Paul Scholes and Jamie Carragher tear Mikel Arteta to pieces over Liverpool loss

Arsenal suffered an early setback in the Premier League title race as they lost 1-0 to Liverpool on Sunday and Paul Scholes and Jamie Carragher have both criticised Gunners boss Mikel Arteta

Paul Scholes and Jamie Carragher have laid into Mikel Arteta after Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday. A stunning late free-kick from Dominik Szoboszlai earned Liverpool all three points, while also handing Arsenal an early setback in the Premier League title race.

And Arsenal’s performance has come in for criticism, with Scholes claiming they are “not quite ready” to win the league and questioning whether Arteta is the manager “capable of taking them to the next level”.

Speaking on The Overlap Fan Debate, brought to you by Sky Bet, Scholes said: ” Mikel Arteta has turned Arsenal around. He’s done a great job to get them to where they are now, but the question is, is he capable of taking them to the next level?

“We spoke about this with Gareth Southgate and England – he did brilliant taking them to finals, but we didn’t think he was capable of winning tournaments with England. Arsenal are not quite ready. It was a great chance to play your new players and make a statement.

“When I first saw the Arsenal team against Liverpool, I thought that it wasn’t going to be a team to go to Anfield and blow them away – they couldn’t create chances. They just signed Eberechi Eze – brilliant footballer – creative, Martin Ødegaard – the most creative player they’ve got.

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“They bring in a centre-forward [Viktor Gyökeres] but then they don’t play Ødegaard. They had a bit of a negative mindset. I remember I had a go at Arsenal last year when they went to Manchester City and celebrated a draw, but I thought going to Anfield this year and getting a draw would have been a good result.

“Once Liverpool scored, it’s very hard to switch the mentality of going for a point then suddenly needing to create chances and going after them. They just couldn’t do it.”

And Carragher agreed with Scholes’ assessment, claiming that Arsenal were playing with “their handbrake on” against Liverpool. “I feel like that pressure that was on Arsenal at Liverpool is going to be there every week,” Carragher said.

“It feels like it’s now or never for Mikel Arteta. It did feel like that opportunity was there for them with Liverpool having a new team, looking a bit vulnerable defensively. With what happened at Liverpool, does that sum up Mikel Arteta’s mentality?

“I’m a massive fan of Arteta – he’s done a really good job – but we’re at the time where he must deliver. When I saw that team sheet come in, I knew how the game was going to play out. Mikel Merino with set-pieces, he would want to stop Liverpool and defensively make it difficult.

“They did – Liverpool couldn’t get through them; they couldn’t get any passes going. This Arsenal team reminds me of the Liverpool team I played in under Rafael Benítez and Gérard Houllier. It felt at times that both managers had their handbrake on a little bit and it still feels like that from Arteta.”

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