Arsene Wenger brought in Steve Bould as his assistant manager for one main reason - to build some character in the team that was sorely lacking.
After Arsenal's embarrassing 2-0 defeat to Swansea in Saturday's English Premier League game, Bould, clearly not amused by the performance, laid into his players in the dressing room, giving them a Sir Alex Ferguson style hairdryer treatment.
"You've let us down and you've been letting us down all season," the Daily Mirror quoted Bould as saying to his players. "None of you are taking responsibility."
In a 40-minute inquest, Arsenal players were also allowed to voice their opinions, with several of them complaining about the gruelling fixture list and the fact that training levels have not been cut down, considering the amount of games that have been played.
Keeping that in mind, Wenger will leave behind several first team players for the Champions League trip to Olympiakos, with Arsenal having already qualified from the group stages, although first spot is far from secured.
The likes of Theo Walcott, Jack Wilshere and Lukas Podolski will not make the trip to Greece, while Santi Cazorla and Mikel Arteta could also be rested.
Wenger was adamant about his side after the game, saying they needed to find solutions from within, rather than going into the transfer market in January and bringing in new faces. "We have to look for a solution from inside, and not look too much from outside," he said. "At the moment there is uncertainty among the fans, they do not have complete confidence we will win the game. Has it an influence on our performance? I don't know.
The Frenchman had promised at least new signings when the window reopens next month, with the likes of Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Wilfried Zaha closely linked. However, before Wenger can even consider bringing in new players to bolster a squad that needs serious repairs, Arsenal have a vital set of fixtures that they need to overcome.
Fail to cross that hurdle, and Arsenal, who lie in tenth on 21 points - the worst start under Arsene Wenger -- might find it difficult to even sustain a challenge for the European places.
"Until January we have a lot of important games," Wenger said. "We will decide that (transfers) in January, but at the moment we have to find solutions before January."
Wenger also admitted Arsenal lacked the creativity needed to unlock a Premier League defense, something that the Gunners have been lacking considerably for the past few games.
"We were not creative, nor sharp," he said. "Swansea were more creative and more sharp. They had a lot of possession, but without going anywhere. We tried to change things and took a lot of risks.
"In the end it turned against us. Maybe we should have made a 0-0 and in the end we were not cautious enough to play the 0-0. The quality of our game was not there. It was a bit frustrating because we lacked a bit of decisiveness and creativity."
