while i agree with you about the myth-making, i do rate him. i'm not arguing that he is great or perfect or, as @yossarian said, that he is sol/TA. but he is solid. he reminds me a little of koscielny where he appears to have the instinct or the nose to sniff out a play. something, for example, i don't think chambers has (and i'm one of the last remaining chambers fan). not even going to talk about mustafi. sadly, like koscielny during his early years, holding is good for one bonehead shit play every single game. no matter how good of a game he is having, you can count on him making one head scratching play per game. but i'll take him over bringing back mustafi.
I’m probably being harsh on him, you’re right. Awful is a strong term. But he’s certainly never excited me with the kind of potential he’s credited with. I think, beyond the usual love of an English lad, that people really liked the time he pointed to his head to wind up Diego Costa. He’s also nowhere near as good with the ball as people pretend he is.
I’ve been and will probably remain a Holding supporter. I tend to look at how players fit into the team, so I think it’s potentially significant that Holding was part of Emery’s unbeaten run last year, ironically when paired with Mustafi. That run ended a week or two after a Holding was injured. In fact, I believe Villa was the first league game Holding has started in the last two years that Arsenal lost. That said, he clearly did not have a good game Sunday, but he still did some things well. He’s good in the air, I believe he was credited with 9 clearances against Watford, most of them headed clearances. He also provides cover for his fellow defenders, which may explain the apparent efficiency of the Holding-Mustafi pairing in last season’s unbeaten run. In addition, he’s a physical defender and his passing range is decent, though not great. Will he ever be a regular starter for Arsenal? I don’t know. Some of that depends on whether Arteta can get the best out of him.
This is all probably fair, except the implication lumping me into the starry-eyed English lad lovers, which I'm most certainly not.
you aren't alone! i dig the kid. he reminds me of a younger version of koscielny. but he still needs development and, hopefully, playing time.