Paul Scholes believes Arsenal have ‘forgotten’ how to attack from open play (The Good, The Bad and The Football)
Paul Scholes believes Bukayo Saka looks ‘lost’ in Arsenal’s current system following their 2-0 defeat to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final.
Mikel Arteta’s side remain on the hunt for their first trophy since the FA Cup in 2020 after they were beaten by Pep Guardiola’s men at Wembley last weekend.
Arsenal have come under fire for their lack of creativity against City, who sealed the win in the second half with two goals from Nico O’Reilly.
The Gunners still have a nine-point advantage over City at the top of the Premier League but Scholes believes Arteta’s side are paying the price for being ‘obsessed’ with capitalising from set-pieces.
‘Their better players just weren’t performing,’ Scholes said on The Good, The Bad and The Football podcast.
Paul Scholes claims Bukayo Saka looked ‘lost’ in the Carabao Cup final (Getty)
‘You talk about these forward players not performing but you have to look at your midfield players and your centre-halves, they couldn’t get the ball to them.
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‘Did you see the bit where Bernardo Silva sprinted out to try to stop it going for a corner? Even when you’re playing against it, you don’t want to give it away.
‘It’s almost like playing against Stoke what we did years ago, sometimes because the throw-ins were that good the manager told us to kick it out for a corner because of [Rory] Delap, because the delivery is not as good.
‘What we’re saying is, I think they’ve become obsessed with it. They’ve forgot about the other way that they can actually score goals.
‘They’ve got good players. You’ve got Saka who looks lost at the minute because they can’t get the ball to him, more than anything, he’s got great ability.’
Paul Scholes says Man City will be ‘unstoppable’ if Rodri recaptures his form (AMA/Getty)
Scholes also believes City could become ‘unstoppable’ for the remainder of the campaign if Rodri’s form continues after an impressive display in the Carabao Cup final against Arsenal.
‘We’ve been in their position, Arsenal, where you come to the end of the season, and you can’t win a game when you’ve had a blow like that,’ Scholes said.
‘I think that’s the best he [Rodri] has looked since he’s come back from his injury. I know he’s been back for a long time and struggled for it. Rightfully so, because he was out for a year. If he carries on like that, they’ll be unstoppable.’
Asked if the international break has now come at the wrong time for City, Scholes replied: ‘No, I think that’ll give them massive confidence.
‘You know what, if they win the game in hand and beat Arsenal, it’s only three points all of a sudden.’
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