Arsenal debate – Keep Holding, Chambers or BOTH?

Most of the summer transfer talk surrounding Arsenal so far has been about the attacking side of things, with the ongoing contract speculation about Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil alongside the Arsenal transfer rumours linking us to the two French international forwards Alexandre Lacazette and Kylian Mbappe.

But just as important for Arsenal to have any chance of claiming the Premier League title next time around is our ability to stop the other side from scoring and that ability was not much in evidence last season, with our 44 EPL goals conceded being the worst in the top six.

Arsene Wenger does seem to have addressed this to some extent with the new back three formation but a quick look back to what happened in both clashes with Bayern Munich once Arsenal lost Koscielny tells you that having the right defenders on the pitch plays a huge part.

So with that in mind I want to know what you guys think about our two young England internationals Rob Holding and Calum Chambers and whether the boss should have both in the squad next season. Holding did not play much but he certainly shone in the latter stages, while Chambers endured relegation on loan with Middlesborough, although the blame was not really his.

Judging from the England under 21 teams picked bu Southgate at the Euros this summer he seems to think Chambers is the better player, in the middle of a back four at least, but there is also the question of experience with Holding being a relative novice to the national team.

Both can play at right back as well so which, if any, of the two young Gunners do you expect to see more from in an Arsenal shirt?

Bob.

26 Comments

    1. how will they grow if they dont play?? Only one of them is certain to play and i think it will be Holding…even Holding might not play if Mustafi, Kos and Monreal are fit and in form

      1. Kos can not play multiple games a week and his injuries have been getting more and more as he gets older. Monreal isn’t a spring chicken anymore and rotation could play a big role for him.

        AFC will be in the FA Cup, the League Cup, EPL and EC. Plenty of games.

        AFC will need at least 2 fit backups, Gabs is out ATM and Per has admitted his body isn’t as good anymore and looking at retirement.

        Chambers can establish himself alongside Holding as AFC main backups and rotations CBs before Gabs is fit and match sharp, IMO the real question would be if we should keep Gab or sell him once we can for Chambers and Holding to get game time.

      2. Monreal and Kos needs to be managed, so both of them can play as CB and get at least 30 games each, including Europa League+EPL+FA Cup. United played close to 70 games this year, expect same numbers if we expect to get good runs in EL/Carling Cup/FA Cup. That is 210 times for 3 CBs. Mustafi is the only one who should play more than 50, rotate the rest including Per

  1. Keep both, use chambers for Europa and use holding for league matches, it’s going to be a long season, chambers is not as bad as people think, there is a reason we payed 16m for him, if not loan chambers, benching him won’t help his development, he’s even ahead of holding in the under 21..

      1. Lol, at the end of the day it’s up to mbappe to choose where he wants to play, I think if it’s about money, he will end up at Madrid not psg, but you never know these things, this transfer window is like a seasonal film, one episode after the other, let’s keep watching..

    1. It is going to be a long season and we do get less of a rest playing on Thur rather than a Tue or Wed so rotation will be just as vital still.

  2. Chambers will be useful in the right side of the back three, but i cant depend on him yet for the central role. if no one leaves in the defence, then i dont think Chambers will get ahead of Holding who is more composed and technically matured than Chambers IMO…

    Chambers should still go on loan to a club that will play him and he will come back to replace Mert next season…

    1. Kos will miss many games because he is injury prone and getting on in age. If we play three at the back there is nothing wrong with having 2 backup CBs. Time to keep Chambers and play him even if it is in Europa League or domestic cups.

      In relative terms (age, experience) he was one of our most expensive signings. Most players we keep sending out on loan never really get a chance to return. If we pride ourselves on being able to develop players better than mid table teams, this is the time Chambers should benefit from being at the club. He should be able to get 15-20 games easily. Hopefully, 8 or 10 in the Europa League maybe 6-8 in the domestic cups and a few in the PL.

      1. I would say that if we play 3 CB then 2 backups are very important.
        As you said, Kos injury issue and it is getting worse with age 🙁 I wish it wasn’t so 🙁

        I think Mustafi card count also needs to be thought about, he has picked up a number of yellow cards, more than Xhaka who has the reputation.

  3. I’d have more faith with Chambers in the long run than I do Gabriel. I would not sell Chambers. He’s got a good height, good build, he’s not slow, and can play a little like modern CBs are having to do. He might come good, but he needs to be playing with teammates that can help guide him. I think Leic would be a good place for him to learn, but a loan may not interest them. Koscielny I’m worried about, all the efforts taken just to get him ready on a game to game basis. I like that we’re looking into young English CBs. Fergie always tried building his teams around English central defenders. The teams that won leagues more often had British defenders in them throughout the years. Except maybe city. Midd was not a good move for Chambers. His CB partner is also a young player learning his trade, we need experienced players helping him along. I still have belief in Chambers that he can become a domineering player, I certainly have hope that he will.

    1. I liked what you said, I think Per can be that experience that Chambers needs, Holding has praised Per for helping him and I remember the times Chambers played alongside Per, Chambers was looking like a bargain at £16 million.

      We also have Mustafi who we have all seen is a communicating CB, happy to be vocal. Also a WC winner…

      I do think Midd WAS a good move for him though, it helped him grow IMO. He may not have had an experienced player alongside him but he won the fans over and he had plenty of def practice with them. Sometimes game time is the best teacher and now I think he needs to come back and talk to the experience we have at AFC to help digest what he has learnt, to recap so to speak. He has had a good confidence boost though and we all know confidence can help players perform to their potential 🙂

  4. Keep them. If Everton are willing to offer what we paid for Chambers £15-16 million then I think he must be worth keeping. Holding was excellent value for money for £2 million.

    Yep keep both. At their age they can only get better.

  5. Keep them both, let Holding cover for Kos in the middle when Kos needs rests and Monreal for rotation, Monreal plays a lot so I doubt that spot will be available much… but Kos is getting more and more injuries.

    I would like to see Chambers push for the right side of the back 3, he knows how to play RB and he knows how to play CB, I think the RCB role would be his best.

    I also like Holding in the middle, he is so damned mature for a ‘kid’ that how can I not trust him to play that role? I want to see what he can turn into while playing that role. I want to see Chambers and Holding as 2 of our CBs for years to come and for their partnership to carry through for England.

    Young Bielik could be the 3rd CB, he looks eager to push on with his development by eagerly getting loan moves and he had a good review from his last loan.

    It is why I have said from the start that we do not need to buy a CB and money is needed in other areas more, Chambers and Holding are not big international names but we seen Holding play like a £55 million CB, better if I may say but I am a bit biased XD and Chambers has had Boro fans say they will follow his career and really sad to see him leave.

    I think all AFC supporters will get excited about those two, I will go as far to say that next season could see AFC with one of the best defs if we keep this 3 CB formation.

    If we can keep our CM together and running all season long then this team currently could push a lot higher than 5th and I do worry more about CM than CB, that has been our weakness for a few years now.

    Our CM falls apart and we let in bucketload of goals and we see our EPL push dwindle.

  6. Chambers will end up getting loaned out again because Uncle Wenger is good like that. Southampton are interested.

    With the likes of Sanchez, Ox and Lampy forcing a move, along with Mr Beans shenanigans in the transfer window, we will probably end up relying on our deadwood to make up the numbers in the Europa league.

  7. Keep both. We would need backups for our first choice CBs .Considering the number of matches and injuries we would need 5 or 6 CB .(Kos, Mustafa, Mert,Holding, Gabriel,Chambers)

  8. Keep both, they are both good young players. With the ammount of games throughout the season and our usual injury problems they’ll get loads of games.

Comments are closed

Top Blog Sponsors