Arsenal: Rob Holding injury doesn’t break three-back approach

Rob Holding has grown into a deceptively reliable presence on the back line, but just because he is out doesn’t mean the back three goes down with him.

Arsenal‘s defense could really go for some improvements. They haven’t kept a clean sheet since Watford and, the worst part is, they’ve rarely looked the part of keeping a clean sheet anyway. And normally, it comes from defensive lapses, just like last year.

That said, the back three has given new hope. Sokratis is an excellent center for the three, and with Mustafi to his right and Holding to his left, things were starting to look pretty positive, even consider the goals they had surrendered.

But now we have to worry about the injury to Rob Holding, who looked to suffer a serious (and most definitely dirty) knock that will likely keep him out for an extended period of time. That’s bad enough as it is, but I don’t want to dwell on how disappointing it is for a 23-year-old to suffer such an injury.

Let’s talk about what this does to the three at the back set-up. Because, on the surface, it would appear to blow the entire blueprint, as Holding was the third of three centerbacks in the set, with no one else behind him.

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What we saw against United should give reassurance, though, that just because Holding is out doesn’t mean that we should revert back to a back four. In fact, what we saw from Stephan Lichtsteiner was so positive that I don’t see why we can’t continue right where we left off, just putting in the Swiss right back as the right centerback, and letting Mustafi play the left centerback, making sure to keep Sokratis in the center.

I recognize that Mustafi isn’t left-sided, but neither is Holding, even if Holding is more left-sided than Mustafi. The point remains that the back three is working, and to move away from it jeopardizes a system that is proving effective.

The other options, since players are returning from injury soon, are Nacho Monreal and Laurent Koscielny. Either of which can play in a back three, as both of them have done it in the past. Then, all of a sudden, we have options out there.

The point is that we don’t need to compile on the tragic injury to Holding by adding another negative – abandoning the back three. Stay the course, and trust the guys that are available to keep a working system working.