Scholes dismisses 'pointless' Arsenal

Manchester: Paul Scholes has launched an attack on Arsenal by claiming their "pretty" football flatters to deceive, and says he would love Samir Nasri to move to Manchester United.

The newest addition to the Red Devils' coaching team retired from playing at Old Trafford at the end of the last campaign, winning his 10th Premier League title in the process.

The 36-year-old, who made 676 appearances in his 17 seasons in United's first-team, says that he cannot envisage Sir Alex Ferguson going six years without a trophy like what has happened at the Emirates.

The ex-England midfielder told The Mirror: "Arsenal just flatter to deceive.

"They may play the prettiest football, but it doesn't always produce the results they need. "People talk about Arsenal as supposedly the best footballing team in England.

"That doesn't irritate me, because while they're doing that, we're winning.

"They do play the best football to watch at times, but what's the point of that if you're not winning anything?

"It doesn't help, either, that they are potentially going to lose their best players in Fabregas, Nasri and Clichy. Is Nasri coming to United? I hope so!

"It does go in cycles, but the way we've been set out at United for the last 15 to 20 years, I'd be surprised if we went six years without a trophy.

"You can't say it won’t happen, because you only have to think of what Liverpool have been through, but I don't think our manager will allow that to happen to us."

Scholes also admits that it felt "weird" not to be training on the first day of pre-season, and says he expects Chelsea and Manchester City to be United's main title challengers this term.

"I woke up, put on the news and saw all the lads going back in for pre-season training and I have to say it did feel weird," he said.

"I always knew my legs would tell me when it was time to retire and they did, so I've no complaints. I hope to be involved on the coaching side at Old Trafford. The manager is as driven and determined as ever — more so, if anything — and I like the way he has strengthened so far.

"Chelsea and City will pose the biggest threat. To be honest, I had never even heard of the new manager at Chelsea (Andre Villas-Boas), but the way he has spoken so far has been impressive. He comes across as someone who knows exactly what he wants from his players and he’s had a good grounding with Jose Mourinho and Bobby Robson.

"City haven’t really started spending yet, but once they do they will be looking to build on last season."

Scholes also looked back at United's Champions League final loss to Barcelona - the final game of his career - and says it was an honour that Andres Iniesta wanted to swap shirts with him.

"At the end of the game, Andres Iniesta came over and asked for my shirt," he said. "It was very flattering, because you are talking about one of the best players in the world.

"I had read a few nice things he’d said about me, but that was a great compliment to be asked to swap shirts with him.

"The other memories from that night are painful, though, probably as bad as two years earlier in Rome. You would have hoped we might have been able to bridge the gap a bit, but we were still a million miles away from them.

"How to bridge that gulf is a big question, but you can be sure the manager will have drawn up plans for doing it. They are the benchmark and trying to catch up with them has to be the biggest challenge our manager has ever had."

Lionel Messi was among the scorers for Barcelona in their 3-1 win over United, but Scholes believes former team-mate Wayne Rooney can reach the same level as the Argentine.

"Wayne can still go up several notches, for sure," he said. "We have not seen the best of him yet. There can still be an improvement in every aspect of his game and I think we'll see it. He is capable of being the same for us as Messi is for Barcelona. He can be United’s Messi, that's how good he is.

"He went through a long barren spell last season but came through it towards the end. Maybe that's another area for improvement, coming out of a spell like that a bit quicker, but when his head is right and he is right physically, he can do real damage to teams."

Regarding Rooney's transfer request earlier in the season, Scholes said: "It didn't anger us, particularly, but it's disappointing when a player wants to leave and I think he was a little bit disrespectful with that statement.

"But he held his hands up and said sorry. He apologised to the full team in the dressing room. I don't know if he was badly advised, but he was sorry."

He added: "‘In time, I can see him dropping back a bit and filling the role I had. He did it in a couple of games towards the end of the season and did well. He is more dangerous where he is at the moment, but he could adapt. It would just need a bit more discipline."