Welcome to the arsenal Rob!
Iām very curious to see him.
Lets just hope Wenger doesnāt try and turn him into a holding player.
I donāt think he will. His natural position is CB. Iām thinking Arseneās long term plan is to have an English CB pairing of Chambers and Holdingā¦this guy could be an absolute steel given the price we have paid for him. Good bit of business IMO,
I wonder if this is the club trying to make up for missing out on players like Chris Smalling and Gary Cahill and etc. They were both (at one point) up and coming English defenders and we were interested in both according to articles I remember reading in 2010 and 2011 but we couldnāt close either deal.
I think it has to do with the homegrown rule more than anything.
Heās highly rated, fee is similar to that paid for Stones when at Barnsley and theyāre not dissimilar as players.
A bit of both if anything.
Really the only way to ruin this is to throw him to the wolves right away. Iād like to see him get bedded in first before that happens.
I realize it is the preseason and against lower competition (MLS All-Stars) but Holding looks pretty good and composed out there. Might turn out to be a gem of signing, especially for the price.
How did he do?
I get the feeling that, and itās nothing against him, but if he plays well throughout preseason that Wenger and Arsenal might change their tune on adding another CB. Good and bad points can be had here, but Iāve still not seen anything to suggest where Holding stands in our squad? Apart from the low number (16, could mean nothing) he may well be considered first team at this point. I donāt even think Wenger knows just yet.
Regardless, Iād like to see him improve more and more without worrying about such situations, Wenger gets paid millions to sort that part out!
It was the first time Iāve seen him play, and I have to confess to being pleasantly surprised. Iām so jaded when it comes to our younger signings, but Rob actually seems to be a pretty decent defender.
Bad giveaway early, but made up for it with a goal after a nice pass from Chambers. Looks like a much better player than his transfer fee would suggest.
Not enough puns in this thread.
Yep. I feel Robbed.
Take a bow son! He immediately scored for us
Weāve been Holding out for finishing like that since the Invincibles days.
Iām dying to make a horrible pun here but without the " :happy: " emoticonānor, in a much more indignation provoking matter, the Diaby oneāfrom the old forum I just feel it wouldnāt be the same.
Iām ready to bet: he will start ahead of Chambers and Gabriel against Liverpool.
Hopefully. I just hope we stick with him if he shows flashes.
Certainly a debut he wonāt forget in a hurry. Completely chucked in at the deep end.