Arsenal: It shouldn’t be this easy to forget Rob Holding, Calum Chambers

Arsenal fans are begging for a new centerback, but I just want to know why it’s so easy to forget about Rob Holding and Calum Chambers.

Arsenal‘s defense is definitely a problem, and it has been for years. The last time I found myself consistently confident in a centerback duo was when Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker were teaming up, and even then, there was a degree of flimsiness to them, despite their successes.

The defense really hasn’t improved since then, with David Luiz and Sokratis now the predominant presences on that back line. I understand Unai Emery’s desire to get a veteran core back there, but it hasn’t worked, and now we’re all looking for William Saliba, and who ever he might partner with.

Most point to Dayot Upamecano, but there are plenty of other rumors floating about as well, including Pau Torres, the most recent centerback to be touted as the “perfect partner” for an incoming Saliba.

I just want to know why people are so quick to discount the resources we already have. Rob Holding has been so highly regarded and he’s only made one Premier League appearance this year. Is that really enough to say that he isn’t good enough?

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And Calum Chambers. He’s been improving and improving ever since his arrival, to the point that he is now proving to be one of the most reliable players on the club, which is something that gets forgotten so quickly that it’s baffling.

Don’t forget about Konstantinos Mavropanos either. He’s had nothing holding him back but injuries. His Premier League appearances were convincing, and he’s matured since then.

But all we want to think about is spending more money, like every other club does, in an effort to fix a problem that we can otherwise fix with our own, with players we’ve already been excited about, who have put in the hard work and grown past the point where they were the next big thing.

Maybe this is my fault, for expecting the headlines and the bad-side of the fanbase to have common sense, but is it really too much to ask for? Stop asking for the club to throw money at problems. That isn’t how you fix problems.

We have the personnel to make this defense work, we just need to give them time to develop in the role. The same kind of time it took Virgil van Dijk as well.