Arsenal: Whatever happens, Rob Holding can’t be unseen now

Arsenal’s defense needs sorting out, and now that we’ve all seen Rob Holding back in action, it’s too late to unsee, and there’s only one way forward.

Every single Premier League match this season, we’ve seen one thing from Arsenal — individual defensive mistakes. Every match, save one. Newcastle was nearly perfect, our first away clean sheet in over a year, and it was a product of a defensive pairing that didn’t involve David Luiz teaming up with Sokratis.

Instead, it was Calum Chambers and Sokratis. The difference was stark, and it’s been contrasted throughout the year by the continued mistakes by Luiz and Sokratis. Literally every match since then, they have combined to give up a handful of goals already.

Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest showed us a new opportunity at defense in the EFL Cup. With the returning health of new options, we finally got to see the likes of Kieran Tierney, Hector Bellerin and, most importantly, Rob Holding.

Even next to Shkodran Mustafi, the kingpin of the mental mistake, Rob Holding kept the surest clean sheet you will ever see this defense keep. Forest were taking pot shots from 40 yards, just to get a taste of an attack.

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

Holding didn’t stop there, though. He also scored a thumping, no doubt header on a corner for the second goal of the match.

Holding was never a doubt the entire match. He had hardly a single misstep, he handled the ball with care and precision, just like we saw last year, and everything that he displayed can now never be unseen. And that’s the best news all season.

Because that means that the continued use of Luiz and Sokratis must be at an end unless Unai Emery wants a full-blown revolt on his hands. In Holding, we saw composure. Strength. And yes, it was “only Forest”, but put Luiz and Sokratis in that match and I’ll bet it’s not quite as sure a deal. Holding could not have been more sure in his handling or in his no-nonsense approach to defending and after seeing that, any further exposure to the Luiz and Sokratis circus has to be met with the utmost scrutiny.

Arsenal have to start Holding now. We just have to. There’s no way around it. The solution has been waiting, the solution could have been Chambers, but now that we’ve seen yet another solution, an even surer solution, it’s time to embrace it fully.