Arsenal legend Liam Brady doesn’t reckon that the Gunners will threaten the top four this season.

Brady, who was with the Gunners from 1973 to 1980, reckons that his former team have failed to prove themselves against Premier League teams with ‘character’.

In fact, the ex-midfielder thinks the only way Arsene Wenger’s side can get back into the Champions League next term is by winning the Europa League.

“I’ve watched Arsenal a lot this season and they were on a good run going up to Watford, but I still wasn’t confident because we were playing teams that we really didn’t have to do much to beat,” Brady said while on the Stand podcast.

“I’ve got major doubts about, every time we come against a team with character and strength, are we up for it. Can Arsenal cope with it?

“And I think it’s going to be a season where we won’t threaten to the top four, and I think it’s going to be a season where getting into the Champions League relies on the Europa League, where we would have a chance of winning it when we get into the latter stages and he (Wenger) puts his best team out.”

Brady’s not saying anything most of us don’t already know. Although many – myself included – wrote off the Europa League as a competition to play the kids in at first, after seeing our displays in the Premiership, I think most of us are clinging onto it for dear life.

mesut ozil watford
(GLYN KIRK/AFP/Getty Images)

As it stands, Arsenal don’t look like they’ll threaten the top four. They finished fifth last season and haven’t improve while everyone else has strengthened.

Half of Arsenal’s players have to keep getting wrangled back into training by Jens Lehmann (probably) since they can’t wait to leave and the rest have forgotten how to play football.

The Gunners travel to Serbia this week to face Red Star Belgrade. So far, we’ve been doing pretty well in the Europa League. And by ‘pretty well’ I mean we’ve won both matches and haven’t been completely humiliated yet… which is nice.