It cannot be ignored anymore, Arsenal has some serious issues and Unai Emery needs to get his act together and implement some drastic changes and fast.
The defence is an utter mess, no one can deny that and while there are limited changes that can be made right now it does not mean that Arsenal has to persist with failure.
Arsenal has kept one clean sheet in five this season, that was away at Newcastle United and that was when Calum Chambers was at centre back, since then, his replacement has given away two penalties and we all saw what Sokratis did today.
Emery has to bring Chambers back in and drop either Sokratis or Luiz, preferably the Brazilian.
Making Granit Xhaka captain is an appalling error of judgement, he is not fit for purpose and Emery must look at an alternative, someone that knows how to lead and is a good player, an Alexandre Lacazette as an example.
This constant playing out from the back is nothing more than a gift to the opponents, Arsenal is useless at it, stop it and do something else.
The diamond formation does not suit Arsenal, it exposes Maitland-Nile and Kolasinac and the truth is, they are below average defenders, protect them by eliminating formations that expose them.
None of this is rocket science, we can all see it, former players, former managers, pundits, journalists etc. can all see it, why Emery cannot, I do not know.
It is like Albert Einstein is reported to have said,
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.”