Thierry Henry believes Arsenal need to forget about a title challenge on focus on getting back into the top four while also suggesting that the fans need to give Unai Emery time.
The Gunners haven’t qualified for the competition since the 2015-16 season, with a 10-2 aggregate defeat to Bayern Munich their most recent result in Europe's premier club competition.
They missed out by just a single point last season, but finished 28 points behind champions Manchester City. They are already eight points off the top four this time around, and have half as many points as leaders Liverpool.
“What can I tell you about Arsenal’s season? It’s a tough one because you can put Tottenham and Manchester United in that bracket of teams that are struggling at the minute,” Henry told Omnisport .
“People didn’t expect Leicester to do what they are doing.
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“Arsenal, it’s been a little while – or a very little while – that we haven’t been in the Champions League so for me as an Arsenal fan what I want to see is them, first and foremost, go back into the bracket of the teams that are going to be in the Champions League.”
Gunners defender David Luiz raised eyebrows earlier this season when he tipped Arsenal to challenge for the Premier League title .
Their last real title challenge came in the 2015-16 season, but they still finished a full 10 points behind Leicester City in second.
With City and Liverpool taking the title race to new heights in recent seasons, Henry doesn’t seem to think that is likely to change any time soon.
“Challenging for the league… listen, it’s going to be very difficult because even Manchester City look like they are struggling to follow Liverpool,” he admitted.
“Let’s think about, first and foremost, getting back into the Champions League which is going to be very difficult, and then from that, see where we can go.
“But all we can do right now as fans is try to support and give people time. It’s not easy to come in after Arsene Wenger and perform straight away.”
Following the international break, the Gunners face Premier League games against Southampton and Norwich, either side of a Europa League clash at home to Eintracht Frankfurt.