Unai Emery was the first man onto the London Colney turf for training on Tuesday, but he did not look confident at all.
Head down and very quiet, he strolled to the centre circle before waiting for his coaches to arrive. As the players filtered over and began warming-up for their session, the Spaniard remained on the outskirts.
The captaincy crisis alongside Arsenal's disappointing performances are burdens are following him week by week.
Three games without a win in the Premier League saw the Gunners drop out of the top four and Granit Xhaka is yet to feature after his run-in with Arsenal fans vs Crystal Palace.
Emery will need to improve both situations sharply and he looked well aware of that.
"I am frustrated," the Spaniard said after Arsenal's demoralising draw with Wolves in the Premier League.
"We lost two very good opportunities at home against two teams that we didn't beat last year either. I am very demanding of myself and I feel my responsibility to every work time to come back with a better result."
Visibly dejected in that press conference, Emery had the same aura around him as training began ahead of Vitoria.
Heading to Portugal, the Arsenal boss will need to decide how he will deal with Xhaka's situation. The Swiss - who participated in training - did not seem as worried with the incoming decision.
Xhaka, Rob Holding and Calum Chambers passed the ball between each other while cracking jokes before the session where he was very vocal in the rondo drills.
Emery has shown previously that he won't pick players just because they are training. For example, Xhaka trained throughout last week but did not play against either Liverpool or Wolves.
Yet to confirm what he will do, the Spaniard may look at the example of Emmanuel Eboue for inspiration.
The Ivorian was booed off the Emirates pitch after a shocking display against Wigan in the Premier League. Unlike Xhaka, he did not react by belittling the fans and just walked off. Nevertheless, Arsenal's next game was away in Portugal where he featured and was given a warm welcome by the travelling Arsenal fans.
Appearing to have put Xhaka's incident behind him by saying "I want to finish with that," last week, playing Xhaka where there will be less pressure may work for Emery.
Even if he does solve the Xhaka dilemma, the Spaniard will still be left to solve the issue of Arsenal's performances.
Storming to the top of Group F, the Gunners have done well in the Europa League. Emery's youngsters have starred and propelled them to a perfect start to the competition.
But with a extra day to prepare for Leicester this weekend, Emery could field some of his Premier League starters to try and get them firing.
Key players like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette and Mesut Ozil all trained. Although they played against Wolves, Emery could use Vitoria to give the trio a confidence boost before visiting the Foxes.
Publicly stating that the Premier League is his priority this season, it is vital that Emery finds a way for his side to tick. If that means allowing his stars more time to gel in the Europa League, so be it.
These are decisions that will take a lot of consideration and Emery was in deep thought during the training session.
With the players screaming in excitement as their rondo drills intensified, he quietly walked away and struck a ball towards goal. He hit the back of the net with his strike, but as with his team, finding the back of the net doesn't always lead to success and Emery is a man for which success is fast-becoming a necessity.
