Paul Scholes has declared Manchester City’s Carabao Cup win over Arsenal as a ‘victory for football’.
Man City secured the primary piece of silverware of the season courtesy of a 2-0 win over Premier League title rivals Arsenal.
Little separated the edges in a goalless and cagey opening 45 minutes but Pep Guardiola’s side dominated the second half and clinched the win through Nico O’Reilly’s quickfire brace.
Arsenal were hoping to win their first major trophy since 2020 and keep their quadruple dream alive but flattered to deceive at Wembley.
Scholes has been critical of the tactics which have taken Arsenal nine points clear at the highest of the Premier League and says the Gunners are desperately lacking the ‘flair’ of former champions.
The Manchester United legend believes Mikel Arteta has change into ‘obsessed’ with set-pieces and named Max Dowman because the player who could inject some much-needed excitement into the team and ‘save Arsenal’s season’.
Dowman became the youngest ever goalscorer within the Premier League when he scored a superb injury-time goal against Everton earlier this month.
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Wary of putting an excessive amount of pressure on a 16-year-old, Arteta has opted to not play Dowman in Arsenal’s last two games but Scholes believes he could have a giant role to play after the international break.
The Gunners won’t only look to clinch their first league title since 2004 when club football resumes but additionally win the Champions League and FA Cup ahead of quarter-final ties in each of those competitions.
‘I was actually quite comfortable Man City won because it’s a victory for football,’ Scholes said of the Carabao Cup final on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast.
‘When you think concerning the two teams and the way in which they play, you wish the team who attempt to play one of the best football to win the sport, I don’t care who it’s.
‘The one way Arsenal were going to win that game was in the event that they scored one among those early possibilities after which shut up shop which might have been boring, it will have been the worst game ever.
‘They haven’t got a team to do it, they haven’t got players with flair, it sounds harsh but they’re workmanlike.
‘There’s no flair concerning the team in any way, you have got to say they missed [Eberechi] Eze and [Martin] Odegaard who possibly could give them something, but even when they’re available they’ve not played free-flowing football.
‘I do think they’ve change into obsessive about the set-pieces and brought their eye off the remaining of the sport. You don’t need to entertain to win the league but as fans you need to see more.
‘As I said, the 2 No. 10s were missing who’re superb players but they didn’t bring Max Dowman on.
‘He might be the person, as a 16-year-old kid, who might save their season just a little bit because he can bring a little bit of flair to them.’
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