The matters unfolding in Arsenal's boardroom were beyond Kai's control.
His responsibility was on the pitch. As captain, the best thing he could do was keep performing and help the team regain its rhythm.
Over the opening weeks of the season, his form had remained consistently impressive.
Some matches were outstanding.
Others appeared quieter by comparison, but even a quiet game was a seven-out-of-ten game. To many observers, it looked as though Kai's performances fluctuated from game to game, from good to excellent.
Inside Arsenal, however, everyone understood the real reason.
The inconsistency was not Kai's.
It was the team's.
Even now, as Arsenal's creative spark, Kai was responsible for far more than creating chances.
Although Pat pushed him into a more advanced midfield role, he still had to shield the defence.
Unlike most attacking midfielders, he could not simply charge forward and stay there.
Someone still had to protect the back four.
And that someone was almost always Kai.
Whenever he joined the attack, Arsenal's defensive structure immediately became more vulnerable.
Every forward run came with a risk. Every attacking contribution demanded twice the defensive effort once possession was lost. Because of this, Kai carried one of the heaviest workloads in the Premier League.
Following back-to-back league victories, Arsenal finally climbed into seventh place.
The Premier League table after five rounds read:
Manchester City, 15 points.
Leicester City, 11 points.
Manchester United, 10 points.
West Ham United, 9 points.
Crystal Palace, 9 points.
Everton, 8 points.
Arsenal, 8 points.
Only five matches had been played.
Yet the Premier League already looked completely unpredictable.
The traditional top six were struggling to find consistency. The title race everyone had expected before the season had failed to materialise. Instead, surprise after surprise dominated the headlines.
Arsenal had stumbled badly out of the gate, looking nothing like the reigning European champions.
Tottenham, under Mauricio Pochettino, had also failed to build momentum, slipping into the bottom half after a disappointing run of results.
Chelsea's situation was even worse.
The defending Premier League champions had retained almost the entire squad that lifted the title only a few months earlier.
Yet after five matches, they had collected just four points.
One win.
One draw.
Three defeats.
Rather than defending their title, Chelsea found themselves uncomfortably close to the relegation places.
Liverpool had never fully recovered from their heavy defeat at the Emirates.
Their confidence took another hit in the following round when they were beaten by Mourinho's Manchester United, leaving Jürgen Klopp's side searching for answers.
Except for Pep Guardiola's Manchester City, which opened the campaign with five straight victories, every traditional powerhouse appeared strangely unsettled.
The media quickly revived an old discussion.
Were England's biggest clubs beginning to decline?
This time, the argument seemed easier to make.
Even the clubs' media departments struggled to push back against the narrative.
While the giants stumbled, several outsiders seized the opportunity.
Leicester City.
Southampton.
Crystal Palace.
All three emerged as the surprise packages of the opening weeks.
None more so than Leicester.
Under Claudio Ranieri, the Foxes continued to shock English football.
Riyad Mahrez dazzled with his creativity, and Jamie Vardy became the story everyone wanted to talk about.
Five years earlier, Vardy had been working in a factory.
Four years earlier, he was still playing non-league football.
Now he sat at the top of the Premier League scoring charts.
It was one of football's most remarkable journeys.
Every newspaper wanted to tell his story.
Every television programme wanted to interview him.
Together with Leicester City's incredible start, Vardy had become the face of the Premier League's early season.
Despite the headlines, none of the league's biggest clubs appeared overly concerned. The campaign had barely begun. They knew better than anyone that titles were not won in September.
Squad depth.
Experience.
Mental resilience.
Those qualities usually became decisive once the calendar reached the winter months.
Many surprise teams started quickly, but fewer managed to maintain that level through thirty-eight matches.
The media understood that as well.
But balanced analysis did not sell newspapers.
Bold headlines did.
Daily Mirror
"THE BIG SIX ARE FALLING!"
England's elite stumble as the Premier League's underdogs seize the spotlight.
The Sun
"BIG SIX IN MELTDOWN!"
Only Guardiola's City escapes as chaos grips England's traditional giants.
Daily Star
"END OF AN ERA?"
Powerhouses falter while Leicester, Palace, and West Ham steal the headlines.
Daily Mail
"WHO FEARS THE BIG SIX ANYMORE?"
Premier League minnows cash in on the giants' miserable start.
The Times
"Premier League Balance of Power Begins to Shift"
Established contenders struggle to find consistency in unpredictable opening weeks.
The Daily Telegraph
"England's Elite Searching for Answers"
Early-season form raises questions over the Premier League's biggest clubs.
Those stories generated attention.
. . .
Inside Arsenal's dressing room, however, the players paid little attention to the headlines. They disliked hearing people write off the club, but they also understood why it was happening.
Their performances earlier in the season had invited criticism.
No one wanted to lose.
No one accepted mediocrity.
Yet Arsenal were in a slight rebuild after what the club had been through in the past months.
Chelsea perhaps represented the clearest warning.
Unlike Arsenal, they had changed very little.
The squad remained largely intact.
The only major difference was the manager.
Even so, their performances had declined dramatically. Several key players were beginning to show their age. The warning signs were becoming difficult to ignore.
A major rebuild no longer felt like a distant possibility.
It felt inevitable.
Arsenal, by comparison, had begun moving in the opposite direction.
The team was far from its best.
But the worst appeared to be behind them.
. . .
Pat Rice rested both hands on the table, eyes moving slowly across the room as the discussion continued to circle the same problem.
Even after the recent wins, there was a feeling that something in Arsenal's rhythm was still missing. The performances were improving, but not yet stable. The intensity came in bursts rather than control. Passion was there, but not always at the right moments.
"We still need a system that actually fits this squad," Lehmann said, breaking the silence. He turned slightly toward Pat Rice. "I think we need to give Aubameyang a bigger tactical role."
He tapped a finger on the notes in front of him.
"We paid a serious fee for him. In the first five matches, he has contributed goals and assists, but it still feels like we are not getting full value. Not poor, not brilliant either. Just… not enough for what he can do."
Leman leaned forward.
"I watched him closely at Dortmund. His pace alone stretched teams beyond repair. His finishing was decisive. So why does it feel different here?"
A short pause followed before he added,
"Is the midfield not providing enough service?"
Heads around the room shifted immediately, and a few assistants shook theirs.
No one agreed with that conclusion.
Arsenal's midfield was not weak. Losing Cazorla had reduced some creativity, but the structure was still strong. Wilshere and Kai had formed a balanced partnership, one focused more on control, the other on attack and defensive coverage. The system was different from last season's fluid attacking network, but it was still functional.
It was not a midfield problem.
Colbert spoke next, more directly.
"Our midfield is not the issue. But the problem might be at the top of the pitch. Suarez is clearly the main attacking reference point."
He folded his arms.
"And in football, you usually cannot have multiple players all acting as the focal point. It spreads the attack too thin. Especially for us right now, when the structure is still settling."
He looked toward Leman.
"Are you suggesting Suarez steps away from goal-scoring duties?"
A faint eyebrow raise followed.
"He is a Premier League and Champions League Golden Boot winner. You do not turn a player like that into a support role lightly."
There was a short silence.
Lehmann quickly shook his head.
"No, that is not what I mean. I am not saying to reduce Suarez's role. He remains our primary finisher."
He paused, then continued.
"But what if we create a second attacking channel? A different route into the final third, so we are not predictable."
"Explain," someone asked.
Lehmann straightened slightly.
"Split midfield responsibilities. Let one side focus on progression and the other on direct transitions. We do not rely on a single build-up pattern."
Before he could continue, Pat Rice cut in.
"No."
The tone was calm, but firm enough to stop further discussion for a moment.
Around the table, a few staff members exchanged looks. The room tightened.
Pat Rice continued.
"Kai is not just part of the midfield structure. He is the structure. We are not here to divide his responsibilities for short-term balance."
He leaned back slightly.
"Even if it takes time, even if the season is inconsistent, Kai has to grow into full control of the midfield. That is the plan."
Leman hesitated.
He understood the direction, but the compromise felt costly in the short term.
"So even if it affects results this season," he asked, "we still commit to that path?"
Pat Rice nodded once.
"Yes. That decision was made already. We are not building for immediate comfort. We are building an identity."
He glanced briefly across the room.
"And Kai is the player we are building it around."
. . .
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