2 days ago
6
Paul Scholes doesn't see Gary Neville, William Gallas, or Jamie Carragher's vision that Arsenal can and must win the Premier League title this season, declaring Mikel Arteta's side is still nowhere near ready after losing to Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday.
The Gunners were shut down 1-0 by a late strike from Dominik Szoboszlai, sealing the points for the Reds and thrusting them to their recently familiar home, the top of the league. Arsenal's performance appeared full of hesitancy and short on creativity, and Leandro Trossard was left on the bench with the youngsters.
While Scholes praised Arteta's ability to take the club from finishing 8th in the table two years in a row, to finishing top two consecutively for three years, he remains unsure if the manager can take the team "to the next level."
"Mikel Arteta has turned Arsenal around. He's done a great job getting them to where they are now, but the question is, is he capable of taking them to the next level?" Scholes said.
"We spoke about this with Gareth Southgate and England. He did brilliantly, taking them to finals, but we didn't think he was capable of winning tournaments.
Arsenal are not quite ready. It was a great chance to play your new players and make a statement."
The stats from Sunday saw Arsenal with the possession advantage at 53 percent, but registering just one shot on target all afternoon.
Odegaard came off the bench, Eze struggled to make any impact, and the Gunners were outfought across the midfield by Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch.
For Scholes, it was proof that while Arsenal have improved from the days of being bullied at big away grounds, they are still a few signings away from being a side that can dethrone Liverpool and Manchester City for the duration of the season.
The defeat left Arsenal three points off the early league leaders after they dominated Leeds 5-0 and defeated Man United in the season opener.
Scholes not only disagreed with Neville but doubled down, insisting Arsenal's mindset was all wrong from the opening whistle of the match.
“When I first saw the Arsenal team against Liverpool, I thought that it wasn’t going to be a team to go to Anfield and blow them away. They couldn't create chances. They just signed Eberechi Eze, a brilliant footballer, creative.
"Martin Odegaard, the most creative player they've got. They bring in a center-forward in Viktor Gyokeres, but then they don't play Odegaard. They had a bit of a negative mindset," he added.
Scholes remembered criticizing Arsenal last year for celebrating a draw at Manchester City. This year, he believed that a draw at Anfield would have been a positive outcome. The former Manchester United captain still believes Arsenal can be serious title challengers, pointing to the depth Arteta has built and his ability to put together long unbeaten runs.
English (US) ·