The time is coming very fast when there will be no more excuses or hiding places for Unai Emery and he will have to stand up and be counted.
Up to now, there was an abundance of excuses that Emery could fall back on, a new league, a new culture, new signings needing time to bed down, long term injuries in crucial positions and so on but we are almost at the stage where none of that can be used any more as a reason for disappointing performances.
We are not quite there yet, but I would suggest that in about four weeks time the manager will have a full squad with a significant number of his own players to choose from, he has already had a full season adapting to English football and he will very shortly have all the tools he needs to secure a top-four finish and a proper go at winning the Europa League.
Emery has been under intense pressure and his supporters could point to the fact that he inherited a poor defence, that the new signings need time, that he has been hampered by injuries and is not being supported by the board, but not any more.
Arsenal is very close to having a strong defensive line-up, a formidable frontline and an emerging midfield of extremely talented youngsters. Pepe and Ceballos are getting more and more game time, Bellerin, Holding and Tierney are back to strengthen the defence, Willock and Guendouzi are the sort of players a midfield can be built around and Saka, Nelson and Martinelli are on the cusp of doing great things.
If Emery persists with the likes of Granit Xhaka and David Luiz that is on him. He now has everything he needs to make Arsenal successful and soon there will no hiding places left for him.