Arsenal failed to improve their starting eleven last summer and now Mikel Arteta is paying the price for Edu Gaspar's shortcomings.

Now we have to look forward – first of all, I think this is going to be a painful one – and when we’re in Dubai, recharge and go again because we still have a lot to play

While Newcastle United fans scrambled for trains, tickets and hotels around London for next month’s League Cup final through blissfully blurry vision, wide-eyed Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was leading his side on to an Emirates flight to Dubai for a much-needed warm weather winter training break.