Mikel Arteta unsure of the formula behind Arsenal’s title charge last season

Mikel Arteta admitted to not knowing the formula that sparked Arsenal’s electric form in the second half of last season that carried them to within a whisker of the Premier League title.

The team spent a week in Dubai in the aftermath of what appeared to be two costly defeats over Christmas, as back-to-back losses against West Ham and Fulham looked to have counted them out of contention.

This season will not offer the chance for a mid-winter getaway with the league having axed the January hiatus from the calendar.

Arteta was at a loss to define the moment that galvanised his team and sent them on a supercharged run of 16 wins in their final 18 games.

“We don’t know where that clicked,” he said. “If instead of going to Dubai I’d given them a week off and the team had gone to Las Vegas for one week smashing the night, we come back and lose two games in a row then I’m in my house and I’m sacked.

“If they got to Las Vegas and do that then they win three in a row, you’d be telling me send the boys to Las Vegas because they’re going to kill it afterwards.”

The players were accompanied in Dubai by their families, lending a more relaxed feel to the trip than on a typical overseas training camp.

The staggered pause in the Premier League schedule, whereby 10 teams were given the second week in January off before the rest received the same a week later, saw most clubs take advantage to fit in warm-weather training in the middle of a hectic campaign.

Arsenal though seemed to be benefit above all others and at one stage in April were just seven wins from guaranteeing a first title in 20 years, having seemed dead and buried after losing 2-1 at Craven Cottage on New Year’s Eve.

“I think it helped being in contact with nature, being away for a week,” said Arteta. “It was so intense until Christmas. We don’t have that (this season).

“We will do something different, but every day is trying to put in something that helps the mood, the energy, helping the players be the best versions of themselves.”

Arsenal are currently enduring their worst run of form since that December 2023 blip having collected just one point from their last three matches.

Having lost to Bournemouth and Newcastle in the league, on Wednesday they were beaten 1-0 by Inter Milan in the Champions League leaving Arteta pondering three defeats in six in all competitions.

Despite being seven points off the pace ahead of Sunday’s meeting with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, the manager refused to accept his side were out of the title race.

“I think anybody can lose two, three, four matches in a row,” he said.

“And if you take that to Europe and the competition in Europe, unfortunately it’s going to happen, so let’s be prepared when the bump comes in. At the moment we are having one and we need to get out of it.

“Everybody is in (the race) especially because of where we are in the season.”