COMMENT: They're deluded, right? Head in the clouds stuff. Wenger says they'll win the league. Gazidis reckons they had a great market. And Ozil is picking fights with Invincibles.

Arsenal. The place is a shambles, right? Run by a bunch of fantasy merchants. Well, that could be argued if we only read the headlines. But that's all too easy. The pile on. The panic. For those who love the club, you need to go deeper. And you need to be constructive.

First that email. Ivan Gazidis, Arsenal's chief exec, fired one off on Friday, just hours after the summer market shut. Leaked to the Daily Star, the big takeaway were self congratulatory pats on the back for keeping hold of Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez, plus the additions of Alexandre Lacazette and Sead Kolasinac.

Forget "the hysteria", Gazidis urged, "at the end of the window, reviewing all activity, we have once again improved the quality and depth of our squad".

Okay, no mention of the Thomas Lemar fiasco. Nor Alexis Sanchez. But it was an internal message. Strictly for staff and players. And it was a rallying one.

“We have had a poor start to the season but have the quality to turn it around and turn around performances and compete for the title," wrote Gazidis. "It is time to get back to what it is all about, the football."

And credit David Woods, who landed this exclusive, he could've left it there and hung Gazidis out to dry. Instead, he gave us something that we never hear about Gazidis: "...offered to meet worried players and staff in the canteen for a chat and a cup of tea if they wanted to quiz him about the club's actions".

Hang on. The door's open? The chief exec happy to talk decision-making with coaches? With staff? That's not the public persona that's been pushed upon us.

Okay, okay. There's a lot gone wrong at Arsenal these past four weeks. And Gazidis has been at the pointy end of it. But he is in there. Getting his hands dirty. Keeping spirits high. While everything but the kitchen sink is being thrown at the club from outside.

So what of Arsene Wenger and that interview on French TV?

Again, the big highlight was the manager's apparent claims that the league can still be won. But that was cherry picked out of clear message leveled at his players.

Like Gazidis, Wenger - through a public forum - was trying to rally his squad. The story from this interview wasn't the cartoonish claims of a delusional title challenge, but the Frenchman's clear admission that his players, after back to back defeats, are suffering a confidence crisis.

"... the players forget always very quickly how good you are, you know, much quicker than you think," Wenger revealed. "And we have to continue to believe in our strength and as well not to forget."

And then there was a message for the fans.

"We want our fans to be behind us in this moment, as well. Even if we are very sorry for what we delivered."

Now, Arsenal supporters could easily - and rightly - believe Wenger was taking the mick. That they've given everything at games, home and away, and been offered very little in return - particularly at Anfield.

But, on behalf of the players there was a clear apology from Wenger. And his words were of someone who still believes in this squad. And these players. It was a message to the fans that they have a huge role to play in shaking off this stumbling start. The support can help pull his men back from the ledge.

"A top level sportsman is a guy who keeps going where others give up and that's what would be absolutely stupid, to say, today, that you give up for the rest of the championship."

You're not going to get a better a sign of how low the confidence is at London Colney than what Wenger said just there.

Finally, there was Ozil and his furious attack on Gooners in the media. As much as it angered many, by going public Ozil, more than anyone, has offered a path to get the club out of this mess.

"Although criticism is something that all football players have to deal with," he ranted on Friday, "I nevertheless expected legends to behave like legends - my advice to these former Gunners: stop talking and start supporting!"

Cue the backlash. The outrage. Ex-players have been climbing over eachother ever since to take aim at the German.

But that was the last lines in a post celebrating four years with Arsenal. It was an open letter in which Ozil showed deference to the club's greats. It's culture. And what Arsenal has done for his career and his life. At a time of strike action and €222m state sponsored transfers, Ozil's post was an outlier.

What it also showed, with that sting in the tail, was that he - and his teammates inside Arsenal's locker room - are listening. He was giving those Gooner pundits an opportunity.

Ozil has opened the door. Instead of going with the pack. Piling on. If one ex-player of Arsenal had some genuine advice for the players. Some constructive input. It would actually get through.

Calling the players names. Questioning their commitment. Their passion. It's all too easy. And it's been done before. Time and again.

This is a team and a club screaming out - literally - for something different. From the board. To the manager. To the players. These weren't words of the delusional. These were pleas for support.