europa Conference League -- having played a game more than those around them. A four-game sprint begins with the visit of West Bromwich Albion to the Emirates Stadium on Sunday but Arteta, who retains the support of the club hierarchy, is already setting his eyes to next season. Having no European football to offer to fans will doubtless bring with it financial hardships, but it will at least allow the manager to focus his attentions on a Premier League recovery. He can point to the examples of Chelsea, who won the title in Antonio Conte's first season after an acrimonious end to Jose Mourinho's tenure only months earlier, and a Liverpool side that nearly won the title in 2013-14 without having to juggle continental games.