Arsenal looked exhausted against Burnley on Sunday. Sparks of life from Emile Smith-Rowe and Gabriel Martinelli were evident but even the usually spritely Bukayo Saka struggled to consistently push Erik Pieters.
The match made it all the more evident how new signings in midfield and striker are necessary should Arsenal want to increase their chances of trying to qualify for the Champions League. Crosses were pelted into the box for a sub-six-foot Alexandre Lacazette with Ben Mee and James Tarkowski having a field day heading them comfortably away.
The tactics are certainly worthy of questioning but the depth in the team also remains hugely weakened.
Thankfully, Arsenal will receive a boost moving towards their next game which is rather annoyingly not for an agonising 17 days.
Arsenal will travel to the middle east to complete a warm-weather training camp, rest up and regroup ahead of taking on Wolves in a must-win game or avid slipping further down the table.
By then the window will have closed and Arsenal will hopefully have completed any last-minute transfer business they have to do.
Yet the Gunners will be buoyed by the return of two players to their squad who would have been useful throughout January.
Mohamed Elneny and record signing Nicolas Pepe will have completed their duties at the African Cup of Nations.
Pepe has been second fiddle to Saka for the majority of the season, but his absence has certainly been felt since leaving for Cameroon.
The FA Cup exit against Nottingham Forest will most certainly have included the AFCON participants and perhaps a different result would have occurred.
From the substitutes bench, Mikel Arteta has restricted himself and only brought on Eddie Nketiah to try to get a goal against Burnley on Sunday.
This was despite having Nuno Tavares, Mika Biereth and Omari Hutchinson on the bench. The six-foot-plus Dane would have offered at least some verticality to Arsenal’s attacks and it was a frustration not to see him given a chance.
Yet Pepe is a serious step up in substitute options and he will hopefully carry through some of his goalscoring form from the African tournament into north London and beyond.
The Ivorian has two goals and an assist in the group stages in which he started the last two games. A decision that has proven beneficial for the Ivory Coast.
Elneny and Pepe will face off on Wednesday in a bid to stay in the competition and progress to the quarter-finals.
The loser will return to London and likely join up with the squad for the warm weather camp in the middle east, perhaps after being afforded some brief holiday time.
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