“No One’s Listening to Paul Scholes” – Martin Keown Shrugs Off Arsenal Claim

Martin Keown has responded to comments made by Paul Scholes about how good this Arsenal team really is.

Arsenal’s Premier League title push gathered momentum following the resounding 4-0 win away at Leeds.

What Paul Scholes said about Arsenal being the ‘worst’ champions

Speaking on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast last week, Scholes claimed Arsenal would be the “worst team” to ever win the Premier League if they finish top in May.

He also suggested that none of their attackers would be worthy of a Team of the Season place, questioning Arsenal’s quality in open play and pointing to their reliance on set pieces.

The remarks came just days before Arsenal went six points clear at the top of the table, helped by Manchester City’s draw at Tottenham and Aston Villa’s defeat to Brentford.

Martin Keown hits back at Paul Scholes

Arsenal’s 4-0 win at Elland Road gave Keown the perfect chance to respond. Speaking on talkSPORT’s White and Jordan show, the former defender dismissed Scholes’ criticism and urged the current squad to ignore outside noise.

“You’ve got to shut that noise out,” Keown said. “People talking about you being champions, some of it mischievously from some people saying this would be the worst ever Arsenal team. You just go and win it. It doesn’t matter what you look like.”

Keown added that attempts to undermine Arsenal now are simply a reaction to how strong they have been.

“People try to create pressure and when you don’t get what you want, they look for all kinds of weaknesses,” he said. “They’re better than everybody else right now. That’s all they need to be.”

He then delivered the line that quickly caught attention online.

“I love Paul, but this comment, it’s like one of his tackles, isn’t it? It’s waist-high.”

Keown was clear that Scholes’ view will carry little weight inside the Arsenal dressing room.

“No one’s going to be listening to Paul Scholes in the Arsenal team,” he said. “You just get on with your game and try and win.”

Arsene Wenger’s message to title-winning Arsenal sides

Keown stressed that criticism often increases when teams are in a title race, something he experienced first-hand under Arsene Wenger.

The former centre-back revealed that Wenger regularly warned his players not to buy into narratives around favourites or pressure.

“Arsene Wenger said this to us many years ago, there’s no meaning in everyone telling us that we’re favourites,” Keown explained. “Don’t listen to it. Let’s just go and do it.”

He believes the current Arsenal side are showing the same mentality.

“That’s what Arsenal did at the weekend,” he said. “It’s quite an emphatic result.”

Keown also pointed to the league table and upcoming fixtures as the real source of pressure for rivals.

“What Arsenal need to do now is they can go nine points clear next weekend,” he said. “Then Man City go to Anfield the next day. Make it nine points. Make them look at nine points overnight and it starts to sink in.”

He did, however, acknowledge that City remain a threat.

“If Man City can go to Anfield and win, they’re massively still in this race because that would be impressive.”