It was about half an hour after the final whistle on Saturday when Raul Sanellhi and Edu made their way out of the Arsenal changing room and headed back towards the directors' area at Emirates Stadium.
It is not unusual to see both men after the game - but this time it felt a bit different. The look on their faces, the pace at which they were walking. There was a sense of purpose about the pair that suggested some tough conversations had just taken place.
Unai Emery then made his way to his post-match press conference to have his say on the 2-2 draw with Southampton.
“The club are supporting me every day,” he said. “I know I can do better, I can take more performances with the players and I'm going to try to do that.”
The big question is, how much more time is he going to be allowed to try and do that?
Ultimately, Stan and Josh Kroenke will make the decision over in the United States, but it will be on the advice of Sanllehi and Edu. For Arsenal’s sake, you feel the plug has to be pulled sooner rather than later.
Emery is a likeable enough man and he has clearly given everything he can to make Arsenal better since he arrived in north London to replace Arsene Wenger.
No-one was going to find it easy stepping into the shoes of the legendary Frenchman and Emery has certainly given it his best shot. At times last season it seemed like he might go on to prove to be a success, but it’s clear now that it’s not going to happen for him.
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The 48-year-old has lost the fans - something which is clear by the large swathes of empty seats on show during home games - and given what we are seeing on the pitch now, he has also lost the dressing room.
When Alexandre Lacazette prodded in the 96th-minute equaliser on Saturday to rescue a point against 19th-placed Southampton, there was barely any celebration. The reaction in the stands was muted, as was the reaction of the players.
It was a very odd feeling, one that summed up the mood around the club right now. The passion has been sucked out of Arsenal and replaced by apathy. It genuinely felt like most would have preferred for the goal not to have been scored because a defeat may have led to a much needed change.
“That was an example of how they [the players] felt,” said Emery after the game, when asked about Lacazette’s lack of celebration. “They felt the point was not enough.”
Emery went into Saturday’s game on the back of a vote of confidence that had arrived during the international break.
“We are as disappointed as everyone else with both our results and performances at this stage of the season,” Sanllehi and managing director Vinai Venkatesham told club staff.
“We share the frustration with our fans, Unai, players and all our staff as they are not at the level we want or expect. Things need to improve to meet our objectives for the season, and we firmly believe Unai is the right man for the job.”
It’s been less than two weeks since those comments were made public and already they look hopelessly out of date.
There is no argument that can justify Emery staying in his job. With 13 games gone, Arsenal are eight points adrift of the top four and are already relying on winning the Europa League in their hunt for a route back to the Champions League.
Returning to Europe’s elite club competition is the objective that has been set this season and Arsenal look a million miles away from being able to achieve that under Emery.
“I don't know exactly [what's gong wrong],” said captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after Saturday’s 2-2 draw. “The only thing I can say is that we as a team, as players, will try to continue our work. We have to find a solution together.”
Those comments from Aubameyang were made to sections of the broadcast media, who players are contractually obliged to speak to. Not one single player in the squad spoke to members of the written press who waited for over an hour to try and get their views on the game.
In fact, instead of walking past the journalists who were gathered in the mixed zone, most chose to sneak out the back way. The silence from the squad was deafening. No-one was willing to face the music.
Emery has been in place for 18 months now and there hasn’t been any progress. In fact, Arsenal are now going backwards.
The reasons for making a change are numerous. The poor results, the awful football, star players delaying on contract talks, the shocking defence. But when you look for reasons to keep faith with Emery, you come up with a blank.
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Arsenal say they are an ambitious club, but failure to act now when it’s obvious a change is needed would make a mockery of comments like that. Where is the ambition of sticking with a man who is quite clearly out of his depth?
Southampton had 21 shots on Saturday, Arsenal had just 12. An attack that features Aubameyang, Lacazette, Mesut Ozil and Nicolas Pepe is being made to look toothless and it's far from a one off. Arsenal have had less shots than their opponents in 12 of their 19 games so far this season in all competitions.
Tactically, Emery chops and changes things by the week as he desperately searches for some sort of solution. But all he is doing is adding to the confusion of a team that lacks any sort of identity.
Arsenal are desperate to avoid going down the route trodden by Manchester United in recent years, which has seen them go through a host of managers and left them with an unbalanced squad.
But sometimes difficult decisions need to be made and Sanllehi and Edu need to be ruthless. It's obvious that it's a case of when Emery leaves now rather than if, so dragging things out further is not going to help anyone.
Arsenal is a club that has lost its way. It has to go in a new direction to find itself again.