Mikel Arteta Offers Cutting Response to Paul Scholes ‘Worst Champion’ Barb

The Spaniard insisted that the view of his team was very different outside of England.

Mikel Arteta (left) has responded to Paul Scholes’s comments. | David Price/Arsenal FC/Robbie Jay Barratt-AMA/Getty Images

When presented with criticism of Arsenal’s playing style, which has been prominently spearheaded by former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes, Mikel Arteta offered a firm rebuttal. “Maybe I have different sources,” he wryly concluded.

The Gunners lead the Premier League by six points and maintained a perfect record in the first round of Champions League fixtures. Through to the FA Cup fourth round, they take a 3–2 advantage into Tuesday’s Carabao Cup semi-final second leg against Chelsea. The picture is rosy in north London.

However, Arsenal’s route to this four-way dominance has drawn unflattering reviews from some corners. “If Arsenal win the league, this could be the worst team to win the league,” Scholes declared on his podcast The Good, The Bad & The Football.

The retired midfielder argued that Arsenal have not been exciting enough, with an over-reliance upon set pieces contributing towards a dull approach. Arteta did not agree.

“I hear completely the opposite,” the Spanish manager insisted, “all around Europe that we are the most exciting team in Europe—the most goals, the most clean sheets.

“Maybe I have different sources.”

Arteta was asked why the likes of Scholes—who is hardly the only dissenting voice to emerge from England surrounding Arsenal’s style—disagreed with his unnamed coterie of continental admirers. He was flummoxed. “I don’t know which people,” Arteta shrugged. “You send me the names, the addresses and the email and maybe we can talk but I can’t give you a massive book of all the people.”

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Does Paul Scholes’s Logic Make Sense?

Paul Scholes remains one of Man Utd’s all-time great players. | James Gill/Danehouse/Getty Images

Arsenal have undoubtedly maximised set pieces under Arteta: They comfortably lead the Premier League with 15 goals from dead ball scenarios. When looking strictly at open play, the table-toppers rank fourth with 28, marginally below Liverpool (32) and Manchester United (30) but a distance behind Manchester City (41).

Scholes’s argument for Arsenal’s inadequacy was also explained by a lack of individual brilliance in the forward line.

“If you’re thinking of picking a Team of the Season and picking the front four, nobody from the Arsenal team gets in that,” the 11-time Premier League winner declared. “Look at previous champions—Liverpool’s forwards, brilliant. Possibly the only one is [Bukayo] Saka, and I don’t think he’s been brilliant. He’s not scored many goals this year or assists.”

On the face of it, Scholes has a point. Arsenal’s leading scorer in the league this season is Viktor Gyökeres with six, narrowly ahead of Mr. Own Goal on five. Saka, between several injury layoffs, boasts four goals and three Premier League assists this season. Leandro Trossard is the only Arsenal player responsible for more direct goal contributions this season.

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Arsenal Forwards’ Premier League Goal Contributions

Player	Goals	Assists
Viktor Gyökeres	6	0
Leandro Trossard	5	4
Bukayo Saka	4	3
Eberechi Eze	4	2
Gabriel Jesus	2	0
Gabriel Martinelli	1	1
Noni Madueke	0	1
Kai Havertz	0	0

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Yet, the measure of players inducted into a Team of the Season is an intriguing metric for Scholes to select. Jürgen Klopp’s 2019–20 title-winning Liverpool team which he referenced was spearheaded by Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mané, yet only the latter made that year’s PFA Team of the Season.

It would be unusual for the league champions to not boast a single forward-thinking player in that year’s Team of the Season but hardly unheard of—as Scholes should know.

The Manchester United side of 2002–03 edged out Arsenal in the table, but not in the PFA Team of the Season. Sir Alex Ferguson’s title winners didn’t boast a single attacking player in that year’s selection. In fact they only had one entrant: a certain Paul Scholes.

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Would Arsenal Be the Worst Premier League Champions?

Mikel Arteta is chasing down his first title. | Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC/Getty Images

The obvious answer to this question is that Arsenal still have to win the title to even gain the dubious dishonour of becoming the worst Premier League champions.

Yet, should they continue to torment Scholes and aesthetes of English football on their way to a first Premier League crown in 22 years, their place in history will not necessary be at the bottom of the golden pile.

Based upon their top-line stats at this stage of the season compared to the 33 previous Premier League champions, Arsenal are a below-average frontline underpinned by an impressive defensive unit. The chase for Chelsea’s record-breaking rearguard which conceded just 15 goals across the 2004–05 campaign may have been lost, but the Gunners still boast one of the measliest backlines on record.

Statistic	Arsenal*	Rank out of Past 33 PL Champions
Win %	66.7%	22nd
Goals Scored per Game	1.92	26th
Goals Conceded per Game	0.71	8th
Goal Difference per Game	1.21	18th
Points per Game	2.21	23rd

* After 24 games.

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Were this blunt measure of success—goals, wins and points—used to decipher the worst Premier League champions, Scholes perhaps wouldn’t like the answer. His Manchester United side of 1996–97 are the only winners in the competition’s history to average fewer than two points per game.

Dumped out of both domestic cups in the fourth round, that underwhelming iteration of the Red Devils did reach the Champions League semi-finals. However, there was no round of 16 at the time and they failed to score in three of their four knockout matches before losing to Borussia Dortmund.

Judging the worst of the best is like singling out the smallest giant. But Arteta still doesn’t want that tag—and he perhaps shouldn’t deserve it. Especially not until he actually wins the league.

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