Given that Arsenal are usually turfed out of the Champions League at this time of year, the Europa League offers them a chance to extend their stay in Europe for a few weeks further than they are used to, which at least offers the rest of us another few chances to see Roy Keane glower at them in sheer contempt.
You get the feeling that Keane, in his often disappointingly caricatured-analysis, feels personally let down by Arsenal, given the fact that the apogee of his career is characterised by a few wars against Patrick Viera and co. For a new generation of pundits, few clubs have proved as amenable to the "it was better back in my day" shtick than Arsenal.
Keane was no more charitable to Arsenal on ITV's highlights show last night. They contrived to lose 2-1 at home to Ostersunds in the second leg of their last 32 tie, ultimately squeezing home 4-2 on aggregate after a mighty scare.
While they did technically get the job done, Keane was unimpressed. In criticism redolent of the "when Kieran Gibbs is your captain, you're in big trouble" criticism of this week last year, the Irish assistant manager reserved particular flak for Jack Wilshire.
Arsenal are a great example of how not to start a game of football. They are so slow out of the blocks. Poor attitude, no energy, no desire. It's not like a light switch, you can't just turn it on and off.
A lot of that will come from the manager and his coaching staff, but ultimately it has to come from the players. You have to motivate yourself. You have your pride and you want to do well for yourself, your team-mates, your family... and to turn up like that was a shambles.
We have seen it so many times from Arsenal. They went to Nottingham Forest with exactly the same attitude and lost. You make excuses for Arsenal all the time, but it's a load of rubbish. The Arsenal players must drive you crazy. A shambles.
You look for your senior players to lead by example…when Wilshere is your captain, to me, he is probably the most overrated player on the planet.
