Well what an amazing story we have had this year, with Arsenal buying a young unknown defender from Bolton called Rob Holding, and Arsene Wenger was ridiculed for bringing in a lower League English player for only 2 million GBP. How much has those people had to eat their words, as the 21 year-old has exceeded all expectations and has become a regular in the Gunners First XI as we have had an amazing run with Wenger’s new formation.
He ended the season playing the whole 90 minutes of our FA Cup Final win over Chelsea, and he is finding it quite hard to believe himself. He said after the game: “When we were celebrating at the end, I just sat down and thought, ‘Last year I was devastated at Derby when I got relegated with Bolton’,” he said on Arsenal.com. “To go from that to winning the FA Cup in the space of a year is crazy.
“I’m lost for words really. When the final whistle went, it was a crazy feeling. I never thought I’d experience it but we got the job done. Hopefully there’s more to come.”
Holding, who had had only 9 League starts all season, and Per Mertesacker who only made one subs appearance before lining up alongside Holding at Wembley this week, kept the League’s best attacking force, including the scary Diego Costa and the mesmerising Eden Hazard, down to just one goal in the Cup Final. He was unsurprisingly proud of their performance. “If he gets one in 90 minutes, I’ve done my job,’ he said. “They’re a strong team as we’ve seen over the season and they’ve won a lot of games in the Premier League. We knew it would be a tough game but we managed to keep our high intensity, pressed them high and didn’t let them play.
“It’s the first time Per and I have played with each other apart from in training. A guy like Per has won the World Cup so he’s going to make it comfortable for me as well. He’s a quality player.”
Holding may not end up as our best signing of last summer, but he will definitely be known as our best value buy for many a year!
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