Rob Holding was an FA Cup final hero, but found the opening day of the season a bit more difficult.
It’s not unusual for young players to have ups and downs, and this was one of his downs which hopefully he’ll learn from.
In this video, James thinks a little patience is required for the young man.
I know this won’t be popular…
But I’d loan him out to a championship club where he’ll pick up 40+ games.
If he *had* to be loaned out, he could easily do that with a premiership club, where he could get the same 40+ games (including cup games)
You play with youngster particularly at the back and you play with points. If he has a couple of games like he had at the weekend? Prem clubs won’t put up with it because they’d basically be losing points to educate him for us. They’d be better off using a less talented but more experienced player in the immediate. I like Holding, but all young players suffer dips in form and the way we play and lack of organisation certainly won’t help the lad. I think he’s a top talent, but a year out playing regularly would make him better… Read more »
Interesting that you’re nearly quoting Wenger verbatim, but drawing opposing conclusions with regard to holding. He seems to think the boy is worth the risk, I’m inclined to agree. After all, he is better than cannavaro
I wonder if Cannavaro ever had a bad game when he was 21….
Of course, but isn’t that the point? Do you want to use the Premier League as a training ground? Fine, if you do, but then you should also prepare to pay the price in terms of points dropped on inevitable errors.
(I’m not saying we should loan or not play Holding, by the way. I happen to be one of those who is happy for him to learn his trade at Arsenal rather than on loan.)
I remember a young Tony Adams being all over the place in his early starts. This boy is something special and needs time and encouragement not criticism and abuse.
He will come good.
I might be quoting Wenger verbatim. But The league is far too competitive to play a raw 21yr old centre half. Same with iwobi last season, we were getting murdered down which ever wing he played down. Arsene said he wasn’t a wide player but a No10, but kept playing him there. Arsene knows Holding will lose us points but will keep playing him. We’re desperate for a league title, but we have a manager who’s happy to educate players so they can then move onto better things before we win things. Seen a brilliant interview with Mike Ashley yesterday,… Read more »
Why wouldn’t someone play him? Calum Chambers played pretty regularly for Boro and he’s not much different from Holding. Remember Holding already spent a year as a regular in the championship.
I don’t understand why we should loan holding in the first place?? He is not just talented , he is reliable too In fact I would argue that he the more reliable than many of our senior defenders. half the time Gabriel plays he makes a mistake . and i cant count how many times mustafi plays his pass straight to the opposition players. Chambers did too made mistakes when he used to play with us. Koscielny and Montreal are the most reliable of our defeders , but just like any one they too make odd mistake or one. Granted… Read more »
I could be wrong, but isn’t he yet to lose a game with us? Maybe Bayern…
I really like Holding but I think what you are mentioning has far more to do with the fact that he really hasn’t played much for us. A young defender will make mistakes the more he plays and Holding is no exception.
Holding is reliable once there is a pillar of experience stood next to him. Whether it be a koscielny or bfg. Let’s be very honest here… he was miles out to sea against Leicester in particular, and (logically) will without doubt benefit from playing alongside an experienced central defender.
I rate the young man highly but even more so when he’s stood next to a no nonsense rock.
A newly promoted club would surely have taken a chance on an upcoming, Under 21 English international with an FA Cup win…. they still might. Anyway, it doesn’t matter because he definitely ought to stay and learn from Kos and Per
Wenger’s interview when he stated that using young defenders cost points seems almost prophetic now. Let’s hope Holding doesn’t have too many more games like Friday because, let’s be honest, we aren’t the most forgiving bunch are we?
Prophetic, certainly. He needs a vocal, experienced player next to him, to bark out instructions on what needs to be done, and to prompt him and keep him alert. Someone who he’ll respect, and whose words will carry weight. Someone like our very own BFG. Kos doesn’t seem too vocal, but Per certainly is
Are we still any wiser as to why Per wasn’t fielded on Friday? Seems borderline suicidal given the lack of actual central defenders we fielded. Not exactly a vote of confidence that he’d rather use out of position full backs than World Cup winning centre backs.
He is recovering from a head injury from the Chelsea match
Thought he was declared fit. Maybe I imagined it.
He was fit, and made the bench, but clearly Wenger didn’t feel like risking re-injuring a healing wound. I’m sure if we were up against a bigger side, he might have risked it.
concussion protocol maybe? Not sure, we could have done with Per
I find it interesting that even though he had a rough game, none of his mistakes cost us goals. That might not always be the case.
He wasn’t THAT bad, and let’s not forget how short his preseason was, and the fact that he was playing with 2 left backs. Once Koscienly is back he will look a lot better.
I like Holding very much but he had a terrible match. I agree with Kos or Mert next to him he would do better.
Kos, Mert, Mustavi, Gabriel, holding, Chambers, monreal all competing / teacher / learning. I would personally sell Gabriel and loan Callum out again
If we go by the age-old ‘you need two players for every position’ adage then we need 6 centre backs. Given that Monreal is also covering for kolasinac (assuming gibbs goes) we’re pretty much spot on for numbers. I think losing any defenders at this stage would be foolish- unless we’re going to replace of course.
Wenger: We’re alert every day of the transfer window.29july
What’s your point? If you’re implying that we need to sign a cb then I completely disagree. I think our priority is a cm and a winger.
U alrdy said that in other post
Persevere and give him time. I remember when Tony Adams first started and just look at the legend he became.
Shame he is a job now
*Nob
He would be better along side someone better. Fact is Monreal got terrorised at center back. Id keep him and chambers this season. Maybe sell Gabriel but I don’t fancy Monreal at center back at all against a decent team
When Holding plays on that left side of central defence, behind kolasinac and next to koscienly, we’ll see the best of him
He is an excellent prospect, that is very evident in his games. He reads the game well, position himself wells, not easily brushed off – only going to get stronger -, tackles well and has smart head over his shoulders. And he is only 21.
(Remember Pique at 21?)
I am going to wait and see him turn into a beast.
He’s also quick, very good with the ball for a CB, and a good passer as well. I watched him closely and, while it wasn’t a stellar performance, I disagree with those who say he had a “terrible” game. Considering how makeshift the back line was, and the fact that Bellerin didn’t track back quickly, and the counter-attacking ability of Leicester, I thought Holding did okay. Surely his performance doesn’t merit some kind of crisis “should we be patient with him or not?” discussion after one game where the whole defence was suspect? At 21 the kid is already good… Read more »
For me he has nothing else to prove.One game gone the odd mistake doesn’t mean he shouldn’t start or should be loaned out! Lets not forget he was the only true CB in a back 3 very difficult for him I’m sure.He is composed with a cool head and reads the game so well, I belive he should play on a regular basis.
One bad game eliminates all the awesome games? Uh nobody is freaking out except that fat fuck DT.
His performances have been overhyped by our fan base e.g the FA cup final where he made a couple of mistakes. He is a talented player but we need to tamper our expectations. Look what happened with Chambers…he isn’t any worse than he was when he first signed for us, but now people want him sold.
Performed well last year including shackling hazard and costa into anonymity but yet gets grief for a game where he didn’t directly gift anyone a goal – imo. Blogs I don’t get why you’d put up these vlogs, which I don’t enjoy to be honest, that just give the press another lazy narrative to fill their rags with…
Then don’t watch them. Actually, it’s clear you’re not watching them as is, because if you had bothered to hear it out, you’d notice that James is doing the opposite of giving a reactionary viewpoint on Holding.
He is a wonderful prospect who I think will become a first-choice defender for a decade. But he is not yet as good as we want to believe. Even in the FA Cup final, where he seemed inspired and where I, like every other Arsenal supporter thought he was great–when I watched the match again, I saw Mertesacker covering for several Holding mistakes, including potentially disastrous mistakes (which makes the BFG’s performance even better than I thought, and I thought he was MOTM). Let’s go easy on the judgments, and of Mustafi as well. (You know, he’s as good as… Read more »
Young promising player emerges,
Player shows promising performances,
Young player makes mistakes
Arsenal fan overhype him and add pressure.
All we need is the next phase: Wenger to play young CB out of position and have him have a torrid time and permanently damage his confidence till we have to send him out on loan.
And then….
New young promising player enmerges emerges (Beilik?)
Cycle repeats.
This is why we still need to hold on to Chambers and not write him off either.
Young player. He will make mistakes. BUT on balance there is enough positives to suggest he has a great future. I mean he wasn’t playing with an experienced centre half so he may not have benefited from directions either in the game. It was ad hoc so to speak at the back for us so no surprise we were back to our old leaky defense. On the flip side, Chambers is only 22yrs. I’m not sure it is entirely time to call it on his career with us. There is opportunity for him if we revert to a flat four… Read more »
Think his poor performance v leicester was more to do with the lack of leadership from his more experienced defensive partner monreal and new teammate kolasinac.
Always looks very comfortable when playing with kos or mertesacker think its abit silly to talk about loaning him out after 1 poor performance after so many good ones.
Realistically if koscielney is playing the next name on my defensive teamsheet is holding without question the third choice is have alot of trouble with.
ONE bad game and…
Holding is good