Arsenal: Rob Holding and Calum Chambers can’t save this defense

Rob Holdin and Calum Chamber are young and talented, but they can’t save this clown show Arsenal defense by themselves.

What do Rob Holding and Calum Chambers have in common? They’re both young. They both have massive potential. But they can’t save the Arsenal defense by themselves. Sadly, right now they look like the closest thing to new defensive signings we’re going to get.

Considering the fact that the words “Clown Show” were synonymous with the Arsenal defense last season, this is deeply unsettling.

At a certain point, you’d think one of the members of this defensive unit would take enough pride in their work to get everyone into a room and say something to the effect of, “Come on guys, this is embarrassing. We’re supposed to be professionals. I don’t care if we have to spend four hours every morning on the training ground before practice and another three hours in the film room after it, the schoolboy mistakes have to stop.”

If that’s happened, there’s certainly no evidence of it. So how is it that even after one of the most shocking collapses in Arsenal’s history, this defense is picking up right where it left off in May?  Where are the reinforcements? Because if the answer was in the locker room, we’d have known it by now.

A dismal defensive record has kept Arsenal out of the Champions League for two years running. Without a major talent upgrade between now and August 31st, it will be three years running. The Bayern game wasn’t ten minutes old before Mustafi played a horror show ball across our goal mouth.

Later on in the same game, Lewandoski ghosted off Mustafi’s back shoulder for an easy as pie headed goal.  A few days later, Sokratis inexplicably got himself sent off while we had a two goal lead and a one man advantage vs Real Madrid. Within half an hour, the lead had evaporated and Arsenal limped to a loss on penalties. How does that happen? Why is that kind of clown show a normal day for the this defense?

More importantly, what is the plan for stopping the clown show that only opposing players and rival fans find funny?

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So far, it looks like paying top dollar for a center half we can’t use for a year. Well, that and putting a ton of pressure on Rob Holding and Calum Chambers to save Mustafi and Sokratis from themselves. That sounds less like a plan and more like a recipe for destroying the confidence of two young central defenders.

Yet, that’s exactly what Chambers and Holding are being set up for right now. Certainly, there is a case to be made for letting them sink or swim. Yes, they’re capable of learning from their mistakes and getting better, which is more than can be said for their more experienced teammates.

The ugly truth is, the Arsenal defense has a losing culture. It’s a terrible place for young defenders to learn their craft. Never mind the fact Sokratis’ best days are firmly behind him, he’s also incredibly mistake prone for a player of his experience level.

Monreal? He’s an aging LB playing out of position and his lack of seasoning at CB shows up whenever he’s put under stress. Mustafi is who he is at this point; a player with the physical tools of an elite center half… and a complete inability to concentrate on his work for 90 minutes.

This defense looks set to ship another 50 goals this year. Putting the club’s Champions League aspirations on the shoulders of two 20- something year olds is not a plan; especially with one of them coming off a long term injury.

Neither is the go-to play of the recent past; bringing in a cheap, past his sell-by date central defender and hoping for the best. You know the one, where the club desperately scours the Bosman market for the likes of Gary Cahill or Thomas Vermaelen, then makes a sad attempt to sell this ‘veteran’ as a potential saving grace.

The price might be right. The results probably won’t be. This league is notoriously cruel to central defenders who have lost a step. Ask Mikael Silvestre or Sebastien Squillaci. So if that’s the plan to save the Arsenal defense, there isn’t a plan; and the clown show will continue for another year.