Arsenal Vs Manchester United: 5 things we learned – Hope in despair

3. Centre-half shake-up yields fruit

It was widely well-known that Calum Chambers was the third centre-half in the squad in Wenger’s eyes. He was the one who deputised for either Laurent Koscielny and Shkodran Mustafi most frequently, and Wenger seemed to trust him, even in the big, high-pressure matches.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

• 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
• 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
• Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
• 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
• Mikel Arteta provides Gabriel Martinelli injury update after Everton win

However, little did we know that Rob Holding might not be considered as the fourth centre-half. The English defender has played sparingly this season, failing to kick on from his blossoming first season. And now, against one of the top sides in the country, away from home, with Romelu Lukaku snarling, Wenger turned to a 20-year-old debutant who had never played in the Premier League.

It was Konstantinos Mavropanos who got the start alongside Chambers. The Greek giant, who looks as though he is carved out of the gods, proved himself extremely capable at the heart of the Arsenal defence. Both he and Chambers denied Lukaku time and space well, chomping at his every touch. They also battled well aerially, especially late on as Jose Mourinho through Marouane Fellaini onto the pitch, and other than a few misplaced passes and headers here and there, both moved the ball nicely across the back four and into midfield.

Clearly, neither are going to displace Mustafi or Koscielny in the remaining handful of games this season. But this match, and performance, was about the future, about what Arsenal had in these widely talented young prospects. In that sense, both Chambers and Mavropanos couldn’t have done much more.