Arsene Wenger says Rob Holding’s defensive qualities made it a no-brainer for Arsenal to sign him from Bolton.
The 20-year-old moved to the Emirates in a deal worth £2 million last week and will make his Gunners debut in the States when Arsene Wenger’s squad take on the MLS All-Stars and Chivas de Guadalajara.
Speaking to Arsenal Player about the decision to sign Holding, who only made his professional debut 11 months ago, Wenger noted:
“[We chose to take him from Bolton] because of his quality.
“He’s a young, promising centre back. You don’t find centre backs that often and we can educate them when they’re at that age. We can give them all the ingredients we think are important.”
In the absence of Gabriel (tonsillitis) and Per Mertesacker (knee), it looks as though young Pole Krystian Bielik will also be given a chance to make a mark at the back.
The 18-year-old, signed in January 2015 from Legia Warsaw, will provide back-up to Holding and Calum Chambers having cut his teeth in the centre of defence with the under-21s.
“Krystian Bielik is developing well now,” added Wenger. “And he can also be used as a central midfielder, so overall it’s an opportunity I wanted to take because that’s a difficult position to find nowadays.”
With Holding and Xhaka joining, and the development of both Chambers and Bielik our defensive balance is looking great. Ideally another defender 25-27 years of age should come in to take over from Per and Kos (both getting on with age) in a season or two, but as far as next season is concerned we are looking very good. In midfield both Coq and Xhaka are monsters, Elneny and Cazorla also defends and keep shape very well. In goal we are blessed with 2 very good goalkeepers. Now for the love of god if we can only get that striker.
And I completely left Gabriel out…. ?
Loving the optimism! I totally agree about being sorted in central midfield. In defence I can see a crisis happening in either November or February as usual.
Call me a fool, but sometimes I think the reason we slump is because the Arsenal fan-base almost entirely believes we will.
I wish we believed, for a change. Every grouchy gooner. Positivity is why we watch football. Real life has all the disappointments I need, and then some.
Call me a fool, but I feel like I don’t win the lottery every week because I don’t believe hard enough
60,000 voices collectively seething in unison whilst surrounding 11 players on a field the size of a football pitch has far more effect than you negatively impacting a machine that picks balls at random.
Mate, it’s a joke. But if you want to get serious about it.
How about the club give us something to be positive about, instead of exponential disappointment leading to a stadium full of frustration and negativity.
Slightly reaching tipping point with the club. I’ve always been proud of the Arsenal’s history of giving young players a chance and planning for the future. But it’s come to the point where I view a signing of a promising young player and I feel angry. Stupid, I know! The lack of meeting the squads immediate needs is leading to me being annoyed by anything other than the obviously required signings/action. That shouldn’t be the case. I’ve stopped laughing at the people gettinf worked up on arsenalfantv and other arsenal places and I’m starting to agree with them, which is… Read more »
I’m doubting that Holding is the next Adams, Campbell or Toured.
However it’s still disappointing because obviously he is not Premier League ready for this season.
If our first choice CBs were young enough that we don’t have to worry about Holding to start challenging straight away then it would have been perfect.
My bad so many mistakes in the above.
It should have read “I’m not doubting……Toure”
People how old is Verane and Stones but they are holding their own at tender age. Age does not matter to me but talent
Included also is Umtiti
All players who do not play for arsenal.
Bellerin not CB but that young.
You’re right, they do not play for Arsenal. They were lucky enough to break into their respective teams by taking their opportunity of a senior player being injured and proving to be better than the senior player. Which is EXACTLY what you are complaining against, the fact that we have to give our youngsters a chance whilst comparing them to youngsters who got given a chance. As Eternal said, Bellerin is a prime example. Iwobi also took his opportunities well last year. This whole thinking that our season is ruined because Per, a player that around 50% of our fans… Read more »
with Mertesaker reportedly injured until chrismas, our centre back situation needs to be addressed as does the striker position. not to mention Koscielny had Euro final and error prone Gabriel not even near dependable enough. though it feels likes of Holding are going to be involved more than imagined
Why do you say Gabriel is error-prone?
I don’t think he’s fully settled yet and, in fact, Koscielny was almost exactly the same at the start of his Arsenal career.
At the end of this season or even next season at the latest would give us enough time to properly observe how well he’s adapted to the league.
I agree with what your saying. Only thing is Gabriel does not seem to be as “interested” as other players in learning english. He seems to be a physically talented guy with not a lot going on upstairs. That worries me.
Spot on! To think we signed hon over the English speaking and epl experienced Reid in order to save a few £’s
I imagine you are in his English classes I guess. Or have some sort of inside info about what steps he has taken to learn.
I’m pretty sure Wenger has recently come and said that he needs to work on his English
He has to work on it, and lazing about are two different things. English is not a really easy language to learn. especially if you’ve never spoken it or have had it spoken to you at all through your entire life. I’m just saying cut the guy some slack, I’m sure he is trying. Or better yet write him off as a terrible player and forget about his entire existence as a footballer. “He’s having trouble learning a language as an adult, apox on him apox him straight to HELL!!”
@Bill, If you’ve been in a country 18 months and you’re struggling with basic English, something is wrong on your end. Plus it’s not like he lives on the Isle of Wight, he lives in a modern cosmopolitan city with a small but significant population of Portuguese, Brazilians, Angolans, Mozambiquans and Goans who all speak Portuguese. I went to China for three weeks and the day before I learnt how to get from A-B communicating with a taxi driver. So how difficult is it to say “Gaffer we need a new Striker” or “My Anterior Cruciate Ligament is fucked” or… Read more »
Oooo, you learned a couple of phrases? Wow I’m marvelled by your fantastic grasp of culture and linguistic skills. I’m sure he has not learned pass me the ball or any other pertinent phrase.
For the english part, the gay is Brazilian.
Andre Santos, is that you?
because.
As Wenger is not signing top quality players for the key positions we need, he better “educate” these guys quite fast as we re running out of cover at the back and the league hasn’t even started yet.
I hope he doesn’t educate them the same way he educated Djourou or Senderos
Still the Switzerland central defensive pairing! Actually, Djourou looked quite good in the Euros. Senderos, not so much.
A once promising defender, ruined by Drogba
Still not signed a striker, winger or defender!!!!!
We don’t need a defender. I still don’t know where this idea comes from.
Top defenders are as limited as top strikers, that’s why teams are paying 42mil for Mangala.
No, that’s just Manchester City.
Anybody man city wants to sign automatically costs 3x their original price
I think the idea comes from the problem we would have if Per was out of action for 5 months.
Always look forward to the preseason matches to get a chance to see the young players in action especially now that the League Cup isn’t what it used to be for Arsenal when the young players would get a shot.
Just buy that 6’7 monstrosity from Lens (Ba).
He looked like a meaty version of Mertesacker and taller, too!
Santi’s son could nutmeg him, run under him, do a Cryuff turn, and nutmeg under him back before he could turn. He was a good presence, but he was that slow sometimes.
I like the idea of having mostly young centre backs in the squad but I think the idea of signing a more seasoned (around 30 year old) defender would be a great short term solution to the team
Bielik is someone I look forward to playing in our midfield, he is one player who moved so freely and effortlessly in our capital cup defeat when he was subbed on, made some good interceptions and was a delight to watch whenever he had the ball.
I really hope he shines in this preseason!
The players who are having their extended summer hols are paid by us and if we are short at the back or up front because someone won’t spend the money needed to get quality they should come back.
I think the English quota system is also in Wenger’s mind with this signing, especially with Brexit
No love for Chambers, Arsene?:'(
Read as:
“Wenger eager to not sign experienced center half”.
Even whenPer & Kos were at their best we couldn’t do much I terms of challenging for the league or champions league. We have not defended well as a team consistently for ages and last year we were horribly unbalanced at times.
Until that changes we’ll get the same results regardless of personnel.
Man I am not looking forward to this season.
The least Goals let by a Team last season is 35 (by Spurs and Man U) while we were second with 36 along with Leicester City. We were not that bad defensively. Now take the Goal scored by Toure against us in our Home game. It was Ramsey’s fault, he was clearly not intrested after few passed they made on the edge of the box. Even though we won the game we had a Goal against us. There are so many over last season where we made mistakes high up the field exposing our defence when they have already joined… Read more »
I wouldn’t be surprised if we splashed the cash from some attacking players, scored loads of goals, just to lose the league to defense issues…
I wouldnt be surprised if we didnt buy them either
We desperately need another centre back in Pers absence, but I would love Chambers to step up to the plate now rather than going out on loan. We severely lack a leader at the back though and Gabriel has not inspired me so far.
Anyone know what Holding is like? I’m praying he’s a no nonsense leader type in the Adams mould, but then who isn’t praying for that.
Without that leader at the back we’ll never get close to the title.
I am not so hopeful or convinced of Chambers. Sadly, though he is young, to me he is too slow and lacks technique and confidence. The last can be cured but not lack of technique or speed. Sadly again, to my mind he will not cut it at Arsenal and therefore should be sold. I do not see him as good enough for the Premier League. Sorry, but £15m was badly spent.
Chambers is slow, yes. But to say he lacks technique?? Loool that’s funny. He’s VERY comfortable on the ball. Don’t think there’s an English cb his age as comfortable on the ball as he is.
We have a leader in the back – Petr Cech!
Barcelona signed Umtiti and no one is negative about that
Because Barcelona supporters have a winning mentality; unlike Arsenal fan base who accept mediocrity and loads of excuses from Wenger.
Arsenal biggest problem is defence and injuries. But like always Wenger is doing nothing in the Window. And afterwards he Wil be full off excuses. Our season is falling apart before it begins. No top 4 to Wenger next season
And city is rooting for stone and nobody condemned that in football age is nothing if the talent is there
I swear AW believes this offer is actually for Gary Cahill such is our speed in the transfer market.
I don’t think that the defending issue is solely down to the defence – and this is something I think Per came out and mentioned last season – the team has to defend together. This means going back to basics and speaking to each other at all times. Sure it doesn’t help when we play a CB pairing that isn’t suited for certain games, but I think our forwards could do more to help, and certainly our midfielders could do more to direct and control the forwards in their defensive pressure – possibly one of the reasons the signing of… Read more »
Am a Ugandan,I will feel good when I hear Wenger buying some quality defensive midfielder and defend to reduce my pressure my team arsenal is playing.
I flippin knew it!
Scratch any ideas you thought about us buying a class/experienced/much needed CB.