Dubai hopes…

Afternoon guys.

Just like the men, Arsenal’s women were knocked out of the League Cup this week. Man City won the game 2-1 with literally the last kick of the game. Having gone 1-0 down, we equalised from the penalty spot. City then had a penalty of their own which van Domselaar saved. Chances to win the game came for Slegers side but none were converted. Then right at the end, City scored a lucky winner.

Yesterday, the women’s Champions League draw took place and it’s Real Madrid who await Renée Slegers side.

The men won’t find out for definite who their next opponents will be until the playoff fixtures have been played.

Have you seen the photos of the Arsenal players heading off on a warm winter break to Dubai on Arsenal.com? Admittedly, there aren’t many but Ben White and Bukayo Saka and were captured on film. What a boost it will be if both return to action after this break. Gabriel Martinelli has travelled too despite reports suggesting he’s set to miss a month of football with a hamstring injury.

A number of academy players boarded the flight to Dubai – winger Charles Sagoe Jr, winger/forward Nathan Butler-Oyedeji, midfielder/right-back Michal Rosiak, tight-back Josh Nichols, midfielder Max Dowman and goalkeepers Jack Porter and Tommy Setford.

Whatever happened in Dubai around this time last year, I sure hope happens this year too. We’d been on an awful run of form, winning just one game in seven. To suggest we needed a change in results was an understatement. We got it, not quite enough to see us pip City to the title but we came as close to winning the Premier League than we had in years. In the end, just two points cost us that dream. Losing 2-0 at home to Villa was a big disappointment during the final few weeks of the season, especially as we’d only conceded two goals in the league in 2024 before that game.

Talking about this trip, Mikel Arteta said:

There are a lot of things that will be similar. The location, where we train, but of course we will have to modify it. We are going at a different moment of the season, different numbers, probably the team needs a different stimulus, so we are preparing a few things and hopefully it will work like it has the last few times.

This season has certainly been one of hope so far and I don’t mean hope it’s third time lucky in the race for the title. There’s been hope that the officials would actually treat us fairly, hope we’d not pick up a lot of injuries because our squad is small, hope we’d score a lot of goals like last year and hope we’d defend as robustly as we did last year too. So far, such hopes have been dashed. Or should I say, obliterated.

Not much in my opinion has gone our way. It startied with Mikel Merino and Takehiro Tomiyasu as far as injuries go, rapidly followed by Martin Odegaard, Riccardo Calafiori, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Ben White, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus and now, Gabriel Martinelli. None have been a one or two games missing kind of injury either. Those have lumped on to others. Not once this season has Mikel Arteta had a 100% fully fit squad to select from and he won’t either, not with Jesus ruled out for a long time.

The officials, well, they are what they are. Not very good and certainly not very fair. None of our four red cards should have stood but only one was rescinded post game. Yet within 24 hours, a similar scenario to the Saliba one took place involving a Chelsea defender but did he get sent off? Of course not and don’t get me started on the second bookings for Rice and Trossard because I’m not sure I’ve actually seen another player booked for delaying the restart.

Lastly, our potency in the final third has been seriously lacking and we’ve been a bit lackadaisical in defence at times. It often seems to me that when mistakes are made at either end of the pitch, it hurts us badly which sounds obvious I know, but when the two come together in a game, which I think tends to happen, we usually drop points. We seem to be either great going forwards, or great defensively, or poor in all areas. If the best of our attack and defence could come together as one more often, I’m pretty sure our performances would be better all round, results too for that matter. Which is what we need if we are to have any chance of making the title race a case of third time lucky.

The above paragraph made sense in my head, so I hope it does in yours. There’s that hope again.

I’m absolutely loving watching Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly but neither can or should be expected to start every remaining game of the season. In an ideal world, no player would regardless of their fitness levels. Our injuries and sending offs not only lessened Arteta’s rotational options in the game which followed but it meant that on four occasions, it was 10 v 11 for long periods in the game. It’s knackering so no wonder some of our players have looked leggy in a few matches.

We’re all desperate to see Ben White and Bukayo Saka back on the pitch I’m sure and it’s likely that White’s return is imminent. Not only is he a an excellent defender but he gives the team something in attack too. The return of Takehiro Tomiyasu would be a boost too because he’s another option defensively should one be needed. Goodness only knows when he might return though.

Three and a half months of this season remain and then we’ll be into what could very well be a very busy summer for Arsenal. The further we can go in the Champions League the more money the club will earn. The same applies domestically too.

As it stands, Tierney, Partey, Jorginho, Neto and Sterling will leave the club in the summer so we’ll need to sign a keeper, unless Hein is to takeover the number 2 role. We’ll definitely need a central defensive midfielder, two ideally and a winger and that’s before we think about a striker or two. Then, it’s quite likely that a number of players will be sold. Zinchenko and perhaps Trossard, both whose contract expires in 2026. As does Tomiyasu’s although there’s an option of another year. The rest are tied down until the summer of 2027 or 2028.

Anyway, going back to the players time in Dubai, I really do hope the manager and players benefit from  the break and come back refreshed and ready to do battle for the title.

Catch up in the comments.