Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta held clear-the-air talks with his squad ahead of Sunday’s crunch game against Tottenham.
The Gunners have made a disappointing start to the campaign and head into the weekend in 14th place in the Premier League table.
They have failed to win more than half of their 10 fixtures to date, drawing one and losing five.
Their latest defeat came last weekend when Wolves ran out 2-1 winners at the Emirates Stadium.
Scoring goals has been a particular problem for Arsenal thus far, with Arteta’s side finding the back of the net on just 10 occasions.
SPECIAL OFFER Subscribe to FourFourTwo for just £9.99 a quarter
That tally is the worst in the division outside of the bottom three clubs, Burnley, West Brom and Sheffield United.
Arsenal have been short of creativity, and Arteta’s decision to ostracise Mesut Ozil from the squad has come under fresh scrutiny in recent weeks.
The Gunners are underdogs for Sunday’s north London derby against a Spurs side that currently sits at the summit of the standings.
Ahead of that fixture, Arteta brought the squad together for a frank and honest discussion of their start to the season.
According to ESPN, angry words were exchanged between certain players during Tuesday’s gathering at the training ground.
Arteta also informed his players that he was continuing to investigate the source of the leaks that saw news of a bust-up between David Luiz and Dani Ceballos reach the media.
The manager then left the room, leaving the players to continue a discussion described by sources as “stormy” and “intense”.
However, the meeting ended amicably and Arsenal fans will hope it leads to a much-improved performance against Spurs.
"I think it is the perfect game to get a lift, regenerate some belief in the league because in the other competitions we have been very good but we need a big result and I cannot think about any better scenario than that: to go and beat them and change things dramatically in one game,” Arteta said ahead of the game.
While you're here, why not subscribe to FourFourTwo? In the Black Friday sale, it's half-price – less than £3 an issue
ALSO READ
QUIZ Can you name the line-ups for Arsenal 4-4 Tottenham, 2008/09?
GUIDE Premier League live stream best VPN: how to watch every game from anywhere in the world
