Thursday, March 28, 2024

3 Things We Learnt As Arsenal Are Held To A Point At The Champions

It was another tough afternoon for fans to sit through as Arsenal failed to break down the champions and were left with just a point for their troubles.

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That leaves them still awaiting a victory with only a trip to Watford to come before the international break, leaving Wenger under more pressure than ever.

But before he focuses on what needs to change through the week, it’s worth looking back at some of the biggest points during the 0-0 bore-draw at the King Power Stadium.

1 – Holding On To Rob

It was a weekend where Arsene Wenger had to make some big calls in the starting line-up, with a number of his star men still lacking match fitness.

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He took a gamble on bringing Laurent Koscielny back into the fray, but there was an even more interesting change in the Gunners defence that caught my eye.

Following his £2.5million move from Bolton, Rob Holding hasn’t really had time to sit down and take in the fact he’s now playing for a Champions League club.

Since his switch back in January, Holding has played 451 minutes from a possible 540, which includes the two Premier League starts in the last couple of weeks.

You get the feeling that this wasn’t a signing that Wenger drafted in to play Under-23 football, and now it looks as if he’s definitely cemented a place in the first team this season.

Wenger is a big fan of Holding, and following the Leicester result attacked the media for not wanting to talk about how well the England Under-21 international played.

The fact is for a 20-year-old to come out and perform at the highest level following a transfer that has an overwhelming change from his previous life, he hasn’t been fazed at all.

Wenger had no choice but to throw Holding in to the Liverpool game, a decision that left fans annoyed with the manager’s inability to replace the injured Gabriel with experience.

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However, him starting against Leicester ahead of Calum Chambers tells us a lot, and as we predicted Holding will now look to take on the imminent arrival of Shkodran Mustafi.

I think that’s what he was missing in the Liverpool game, an experienced defender to ease him into the first half and with Chambers omitted you have to think he’s heading on loan.

Chambers has struggled to find his position in this side, and if Mustafi does come in, then Wenger will have four centre backs to choose from once Gabriel is fit again.

I see Chambers as a top, top player but he needs regular game time and when Arsenal need experience at the back four he’s not gonna get it in a Gunners jersey.

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