Match Reaction: Arsenal 3-1 Leicester Square

[Özim]

It's weird because it's not like there's one weak link letting the defence down, the threats seem to come from both wide and central areas. The back four seem like they're in sync but for some reason keep finding themselves high up the pitch early doors. I'm sure it's the system and teething issues with whatever it is Emery has asked them to do.

I just think we need another CB in reality, someone with more pace and who can be consistent, Mustafi/Holding aren't really the answer, yes they might have the odd good game but you're not going to get consistently good performances from them.

[SMatthews]

Yes but they were all over us in the 1st half, they were by far the better side, shots on target don't really tell the story if your forwards finish poorly.

Yeah I agree, it seems in the 1st half we struggle a bit, which is fine against weaker teams, but against better teams we might find the game is out of reach by half time, usually our performances are night and day between the 1st half and 2nd half, strange really because clearly we're good enough to dominate as we show in the 2nd half of games.

Sure, they were dominating us for 30 minutes, but it was more the threat of them turning possession into clear chances more than actual chances that stood out. A combination of one good save from a shot outside the box and a good block from Holding - essentially also doing his job - were the extent of it. The chances from the corners was poor marking rather than not having control of the game. But as you say, a better team will be able to turn that dominance into good chances they’ll put away. As MO said above, it’s something that Emery has to tweak somewhere to get the second half performance there from the start.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Holding has been good this season and is still young enough to learn and improve so no need to castaway yet. Having said that I don't see the point in all of Chambers, Mav and Holding alongside Kos, Sok and Mustafi though clearly Koscielny's days are numbered.

We also had another young CB on the bench yesterday out of nowhere who I had never even heard before.

I somehow can't see us going out and spending a load of money on a ready made top CB next summer though.

[selassie]

Yes but they were all over us in the 1st half, they were by far the better side, shots on target don't really tell the story if your forwards finish poorly.

Yeah I agree, it seems in the 1st half we struggle a bit, which is fine against weaker teams, but against better teams we might find the game is out of reach by half time, usually our performances are night and day between the 1st half and 2nd half, strange really because clearly we're good enough to dominate as we show in the 2nd half of games.

Yep, if we start like that in a couple of weeks time against Liverpool the game will be over by half time.

Emery is going to really have to earn his corn for the Liverpool game because we can't afford to be so complacent in Defence. We are really going to need to be in perfect shape for the Liverpool game tactically to get anything out of the game.

[selassie]

Holding has been good this season and is still young enough to learn and improve so no need to castaway yet. Having said that I don't see the point in all of Chambers, Mav and Holding alongside Kos, Sok and Mustafi though clearly Koscielny's days are numbered.

We also had another young CB on the bench yesterday out of nowhere who I had never even heard before.

I somehow can't see us going out and spending a load of money on a ready made top CB next summer though.

Holding should learn and improve outside of our first XI, a loan to a PL club like Chambers has been doing.

Do we really need to be using our First XI as some sort of nursery for developing talents?

Honestly, our First XI should only be a place for exceptional young talents, if you are not consistent enough you shouldn't be getting starts irrespective of your age.

As others have said I think we need to prioritize signing a CB and LB, both should be signed on the basis they are first XI material.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

I've already mentioned that a top CB should have been looked at last summer. We didn't sign one so That has gone now.... it's not about the squad being a nursery and I didn't say he should play solely so he can learn and progress his own career.

What is the value in considering whether Holding (who I happen to think has been worth his place) should be loaned out? We are short on defenders right now and even if we weren't he can't be loaned out till January at which point it would still be daft given Kos's current injury, Mav's injury, Sok's injury worries and the fact Chambers is on loan.

[Power n Glory]

What did Holding do to warrant such scrutiny? Besides the handball, I didn't see much wrong with his performance. Agree with MO on this one. A lot of the defensive errors I'm seeing on the pitch seem more to do with the system. We're cutting down on the comical individual errors. I even thought Mustafi had a good second half performance.

[Marc Overmars]

I keep forgetting Mavropanos even exists. Is he injured or does Emery simply not rate him enough right now?

[selassie]

I've already mentioned that a top CB should have been looked at last summer. We didn't sign one so That has gone now.... it's not about the squad being a nursery and I didn't say he should play solely so he can learn and progress his own career.

What is the value in considering whether Holding (who I happen to think has been worth his place) should be loaned out? We are short on defenders right now and even if we weren't he can't be loaned out till January at which point it would still be daft given Kos's current injury, Mav's injury, Sok's injury worries and the fact Chambers is on loan.

Sure, I am not arguing with you or saying what you are suggesting is wrong. I already stated that Holding has done well this season.

I think Holding should be loaned out to improve his game. I personally don't think he is good enough to be starting for us.

I am not advocating he should be loaned out right now, I think he should be loaned out once we have purchased a top CB and have a full roster of CB's available.

[selassie]

What did Holding do to warrant such scrutiny? Besides the handball, I didn't see much wrong with his performance. Agree with MO on this one. A lot of the defensive errors I'm seeing on the pitch seem more to do with the system. We're cutting down on the comical individual errors. I even thought Mustafi had a good second half performance.

He lacks pace and was exposed for that again the other night. That for me is a big issue given we play a high line system, that requires mobile defenders.

Of course I understand that Holding isn't responsible for keeping our Defence together, and understand and agree that all of our Defenders make mistakes. The issue I have is that if we continue with this high line system, which I believe we will, Holding is going to be targeted against mobile attackers and vulnerable to that.

As I said on one of my earlier posts Holding has done well this season...but I don't see him as a long term option given his lack of mobility.