Use this thread for general daily football discussion.
This thread can also be used to discuss Transfer rumours and to post Tier 4 sources.
Use this thread for general daily football discussion.
This thread can also be used to discuss Transfer rumours and to post Tier 4 sources.
I’ve been watching some Arsenal related content recently and there was a lot of criticism of Holding. I get if we were relying on him were in a world of trouble, lol. But, I feel like he was reliable when called upon more often than not.
He had a howler in that Spurs game, but he was a part of two FA cup wins and was called upon to hold last minute defences in the last part of his career with us. People used to call him Holdini often, lol. Unless that’s why people shiver at the thought of Holding, lol.
Just curious to know what you guys think.
@nuggsy @GunnersBot 100٪ agree. Its like the Chelsea cup final in 2017 never happened in some people’s minds. He had Costas number when it mattered. He lost his head against spurs but he was a very capable player on his day.
His performance in the 2017 final should afford him a lot of latitude alone. Your are right, he had Diego Costa in his pocket the whole time. And considering how Costa had mentally destroyed some of our other defenders over the years, that alone was very impressive. That guy was a right fucker for our defenders to play against. But Rob flipped the script on him and had him mentally spinning in circles.
@Beedge@mstdn.social Yeah, I don’t know where it’s suddenly come from. I think it’s easy to forget what he did for the club during his time. I don’t think he was the best defender, by all means, but he put in a shift when needed often.
I wondered if the criticism was similar to why Xhaka was criticised at times. He had some really bad moments, but he could have had a fairly average game, but he would often be used as a scapegoat for a poor result.
@nuggsy well said.
I think towards the end of the Wenger era the crowd needed a scapegoat to vent their frustration, Holding, Dhaka or Wenger himself. That kind of carried through until Arteta got the ball rolling again.
Holding didn’t deserve it and neither did Xhaka
Neither did Wenger. We just got unlucky with the stadium timing.
@Astrealix yeah, there is a certain class of Arsenal “supporter” that ill never forgive for the way they turned on Wenger.
I agree. He got a lot of unwarranted stick. Yes, he had a few really bad matches. But against smaller and mid-table teams he was usually very solid. And in his first few seasons (before that horrible ACL injury, and when he wasn’t injured) he was consistently fantastic, including in some big matches against strong opposition. Plus, he was a great servant to the club and mentor to the younger players.
In addition, he seems like a genuinely good guy (same as Mo Elneny, who also gets a lot of unwarranted shit from some gooners). It makes me sad to see the level of hate Rob got shit from some.
Still love him, he’s just unlucky in that modern football has somewhat moved beyond the type of football he’s suited to (and also Palace have kinda fucked him). A bit of a team leader, a little fringe player, honestly wouldn’t have minded if we sold Cedric but kept him.
Yeah, I think that’s a good point. Game has passed him by in a sense, as well as how Arteta wants to play.
What have Crystal Palace done to him?
Not have him play basically at all lol, tbf hard to get in ahead of Guehi and Andersen
Apparently he’s been injured since November as well or smth? At least that’s what FotMob shows lol