At a Glance:
- Paul Scholes believes Manchester City’s Carabao Cup win is a ‘victory for football.’
- He thinks Arsenal lack attacking flair.
- The Manchester United legend has named the one Arsenal star he thinks can save their season.
Arsenal were comfortably beaten by Manchester City on Sunday afternoon in the Carabao Cup final, and Paul Scholes believes this outcome was a ‘victory for football.’
After an even first half at Wembley, City steamrolled the Gunners in a dominant second half. Nico O’Reilly gave Pep Guardiola’s team the lead on the hour mark, heading home from close range following a Kepa Arrizabalaga mistake, before the English youngster added a second with another header from inside the six-yard box.
While the result was disappointing for Arsenal as it ended their pursuit of a quadruple, they remain alive and kicking in three other competitions. The more concerning aspect of Sunday’s showdown for Mikel Arteta will be the manner of the second-half performance, and Scholes is convinced that there could be only one player who can ‘save’ the Gunners’ season from this point.
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Paul Scholes says Max Dowman could ‘save Arsenal’s season’
Arsenal have been constantly berated by prominent pundits for their functional style of play this season. Alan Pardew claimed that there’s ‘nothing beautiful’ about the Gunners, while former Manchester United midfielder Scholes thinks Arteta’s team would be the ugliest team ever to win the Premier League.
Thus, it’s no surprise that the United legend is at it again, this time worshipping City’s Carabao Cup triumph as a morale victory for the purity of the beautiful game.
“I was actually quite happy Man City won because it’s a victory for football,” he said.
“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.”
Scholes then went on to fixate on Arsenal’s lack of offensive firepower. While he acknowledged that the injured Martin Odegaard and Eberechi Eze could have made a difference at Wembley, he identified 16-year-old Max Dowman as the player who can ‘save’ Arsenal’s season.
“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,” he said.
“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.”
Paul Scholes’ ramble about Arsenal is nonsensical
There’s a lot to dissect from Scholes’ most recent tirade against Arsenal. While the pundit is right to highlight some of the offensive flaws in the Gunners’ game and to identify the lack of attacking quality in certain areas of their squad, some of his thought process is nothing short of nonsensical.
To celebrate City’s win as a ‘victory for football’ is simply unbelievable given the context around the two clubs. The north-west outfit are currently under investigation for 115 alleged breaches of financial regulations. They are accused of inflating sponsorships and failing to co-operate with ongoing investigations.
While a verdict is yet to be reached, hailing a club which has these allegations facing them, and their final win as some sort of morale victory for the sport is ludicrous.
🗣️ "If they win the game in hand… and they beat Arsenal… it's only three points"
— The Good, The Bad & The Football (@goodbadftblpod) March 23, 2026
Paul Scholes says the title race is NOT over! 👀🏆 pic.twitter.com/WtnPgy19Hl
As for his point about Dowman, the idea that Arsenal’s season needs saving is disingenuous and is surely just another example of Scholes attempting to rage-bait and click farm. The Gunners are nine points clear at the top of the Premier League, in the Champions League quarter-finals and in the FA Cup quarter-finals.
Arteta’s side lost a Carabao Cup final, but remain alive in three other competitions. Their season does not need ‘saving’. While this may have been a throwaway comment from Scholes, his wording reflects a broader dismissive rhetoric surrounding Arsenal, driven largely by pundits not feeling entertained by the Gunners.
Yet, when Arsenal were the great entertainers under Arsene Wenger, they were regularly criticised for not being ‘workmanlike’ enough and for not getting the job done from a results standpoint.
