“Reunite” and “refocus” were two words Mikel Arteta used to describe what Arsenal are hoping to get out of their trip to Dubai during the two-week winter break. After the last couple of months, time away is no bad thing. If only to draw a line under their current malaise. For the first time in 27 years, Arsenal have the ignominy of failing to win their first five games in a calendar year.
That being said, perhaps those aren’t quite the areas that need to be cultivated or honed. Sunday’s draw against Burnley was many things. Infuriating for the Gunners, valiant from Sean Dyche’s side and, to be honest, bleak for the rest of us who came to this fixture for entertainment. But Arsenal’s inability to beat the team sitting bottom of the table, thus missing out on an opportunity to move into fourth, did not feel like the result of a disjointed group of players unable to focus on the matter at hand. Rather of tired bodies and minds running out of physical and creative steam
