Arsenal seek more Europa League joy against Valencia with season balanced on knife edge

Time to cash in the insurance policy. Arsenal’s recent Premier League form would have triggered a crisis were it not for their Europa League semi-final tie against Valencia which begins at Emirates Stadium on Thursday night.

Champions League qualification is an imperative and will define whether Unai Emery’s debut season in charge has been a success or failure.

Missing out would not create any uncertainty over his position, but it would check momentum and make what promises to be another transitional summer more difficult by restricting budgets and opportunities with which to lure new signings.

Managers usually find their methods under a microscope in the defining period of the season and that is true of Emery given the big decisions he has made in bringing Arsenal to this point.

The suspicion remains that the Gunners simply do not possess the personnel to form a resilient defensive unit and further transfer windows will help rectify that, but Emery’s constant chopping and changing of formation and selection has not created much consistency.

There were six clean sheets in seven matches prior to losing three consecutive games in eight days — against Crystal Palace, Wolves and Leicester — but that masked the profligacy they benefitted from their rivals in that period.

Watford, Manchester United and Napoli were culpable in that regard.

Attack is almost certainly Arsenal’s best form of defence yet Emery initially froze out Aaron Ramsey during a period when his contract situation was unresolved, while Mesut Ozil spoke yesterday about his desire to stay next season but his role over the course of the campaign has been more marginal than his £350,000-a-week wage demands.

Emery inherited a lot of problems which remain unresolved and the unity he has built in home matches is a reflection of supporters recognising a renewed focus that has not always been in evidence on the road this term.

They have, generally speaking, reserved their best performances for Europa League home matches since the turn of the year, overturning deficits against BATE Borisov and Rennes before overpowering Napoli to earn an advantage they extended in the second leg to reach this point.

Ozil, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette must bring their best if the trio are selected from the start. Emery was appointed as Arsene Wenger’s successor in part because of his expertise in this competition and so in some senses it is apt that the Europa League now takes centre stage in his maiden campaign.

Valencia offer additional poignancy for the Spaniard given he had four seasons in charge of the club between 2008 and 2012, leading them to this stage of Europa League in 2011-12. The last time Valencia got this far, they were knocked out by Emery’s Sevilla, in what was the first of three successive titles.

Emery last week launched an impassioned defence of Shkodran Mustafi, who may also feel like he has an additional point to prove as he faces his former club for the first time since joining Arsenal in 2016.

Lee Dixon infamously claimed Gary Neville, who managed Valencia during Mustafi’s final season, said they “couldn’t give him away” shortly before Arsenal paid £35million for him.

It is, of course, the typical managerial reflex which saw Emery defend Mustafi from his most recent criticism, but he went far beyond the minimum requirement, talking for four-and-a-half minutes about how the centre-back remains an important player now and in the future. These sorts of judgements are on the line on Thursday night.

It is almost exactly a year since Laurent Koscielny suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon in his right leg during last season’s semi-final exit to Atletico Madrid and redemption is on his mind, too.

“We will need to be focused and play well as a team particularly as our recent results have not gone well,” he said.

“Confidence has dropped slightly but we are professionals. We have battled all season to get as far as we can in the League and cups.

“We have worked hard to get back into the Champions League possibly through the Europa League. If we do not manage it that will be a shame.”

Arsenal produced one of their best away performances under Emery to see off Napoli at the Stadio San Paolo, but their general form on the road suggests a sizeable victory tonight is essential against a Valencia side currently sixth in LaLiga.

“If you can win, it’s good,” said Emery. “If you can win without conceding a goal, it’s perfect.

“We need to manage 90 minutes and be solid, strong and be clear in our minds with the possibilities with the result. Our idea is to win.”