Winless in seven games, Arsenal decided to part ways with Unai Emery with the Gunners' 2-1 loss to Frankfurt the final nail in the coffin.
Freddie Ljungberg will take the Spaniard's place as interim coach in what has been a rapid rise from being Under-23s boss just last season.
Under Emery, Arsenal had become increasingly lacklustre. Performances grew poorer by the week and as fans grew even more frustrated with the club's disastrous form, the Spaniard's departure felt more like a matter of when than if.
Taking charge of his first game as Arsenal manager against Norwich on Sunday, here's a look at the three things Ljungberg needs to change.
Eliminate the confusion
A major criticism of Unai Emery is that he never settled on a distinct style of play while at Arsenal.
When he joined, there was an emphasis on high intensity pressing but that has vanished in recent months. Ljungberg will need to bring more clarity to the way in which the Gunners play in order to end the identity crisis that haunted them under his predecessor.
In giving Arsenal a distinguished playing style, performances should improve. The problem under Emery was that with the Spaniard changing tactics so often, it became confusing as to how he wanted his team to play.
Ljungberg settling on a way of playing doesn't mean he should be stubborn in his ways, however. That one of Emery's faults during his 18 months in charge. The Swede will instead need to find the balance between being adaptable and set in his ways.
This is something he demonstrated and explained he could do when manager the Under-23s last season, however.
"We tried to play out of the back because that’s what a youth team player has to learn," he said after defeat to Cheltenham Town's first team last year.
"I don’t want them to just boot it forward for a better result, they have to learn so they’re ready when they go up to the first team. But we might have to change how we do that under pressure.
"They’re bigger and stronger than us so we didn’t try to play in the air where they’d probably win it. That forces us to play on the floor and not to get away with playing the easy long ball forward."
Improve the atmosphere
Deteriorating with each passing game under Emery, Ljungberg must improve the atmosphere within the club.
Choruses of boos have rung around the Emirates twice in as many matches which is likely to be a factor in the decision to part ways with Emery.
A club legend, there will of course be an initial boost with Ljungberg taking charge but he needs to build off that. Rather than getting wrapped up in the hype, he will need to harness that energy properly to really change the mood at Arsenal.
The Swede has already been very active since his promotion to the first team so this may not be a problem.
In pre-match warm-ups he has usually been the one to drag players aside to fine-tune aspects of their game ahead of kick-off. He has done this with Bukayo Saka's passing, Shkodran Mustafi playing out the back and tried to help David Luiz prepare to play in midfield against Frankfurt on Thursday.
What may also help with this is how expressive he is with the players.
For example, in Arsenal's open training session ahead of Frankfurt, as the Swede entered the pitch at London Colney, he shouted "Lucasl!". Torreira looked up and passed him the ball and the pair knocked it around for a couple of minutes.
Always involved amongst the players, this could be key in Ljungberg getting his ideas across and changing improving the atmosphere at the club.
Bring the fear factor back
In his final weeks as Arsenal manager, Emery admitted that teams were no longer afraid of facing Arsenal.
This is another major factor that Ljungberg will need to change. Part of Arsenal sides that were feared up and down the country, the feeling the 42-year-old may get when first stepping into the job may be alien to him.
Ingrained in such an important part of the club's history, the Swede should look to recapture the feeling of what it was like to be in those teams.
The quality of the Arsenal squad may not be the same but there is still quality there. When set up in the right way, the Gunners attacking threats should strike fear in any opponent.
Ljungberg will be tasked with setting Arsenal's attacking weapons free but also making them believe they should be feared once more.
Nicolas Pepe has looked a shadow of the player that took Ligue 1 by storm last season and Emery benching him in recent weeks hasn't helped. On his day Mesut Ozil can be unstoppable but the Spaniard didn't seem to believe in him from very early on. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has continued firing but still looks a shadow of his usual self as does Alexandre Lacazette.
Alongside improving performances and atmosphere, getting these players firing will be crucial for Ljungberg and Arsenal. In the final Wenger years, even though the Gunners weren't real title contenders, they were still feared for their attacking ability. With the quality of players at the Swede's disposal, this is a state Arsenal must return to.
