Several members of the Arsenal squad are said to have lost faith in under-fire manager Mikel Arteta, who watched his side slump to a fourth consecutive home league defeat on Sunday as strugglers Burnley picked up a 1-0 win.
The Gunners have tumbled down to 15th in the Premier League, having lost seven of their 12 games this season, and this miserable run of form has left many fans questioning whether Arteta is actually right for the job.
According to football.london, it's not just the fans who are growing concerned. Some of the players are believed to have started questioning Arteta's methods, and it has led to the deterioration of many relationships in the dressing room.
A recent catalyst for these issues was Arteta's decision to call out Nicolas Pepe for his 'unacceptable' red card against Leeds United in November. Some players felt it was unfair of the boss to throw Pepe under the bus on TV, and they will likely be just an unimpressed with the boss' reaction to Granit Xhaka's dismissal against Burnley.
Xhaka was already thought to be unhappy at the Emirates, and it is said that several players have 'mentally clocked out' after growing tired of Arteta's approach to things.
One of those is centre-back David Luiz, who is said to no longer be speaking with Arteta after a serious breakdown in their relationship, although the representatives of the Brazilian have vehemently denied that claim.
Arteta will be unimpressed to see stories of his relationship with Luiz emerge in the news, having already grown frustrated with leaks from inside the training camp. He was annoyed to see reports of a clash between Luiz and Dani Ceballos last month and told his squad that he would 'destroy' whomever is leaking information to the press.
Even in terms of his team selection, Arteta has upset a large part of his squad. The continued exile of Mesut Ozil and Sokratis Papastathopoulos has never been explained to the players, and the refusal to use young defender William Saliba has also added to concerns.
One source inside the club suggested that Saliba's exile was due to his status as 'an Unai Emery signing', pointing to the fact that fellow Emery men Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi were sent out on loan this summer as well.
While the atmosphere in the dressing room has taken a turn for the worse, it is said that the Arsenal hierarchy still have faith in Arteta, but there is an awareness that such a poor run of form is unacceptable even for a side in a transitional period.
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Source : 90min