Paul Scholes makes damning Arsenal claim as Mikel Arteta sent blunt message - 'Worst coaches ever'

Paul Scholes has slammed Mikel Arteta for naming a 'very negative team' to face Manchester City and claimed the Arsenal head coach has 'gone back 20 years'.

Mikel Merino, Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi started as the midfield three for the third successive game, while Leandro Trossard lined up on the left with Noni Madueke on the right and Viktor Gyokeres up front.

Arsenal went on and salvaged a late 1-1 draw after Gabriel Martinelli's 93rd-minute equaliser cancelled out Erling Haaland's first-half opener. The Gunners were far from their fluent attacking best and looked a little lacklustre up until Eberechi Eze provided a moment of magic to pick out Martinelli, who finished past Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Arteta has since received a barrage of criticism for his team selection and approach against City, with Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville among those to be vocal about Arsenal's tactics post-match.

Now, ex-Manchester United midfielder Scholes has become the latest to slam Arteta and the Gunners.

Speaking on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast, Scholes said: "Yeah, it was a very negative team, I thought. He's almost gone back 20 years. And I know he's been in England a long time, but it feels like we've almost brought an English mentality to him, if you know what I mean.

"Just be cautious at first. Be safe and try to get through the game against a City team that is not… this isn't a Pep Guardiola team anyway, is it? Well, it is, but again, he's probably (doing) the same thing as well. He's been here 10 years. We’ve almost turned him into an English coach watching yesterday [Sunday]. Do you know what I mean?

"If there had been two English coaches, we'd have been saying, 'Worst coaches ever. The worst style of football we've ever seen.' But because it was them two [Arteta and Pep], they get away with it a little bit, don't they?"

Neville's verdict on Arsenal was a little more cut-throat. He criticised Arteta for leaving the handbrake on and branded the Spaniard as a 'one-trick pony' in a brutal assessment.

When asked about City's counter-attack approach, Neville said on his Sky Sports podcast: "I think the reason he [Guardiola] has done that is because he is recognising that Arsenal are a bit, you know, they're a one-trick pony.

"Set pieces are such a large percentarge of their chances and goals that you end up in a situation where you just got to have big players in the box and a goalkeeper that punches.

"My narrative with Arsenal was thinking is he going to take the risk? Is he going to send his players the message that I am going for it, that I believe in you? And the teamsheet comes through and I see that Leandro Trossard, who's a very good player, and Mikel Merino are on it.

"I thought the same at Anfield, and I can't help thinking, and I’ve said this probably now for a couple of weeks: I'm not going to look at what a manager says, I'm going to look at what he does.

"His actions and his actions at half-time were of a manager who I think got it wrong because if you’re making two substitutions at half-time, it's not gone to plan.

"You know that the players that you started with are not going to be able to win you the game in all circumstances, which is when they go a goal down. So, you've given away 45 minutes in a big match… I like watching them play, but they've got to take the handbrake off."

Story Saved

You can find this story in  My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.