Paul Scholes: Arsenal players go missing in the big games

Paul Scholes and his damning verdict

Paul Scholes has launched a scathing attack on Arsenal and accused their key players of failing to turn up on the big occasions after they dropped two vital points in their 2-2 draw against Swansea City on Tuesday evening, report ESPN.

Arsene Wenger’s men were left reeling from their 6-0 humbling against league leaders Chelsea and needed to bounce back quickly against the Welsh outfit to force their way back into the Premier League title race.

However, despite recovering from an early setback to take the lead, the north Londoners conceded a late Mathieu Flamini own goal which ended a miserable week for the Gunners.

But former Manchester United midfielder Scholes was not surprised at their performance and accused Arsenal of a lack of leadership and poor tactical discipline.

“It’s probably a typical week for Arsenal, really. They capitulated at Chelsea and it’s a similar theme that seems to happen when they play the top teams. It happened at Liverpool [a 5-1 defeat], they conceded six against City, they just seem to go missing.

“The Artetas, Cazorlas, Rosickys, Ozil as well, although I know he’s not played for a bit – it’s like they go out with no discipline. It’s almost as if it’s ‘ok, you four, five midfielders, you go out there, do what you want, try to score us a goal, play some nice one-twos, a bit of tippy-tappy football, don’t bother running back’.

“There’s no leaders within them. There’s no Patrick Vieira, no Tony Adams, no Martin Keown. Sometimes, as a midfield player, when you’re up against it you just have to say ‘look, come in beside me for five, ten minutes’, try and stop the flow of attacks,” he insisted.

“And these [players at Arsenal], they go 2-0 down and they just carry on what they’re doing. ‘I’ll have a wander up front, try a one-two, lose the ball’. Nobody bothers sprinting back. You wonder why they’re in the position they’re in?

“It’s Arsenal fans you feel sorry for. You get the same every year – maybe a hint of the title for a few weeks and then they go to Chelsea, City, Liverpool, they just do nothing. Fans expect Arsenal to be going for the trophy. I know they’re in third or fourth but they’re a million miles away in my eyes.

“When we played against Arsenal, against those kinds of players, it was really tough, a tough day. You play Arsenal now and you think ‘just get stuck in about them’ and you’ve won the game,” Scholes declared.

The former England international is right that Arsenal do not seem to learn their lesson and continue to repeat the mistakes of previous seasons, despite showing such promise in patches during the campaign, and some of their failings must be laid at Wenger’s door.

However, it is the players that wilt under the pressure regardless of how the team is set up and senior members of the team do not show enough fight or willingness to take on a physical challenge.

With Arsenal set to face Manchester City at the weekend and Manuel Pellegrini’s men in scintillating form, another damaging defeat could all but end Wenger’s season and leave his future at the club in doubt such is the animosity growing towards him from the Emirates fan base.

Although the criticism levelled at Arsenal is somewhat justified, Scholes’ former side are in an even worse position and produced an insipid display against their fierce rivals Manchester City, with their hopes of even finishing in the top four all but over.

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