Arsenal: Rob Holding fears don’t need to be realized

Arsenal’s defense was in shambles as they tried to cope with numerous absences. Rob Holding surely didn’t help that effort, but that doesn’t mean we need to fear.

Arsenal had plenty to be excited about after they showed tremendous fight and grit against Leicester City, despite numerous setbacks, letdowns, and deficits. But one thing they did not have to be excited about was that defense.

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The back three that seemed to be so shored up last year, even in the wake of an injury Armageddon, was dismantled by a Leicester City attack that hasn’t improved since their title winning season.

They were shredded on the counter and embarrassed by zonal marking. Although getting embarrassed by zonal marking is hardly their fault alone.

And while we are talking about being fair, this injury situation was far worse, as they had zero options for a true center-most defender.

Anyway, now that all the fairness is doled out, let’s cover one bit of unfortunate truth – Rob Holding was terrible.

After bursting onto the scene last season and looking like a complete defender in every sense, maybe we got a bit spoiled. Maybe he was riding a wave of momentum or maybe he’s going to hit that inevitable dip in form.

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Or, if you’re not a doomsday prepper, you can just brush it off as one bad game. We’ve had much more evidence of solid defending than we’ve had of poor defending. So by simple math, we can deduce that there is nothing to worry about.

Better yet, let’s just take this debate to its end and say that we can avoid the fear altogether. And by fear, I mean what happened when Alex Iwobi was clearly ineffective and Arsene Wenger was completely incapable of sitting him until he hit rock bottom.

Holding doesn’t need, nor should he be put through that treatment. He had a bad match and, if there is any hint of a streak of bad form, we need to utilize that defensive depth and let Shkodran Mustafi and Per Mertesacker take over that defense.

Because the last thing we need is to see Holding bumbling around on the defensive line like we saw Iwobi doing in the attack last year. It’s damaging to their confidence and, to lesser effect, to our confidence in them as players.

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So why bother with that path? Sit him down, let the depth flex its strength and let Holding learn. Seems simple enough.