Arsenal: Has Rob Holding taken the starting job, then?

Arsenal’s defense remains an unsolved puzzle, but for the sake of some clarity, is it safe to say that Rob Holding has actually taken the starting job?

Arsenal‘s defense started the season just as they left off last season. They gave up five goals in two matches and it looked like nothing had been fixed. Sokratis was here to provide a solution to the problem, even if we didn’t believe that he was the solution we needed.

He wasn’t. But as time would prove, he was pretty damn close, at least close enough to staple the wound together and see how long that lasted for. And it was pretty convincing too, with him playing the guardian angel to Mustafi’s often reckless defensive style.

When Sokratis got hurt, Rob Holding had no choice but to step in. Literally no choice. Chambers was loaned out. Koscielny was still injured. Mavropanos was mysteriously missing, which then turned into another injury.

So in stepped Holding who, at the time, wasn’t any more reliable than Mustafi. Just two struggling defenders trying to find their footing in the toughest league in the world, no big deal.

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It wasn’t the worst thing in the world. It’s been flimsy, incredibly flimsy, and I certainly don’t trust it, but Premier League match after Premier League match, Holding is out there, learning on his feet, learning next to Mustafi, who is also learning. And sometimes it can be a pretty effective duo.

But there’s no denying that having a reliable, experienced presence out there might be a leg up on what we currently have. On this enigma that could do anything on any given day.

Holding has retained the job despite Sokratis’ return from injury, which would indicate that he has, in fact, won the job, against all odds. That this young, inexperienced defender has unseated our defensive solution and retained the role.

It’s kind of crazy, but it’s hard to see it as anything but exactly that. Still, he has a couple of tests yet to face before we can confirm him as the starter. He still has to weather the return of Koscielny, the veteran, and Mavopanos, the even younger.

Get through that, and we can say without a shadow of a doubt that, for whatever reason(s), Unai Emery sees him as a solution. And it may be early, but I’m all in for trusting Emery.