Martin Keown reckons Arsenal are in desperate need of a formation change to alleviate the pressure Mikel Arteta is facing.
The Gunners have come under intense scrutiny with two defeats from their first two Premier League matches of the season.
The north London side were swept aside by Chelsea on Sunday as Thomas Tuchel's men claimed a 2-0 victory at the Emirates thanks to goals from Romelu Lukaku and Reece James.
It's not getting any easier for Arsenal either with champions Manchester City up next and the depleted squad they will take into the clash.
Kieran Tierney is a doubt after picking up a quad injury in the second half against the Blues, while new £50million signing Ben White is ruled out after he missed the visit of the Blues with a positive Covid-19 test.
Should Arsenal keep the faith with Mikel Arteta? Comment below
There were eight other senior players who were absent from the London derby after the Gunners camp was rocked with a coronavirus outbreak.
Arsenal have failed to score a goal so far this season as Arteta has deployed a 4-2-1 set up against Brentford and Chelsea.
And club legend Keown believes a five at the back could be the change that is needed so Arteta's side can bounce back from their poor start.
He said on Premier League Productions: "I think we should go to a five. It’s an easy thing to say, we’re not on the training pitch.
"I sympathise with the manager because players are missing but still there’s enough in that group to have done better than they did today.
"Chelsea have got other gears to go into, they were purring around that pitch and never really were tested.
"They just did enough in the second half and I think there’s a massive gap now between the two clubs."
Arteta admitted the long list of absentees is proving problematic, but they are trying their best to navigate the situation.
He said: "It’s really challenging at the moment.
"We’re missing nine players, and the majority of them are big senior players. It’s what we have.
“We put a team out there that will probably be unprecedented in the history of this football club. But credit to the boys how they’re trying the passion that they tried to bring to the team.
“They are playing with a lot of courage in this situation which is tough when you know the highlights are on you. They are trying their best but at the moment it’s not enough to win football matches."
