Arsenal are a ‘boring’ team who will quickly be forgotten even if they win the Premier League title, says Paul Scholes.
The Manchester United legend believes that Arsenal are often too pedestrian and is unimpressed with their record against other top clubs.
Arsenal will secure the title if they win all of their remaining three matches as they are five points ahead of Manchester City, who have a game in hand.
‘I don’t think they’re the best champions we’ll ever see. I don’t think we’ll talk about this team in years to come like great United teams,’ Scholes told the Overlap’s Stick to Football podcast.
‘You don’t always have to beat the top teams – they’ve not beat City and Liverpool, the best teams for the last four, five, six years. That’s why I don’t think people will speak about them being a great team.
‘I know you can get away with not winning those games, of course you can, but to be a great team, you’ve got to go and beat these teams. They won’t have beaten City, won’t have beaten Liverpool, United beat them.
Paul Scholes insists Arsenal are ‘boring’ and that people won’t talk about them in coming years even if they win the Premier League
‘You can win in all different ways, I’m just trying to say, they’re not a team I’d turn on and watch all the time.
‘We’ve seen [David] Raya and the centre-halves just playing and playing. It’s been boring.’
Arsenal have only taken eight points from their eight matches against the rest of the top five.
They have drawn one and lost one against Manchester City and Liverpool, while they beat Aston Villa and Manchester United once while also suffering a defeat against each of them.
But they have won 14 of their 17 encounters against teams currently sat in the bottom half and have drawn the remaining three.
For all the accusations that Arsenal are boring, they have scored 67 goals in 35 games, only two fewer than Man City, the most prolific team.
Their defensive record of 26 goals conceded is far better than their nearest competition – City are their closest rivals on 32.
Scholes has sought to cut down Arsenal regularly throughout the season, insisting that they are weak in comparison to previous champions.
He said on The Good, the Bad, and the Football podcast in January: ‘If Arsenal win the league, this could be the worst team to win the league. If you’re thinking of picking a team of the season and picking the front four, nobody from the Arsenal team gets in that.
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‘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.’
All the same, Arsenal could complete a historic double as they are also in the final of the Champions League.
They will face Paris Saint-Germain on May 30 after going unbeaten en route to Budapest.
The Gunners are already planning a trophy parade in Islington in the event that they win one or both of the competitions, though the bus celebration would have to be awkwardly cancelled if they flounder.
