Arsenal: Rob Holding “warning shot” what dreams are made of

Arsenal’s defense is a mess, but the concept that there is a young man ready to take over is a dream. Is Rob Holding that man?

There are a lot of “messes” in this current Arsenal set-up. Pretty much anything aside from the front three is a question mark (barring Granit Xhaka) and this needs some revisiting in the summer because the frailty of this situation is just too much to build any sort of hopes on.

Defense is a big thing. Obviously. Equally obvious – Shkodran Mustafi and Laurent Koscielny are not working together. This comes from a combination of Koscielny’s wavering health and his advancing age and the necessity to have someone who cover Mustafi’s aggressiveness.

If you’re left shaking your head thinking “well, no one can do that,” then you are seeing the crux of the problem. I truly believe Calum Chambers is ready to be an everyday player, but until we give him that chance we won’t know.

In short, there is very little competition in those defensive slots, mainly because Arsene Wenger won’t allow there to be. He’s always, always going to give the advantage to the experience and let the youth try to figure out there own thing until fate intervenes.

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However, Rob Holding has gone and made headlines again. I don’t know about you, but I absolutely love how outspoken and “comfortable” Holding has gotten. I normally couldn’t care less what players are saying, especially players on the fringes.

But Holding has been different. First he brought out just how positive Jens Lehmann has been, and how the former Arsenal keeper is “demanding more” and insisting on toughness, both mentally and physically.

Now, Holding has fired off some warnings to both Koscielny and Mustafi, promising that a single slip-up and he will be ready to grasp the chance with both hands and squeeze the bloody pulp out of it (I expanded on his quite a bit).

Holding had his chance at the starting XI when he first arrived and he blew it. Unlike Alex Iwobi, he was allowed to fail and now he has learned, in the span of a year, and has the confidence of a titan and he’s ready to prove himself again. Having to wait is just winding him up.

This is what dreams are made of. As the clock ticks on the current defensive set up, we have two defenders in their early 20s that are chomping at the bit to solidify their status in the starting XI.

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And do keep in mind that these are two defenders that have proven their quality, just in small quantities. If that quality can be teased out into consistency, then watch out.