Gary Neville has admitted he has fears over Mikel Arteta following Arsenal's humiliating defeat to Brentford in their Premier League opener.
Sergi Canos and Christian Norgaard handed the Prem new boys a dream win in their first match in the top tier for over 70 years.
The Gunners are in dire need of a good start to the season after a disappointing campaign last year where they finished eighth in the Premier League.
It saw them go without European football for the first time in 25 years to put Arteta under pressure with the fans.
With Chelsea and Manchester City set to come, Arsenal could be even further in trouble by the end of this three-game stretch.
And Neville has stated that he believes Arteta will be hurt by Friday's defeat.
He told Sky Sports: "The fact they’ve been outmuscled is the worst thing to say and that’ll hurt Mikel Arteta.
"I don’t want to be too critical and it was a great night for Brentford, you can see and feel it out there [cautiousness].
"Can they push for top four? Even at their maximum, I don’t think they could and that’s a sad situation to be in. I don’t see hope in that respect."
With Arsenal's fans set to return to the Emirates for the first time in over a year, it does not bode well for the ground's atmosphere.
And Neville added that the Gunners must start bringing some positivity to the club as soon as possible.
The former Manchester United star said: "We’ve talked about the negative quite a bit.
"There was talk about Smith-Rowe going to Villa, but they can’t let him go, he’s quality absolutely fantastic.
"For 25 minutes of that second half, I thought Arsenal were actually going to score and get back into the game.
"That link up with Tierney, Smith-Rowe was a shining light, he was sharp and bright. It was a bad night but he was really, really good."
Arteta was without some key players including Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette and Thomas Partey.
But the Spanaird insisted that this is no excuse as Arsenal rarely threatened Brentford throughout the match.
He said: "It’s extremely disappointing. We didn’t start well second half we conceded in an isolated action we didn’t cope with long-ball that’s all they need to create difficulty in a back line.
"We conceded a long throw which we know they can do. Not enough shots and if you don’t do that it’s difficult to win."
