The captaincy furore, sparked by Xhaka’s bust-up with supporters against Crystal Palace which led to him being losing the armband, is the latest in a line of issues that have disrupted Emery’s plans.
Arsenal’s start to the campaign had already been overshadowed by Laurent Koscielny’s shock pre-season strike and Mesut Ozil and Sead Kolasinac being victims of an attempted car-jacking.
According to Emery, they have all been major factors in why Arsenal head to in-form Leicester under pressure after winning just one of their last six games and in danger of ending the weekend nine points off the top four. Emery said: ‘I’m not really disappointed with our work [this season].
‘I am being realistic because some circumstances did not help us to achieve best emotional balance because with that, best performance, best emotional balance.
‘For the supporters, they have seen that their team needs more to improve to achieve the best results.
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