Aaron Ramsey says Arsenal weren't at their best during a "weird" period ahead of the summer transfer deadline.
The Gunners lost 1-0 at Stoke before they were thrashed at Anfield at the end of August with the futures of certain players still up in the air.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain started for Arsenal at Liverpool and four days later moved between the clubs, while Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil also featured despite uncertainty about their immediate futures.
Sanchez was the subject of a deadline day swoop from Manchester City, but remained at Emirates Stadium as Arsenal failed in late move to sign Thomas Lemar from Monaco as a replacement.
And Ramsey says the various transfer sagas "couldn't have helped" as Arsenal's season suffered two early blows.
"The Liverpool game was a difficult one for us," Ramsey told Sky Sports. "We had players who then moved to Liverpool in the next game, and players who were still unsure what was going on.
"It was a weird time for us. As a team, we were not quite at it 100 per cent. I don't know if those things affected it, but they couldn't have helped.
"We have learned from that. We went to Chelsea and put in a great performance, and we were perhaps unlucky not to nick the game.
