tcahill
Well-Known Member
He's matured wonderfully and the LCB position clearly suits him.
But long-term do you think we rely on him for that spot? If we continue with 3 at the back, there's Kos and Mustafi too. Kos is class and has some years left in him, while Mustafi is a very good defender on his day and is only going to get better and more consistent hopefully. That's 3 good defenders for 3 positions, but do you rely on that or do you bring a top CB in?
In the summer we were all crying out for one, and it's typical Wenger to not buy a player because of the good form of players we already have. But top clubs buy players for competition and as an insurance if injuries or poor form hits.
Monreal/Kos/Mustafi are great for now providing they stay fit, but would it be negligence to not bring a top CB in who might force one of them out?
We have 3 potentially good CBs in Holding, Chambers and Bielik, but none of them are anywhere near top quality yet. You could argue that someone like Van Dijk would block their development, but imo it's necessary for the overall good.
Perhaps a good middle ground would be someone like Glik/David Luiz/Alderweireld, someone in their prime who wouldn't necessarily block Holdng's development forever.
Monreal has got LCB covered for another season or two at least. He's had few injury problems as far as I know, and only seems to be getting better with age. However he's not a traditional CB in a back 2, Wenger needs to remember that.
Ideally we'd sign Gimenez or De Vrij for free, loan out Holding, keep Chambers as a backup.
Kos is great but he only has another 1-2 seasons in him, and can't be relied upon for playing more than one game per week. Holding needs a loan to get some first team experience.