Happy Sunday folks. Hope you’re all doing well. Still feels weird that most of the footballing world (in terms of Premier League Teams) are playing this weekend and our players are sunning themselves in Dubai. I know how relentless it all has been over the last six weeks or so, but I was listening to Andrew on the Arsecast whilst out running yesterday and he said something that resonated with me; it’s great the players get this reset, but let’s not forget the reason they are there – because we got knocked out of the FA Cup. That should still sting, even if the pain has faded with the elapsing of time since that defeat on penalties. I get that there’s the fact that we can just watch FA Cup games with no skin in the game, just to watch football matches, not worry about our upcoming match because we ain’t got one in this competition, but I’d still rather have the worry this weekend. The FA Cup has given me personally some of my best match day experiences in terms of getting to the final and then seeing us win so having that again would have been amazing. But the players are getting their reset, just like they did last season and whilst we’re all having a nice laugh and a joke about the importance of vitamin D, etc, I  do think we, as fans, have to be careful about seeing this trip as a panacea though.

Yes it will be good for the players; a bit of training, no intensity of a football match, there will be some bonding, etc. But history doesn’t always repeat itself and just because we did it last season, doesn’t mean we’ll get the same output this season. Life is not linear and we all need to be mindful of that. Last season Arteta came back and talked about what a wonderful effect it had. The players have been able to spend time together not just in recovery or match mode. Last year’s Dubai trip came after the defeat in the FA Cup to Liverpool and when we came back we played Palace at home and won 5-0. Great stuff. On paper you could be forgiven that they must have something in the water out there to see that result, but the match itself felt like a bit of a slog at times if I remember. We were 2-0 up at halftime, but it wasn’t until the hour mark we got the third. We then followed that up with a narrow 2-1 win against Forest, before beating Liverpool at home to close the gap on them in the league. This is an important footnote I think, because everyone is talking up how we still have to play them, but the difference this time is that it is towards the end of the season and it’s at Anfield. We haven’t won in the league there since September 2012. 13 years. Plus, it’s that deep in to the season by then that they might already know their fate and be champions.

Of course, the reverse could be true and they could be wobbling because we’ve closed the gap, but this season just feels different to last season for me. Because of the injuries, because of the shoddy calls, because of the media gaslighting that you certainly don’t see when similar instances happen between Liverpool compared to The Arsenal. It just feels different and that’s why I think we need to be wary of the Dubai trip being seen as the line in the sand from which we’ll now go on a massive winning run.

We’re certainly capable of it. We have Leicester away, West Ham at home, Forest away (that’s gonna be really tough game), Man United away (as terrible as they are they always get results at Old Trafford – our record there is poor – and lower league teams get results because the onus is on United to press so they sit deep and United can’t break down), then Chelsea at home. If Arsenal come out of that run five games with five wins, then it might make for more interesting table reading. But that’s a big ask and the joys of Dubai and warm weather training will certainly have worn off by the end of that period. I suspect we’ll also know if the title is still on or only ‘mathematically’ possible by then. It does feel like Arsenal’s margin for error is essentially zero and in a game which has so many variables as football (for instance we don’t know if Michael Oliver will referee us again and therefore screw us over), you can’t really expect perfection. For me – and I’ve been consistent on this I think – the Villa game again was where is did indeed kill the deep-seated hope that we’d catch them and I think it’s too late in the season and we’ve not got enough of a runway of games for a catch up chase given Liverpool’s current points haul (I think they’ll smash Everton next week to be honest with you). But what I am hoping is that we at least take them to the final weeks so they have to go and win it rather than it be a procession. The Dubai trip will help now, but for Arsenal to make that truly so we need bodies returning, we’re gonna need a lot of luck (haven’t had much of that this season), plus we’re going to have to be pretty perfect for the foreseeable future.

Dubai will be welcome for all of us, but we can’t put all our eggs in that trip; there needs to be more than that for a sustained title challenge to manifest in to March, April and May.

Back tomorrow with more Arsenal musings. Have yourselves a good one.