Shkodran Mustafi had an afternoon to forget as Arsenal crashed to a 3-2 defeat to Crystal Palace on Sunday.
Some critical Gunners fans might argue it has been a season to forget for the German - Arsenal fans demand one player is SOLD after defeat by Crystal Palace
Centre back Mustafi was at fault for two of Palace's goals and generally looked off the pace as the Gunners failed to capitalise on their top four rivals' weekend slip ups.
The former Valencia man completely lost Christian Benteke at a first half free kick to offer the Belgian a free header - which he took to net for the first time in 358 days.
Then in the second half, Mustafi had a failure of communication with Bernd Leno to allow Wilfried Zaha burst past him and slot in.
Arsenal fans demand one player is SOLD after defeat by Crystal Palace
But despite anger from the Emirates faithful, boss Emery has come out in support of Mustafi - and insists he has had a consistent season in north London.
"Sometimes he plays very well, sometimes he doesn't do brilliant," Emery said. "I prefer to speak about the consistency in the season.
"I think we are, every player, helping and playing with a big performance. Today also when you can defend against players like [Christian] Benteke and [Wilfried] Zaha you can suffer more than maybe in other situations.
Unai Emery insists he did NOT disrespect Crystal Palace after Eagles beat Arsenal
"If today we were better in the set pieces we could have won this match. Also we controlled with possession but in attacking thirds they defended their goal and box very well. We didn't find the best situations to score.
"In all the season I think he [Mustafi] is being consistent.
Emery was also disapointed that the Gunners failed to exploit Tottenham and Manchester United's defeats.
Arsenal 2-3 Crystal Palace: 5 talking points as Gunners' top 4 hopes take hit
"It is a big frustration because it was a big opportunity. We can say we had a big opportunity in the matches before today and we took a lot of points in key moments.
"It gave us the opportunity to be now with the possibility to achieve our first target - to play the Champions League next year via the league or Europa League. Today we lost a very big opportunity but it doesn't change our idea to think about the next match, prepare for the game against Wolverhampton.
"It's in our hands, we can continue with the possibility we win being in the top four."
