Paul Scholes names player who could ‘save Arsenal’s season’ after Carabao Cup final defeat

Paul Scholes has declared Manchester City’s Carabao Cup win over Arsenal as a ‘victory for football’.

Man City secured the first piece of silverware of the season courtesy of a 2-0 win over Premier League title rivals Arsenal.

Little separated the sides 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 that have taken Arsenal nine points clear at the top of the Premier League and says the Gunners are desperately lacking the ‘flair’ of former champions.

The Manchester United legend believes Mikel Arteta has become ‘obsessed’ with set-pieces and named Max Dowman as the player who could inject some much-needed excitement into the team and ‘save Arsenal’s season’.

Dowman became the youngest ever goalscorer in the Premier League when he scored a brilliant injury-time goal against Everton earlier this month.

Wary of putting too much pressure on a 16-year-old, Arteta has opted not to play Dowman in Arsenal’s last two games but Scholes believes he could have a big role to play after the international break.

The Gunners will not only look to clinch their first league title since 2004 when club football resumes but also win the Champions League and FA Cup ahead of quarter-final ties in both of those competitions.

‘I was actually quite happy 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.

‘If you think about the two teams and the way they play, you want the team who try to play the best football to win the game, I don’t care who it is.

‘The only way Arsenal were going to win that game was if they scored one of those early chances and then shut up shop which would have been boring, it would 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 about the team whatsoever, you have 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 become obsessed with the set-pieces and taken their eye off the rest of the game. You don’t have to entertain to win the league but as fans you want to see more.

‘As I said, the two No. 10s were missing who are very good players but they didn’t bring Max Dowman on.

‘He could be the person, as a 16-year-old kid, who might save their season a little bit because he can bring a bit of flair to them.’

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