Arsenal has made significant progress under Mikel Arteta and there is no doubt that the Spaniard has changed the performances of our players, but our away form under the Spaniard needs to improve if we’re to progress in the standings.
We have played two away games under Arteta and both games have ended in draws, the last one would probably have ended in a win if Pierre Emerick Aubameyang had played till the end.
Nevertheless, we will play the next few games without the Gabonese attacker and we have to keep the wins coming whether we’re playing at the Emirates or away.
After welcoming Sheffield United to the Emirates at the weekend, Arsenal will play three consecutive games away from home.
Two of those matches (Chelsea and Burnley) will be league games and we cannot keep on dropping points on the road in the second half of the season.
We will also play Bournemouth away in the FA Cup and Olympiacos away when the Europa League resumes next month.
While our goal is to finish inside the top four, winning the Europa League could become our route back into Europe, and losing an FA Cup game at struggling Bournemouth would damage some of the momentum we have built so far.
Probably the most effective way of putting our away day blues to bed once and for all is to beat a top-six team on their own ground and I have confidence we will do just that at Chelsea. That is the big test.