Arsenal: Rob Holding carving out cozy niche for himself

Rob Holding was a dynamic, immediate impact when he first arrived, but has since faded. That said, Arsenal are seeing his facets grow steadily.

Arsenal’s on-the-pitch problems come in many names. One of those names is defense, probably its biggest and ugliest name, in fact. It’s not that the personnel isn’t there. It is. They have a solid stock of defensive talent capped off by youngsters like Calum Chambers and Rob Holding.

Chambers, in fact, has done so well that he has leaped ahead of Holding in the pecking order and should very well be threatening the first team picture. I called for him to “get a damn promotion” not long ago and I stand by that.

Holding hasn’t had such a fruitful journey since he joined from Bolton. After hitting the ground running and showing his true powers against Chelsea, expectations were high, but it’s safe to say he hasn’t been able to follow up on them.

That said, it is coming along nicely, and for the time being, Holding does have a niche carved out for himself – a niche that we first saw against Chelsea and Diego Costa.

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Holding got under the rabble-rousing forwards skin and literally drove him mad. Costa did not have fun against Arsenal that day, and we had Holding to thank for it. Some may have been “cheap” fouls, but who really cares?

We saw it again against Watford, against another rabble-rousing forward in Troy Deeney. Holding got under his skin and irked him to the point of complete inadequacy. He even stated that it was his and the club’s intent to make Deeney eat his words.

I like to believe that Holding’s “niche” is what earned him the honor of getting the start.

Holding has become a bit of a mental defender of sorts. He still has some physical aspects of his game to work on, but his ability to get to such strikers is invaluable, and it’s not something the Gunners have had for quite some time.

I love the idea of Chambers and Holding being a future pairing, as they both take a no-nonsense approach, not just physically but mentally.

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Even if that doesn’t work out, Holding will improve on the pitch and as he does, his ferocity on the mental side of the game will only stand out more. I personally can’t wait to see who he can piss off next.