Arsenal: Rob Holding shows future captaincy material

Rob Holding showed experience beyond his years in Arsenal’s FA Cup final win. In a string of impressive performances, he has shown future captaincy material.

Leaders are difficult to find. They, or at least they tend to be, naturally made. It is extremely difficult to coach a leadership spirit in someone. They are tough and willing to challenge, but with an affectionate, aware edge that allows them to deal with different people differently. Arsenal, for a team that has been criticised for lacking leadership, have had a number of great ones.

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The most obvious is perhaps Tony Adams. He was club captain for over a decade and is the only man to captain a team to a league title in three different decades. But there are others. Patrick Vieira, Per Mertesacker, and now, perhaps, Rob Holding.

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I must state at this point that I am not comparing Holding to the greatness of Adams, Vieira et al. But rather, in a string of outstanding performances, and not just because of his talent but because of his mentality, Holding showed the material that future captains are made of. Here are his comments after the 2-1 FA Cup final over Chelsea, discussing the potential damage that Diego Costa’s equaliser could have caused:

"“When they scored and I was diving in front to try and block it, I saw it drop in and I thought ‘This is going to be tough now, they’ve got something to hold onto as they’re one man down.’ I thought they’d try to keep it at 1-1 and take it to penalties, but luckily we hit them straight away and that’s probably the best time for us to get a winner, which we ended up doing with Rambo.”"

He is a man aware far beyond his 21 years would belie. He is experienced, for his age, he is composed and he thinks, attributes that rarely found in players of such a young age. Throughout Saturday’s win, Holding, alongside Per Mertesacker, was visibly vocal, barking instructions at teammates, ensuring that players were in the right position and that the regimented shape of the back three and the midfield in front was preserved.

There were moments when Costa got the better of him. In the first half, Holding misread a long ball, was muscled out the way by Costa, who’s improvised finish was well saved by David Ospina. For the goal, Holding was far too tight to the big Spaniard, meaning that he could bring the ball down on his chest, turn the young defender in the process, and subsequently get a shot away.

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But it was not the individual performance of Holding that showed me glimpses of his captaincy potential. Rather, it was his awareness, both positionally and of the state of the game, his calming, assuring influence, and his communication. He truly is a special, special talent.