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Rob Holding: The Return

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Lookin' for a new Baby

New name pending...
Holding just proved that we have wasted so much time with Chambers...
I always felt a bit sorry for Chambers as he was thrown in at the deep end in wrong positions for him and it ruined his confidence, Holding has take to it like a duck to water. Semis then final with great performances.
 

blaze_of_glory

Moderator
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Country: Canada
Holding so far has looked a step above where Chambers was even when he was playing so well when he first joined, I think. Probably has already gone longer without his form dropping as well.
 

Mudi

Well-Known Member
It's very harsh on Chambers to compare him with Holding, the latter's maturity and composure is very uncommon in young defenders.

Calum's still young and has had a very positive season, far too early to say we wasted our time with him. Especially so now that we have an extra CB on the pitch.
Why is it harsh on Chambers? Same age as Holding, played at a higher level before joining Arsenal and didn't improve at all in the two years he was with us. Even with Boro, he was just okay, nothing special. He even played most of the times RB as he wasn't good enough to play CB.

Holding instead has made some very positive improvements and I think that he's after Koscielny and Mustafi our number 3 CB. I'm very comfortable with him starting games while it was never the case with Chambers. Not that I don't want Chambers at Arsenal, just that we shouldn't invest more time. Loan him out again this season while invest in Holding.
 

carlitobrigante

Active Member
Holding is proving an amazing bargain. Still raw, but so composed. He sprayed a lovely long range pass yesterday that opened Chelsea up.

Chambers also is very technical for CB and is great on the ball. These two, especially if played with Mustafi in a back 3, would give us an unrivalled quality of ball distribution coming from our back line.

I also have high hopes for Chambers. Surprised people are writing him off. I think the pair of them are going to be awesome, and we probably have Englands future CB pairing for a bargain price.
 

Aevi

Hale End FC
Moderator
He even played most of the times RB as he wasn't good enough to play CB.
Actually I'm pretty sure it happened because Boro had an injury crisis in defense.

Either way I think it'd be worth keeping him and giving him cup/European games to see what he more he can do. No use giving up on him now, he's still very young for a defender. Holding is just exceptional.
 

GunnerBP

Established Member
Trusted ⭐
Comparing Holding and Chambers at this stage of their career is kind of a waste of time.

Holding clearly had a breakthrough season for us, but his development and Chambers' have been completely different.

Holding is a CB, and that is really the only position he should play. He has the technical ability to play RB, but it wouldn't make any sense to play him there. Therefore, Holding has pretty much exclusively played at CB. He got experience in the Championship as a CB with Bolton and transferred that to us. Holding is basically played one position and has steadily gotten better at that one position.

Chambers' development is completely different.

This season at Boro was really his first opportunity to get a consistent run at CB. At Southampton, he played DM and CB for the reserves, but never for the first team. He got his breakthrough at Southampton due to an injury at RB, and he performed so well in this new position that we bought him. We bought a player who has the potential to be an excellent CB who had hardly played CB outside of the England youth team squads.

And then when we signed Chambers we played him at RB because we had more experienced players at CB.

This season Holding and Chambers needed completely different things to further their development. Holding needed to get used to playing for Arsenal and being part of a team and in a league way above what he is used to.

Chambers finally needed the experience of playing CB week in and week out.

They both got exactly what they needed this season. Everyone at Boro said that Chambers was a top player at CB. Occasionally, he played RB if they had an injury crisis, but Chambers and Ben Gibson were their starting CBs.

Next season the two of them could have a big impact. Merts with Chambers and Holding in a back three could be excellent.

I expect both of them to be ahead of Gabriel in the pecking order.
 

Kroket

Trusty and Sensible
Why is it harsh on Chambers? Same age as Holding, played at a higher level before joining Arsenal and didn't improve at all in the two years he was with us. Even with Boro, he was just okay, nothing special. He even played most of the times RB as he wasn't good enough to play CB.

Have you even watched him play at Middlesbrough this season? He's had a couple of games at RB because of their injuries but both Karanka and Agnew have had him play at CB whenever possible. They rushed him back from injury twice because they just looked absolutely horrible when he wasn't around.

Holding's been terrific for us so far (although he tends to make one or two mistakes every game) but Chambers too had shown glimpses of potential in his first season here and has made significant progress this season.

It looks like three-at-the back is here to stay and considering the question marks over Koscielny's fitness, Mertesacker's age and Gabriel's ability it would be absolute madness to get rid of a decent young home-grown central defender coming off a strong season at a poor club.
 

razörist

Soft With The Ladies, Hard With The Mes

Country: Morocco
Still remember Chambers doing an awesome job when he first came in and had to fill in at cb real soon! Haven't written him off just yet.
 

ClubLevel

Active Member
Honestly think Holding is a future captain with us. Seems to have everything so young in his career, can only get better.
 

Impact

Established Member
Comparing Holding and Chambers at this stage of their career is kind of a waste of time.

Holding clearly had a breakthrough season for us, but his development and Chambers' have been completely different.

Holding is a CB, and that is really the only position he should play. He has the technical ability to play RB, but it wouldn't make any sense to play him there. Therefore, Holding has pretty much exclusively played at CB. He got experience in the Championship as a CB with Bolton and transferred that to us. Holding is basically played one position and has steadily gotten better at that one position.

Chambers' development is completely different.

This season at Boro was really his first opportunity to get a consistent run at CB. At Southampton, he played DM and CB for the reserves, but never for the first team. He got his breakthrough at Southampton due to an injury at RB, and he performed so well in this new position that we bought him. We bought a player who has the potential to be an excellent CB who had hardly played CB outside of the England youth team squads.

And then when we signed Chambers we played him at RB because we had more experienced players at CB.

This season Holding and Chambers needed completely different things to further their development. Holding needed to get used to playing for Arsenal and being part of a team and in a league way above what he is used to.

Chambers finally needed the experience of playing CB week in and week out.

They both got exactly what they needed this season. Everyone at Boro said that Chambers was a top player at CB. Occasionally, he played RB if they had an injury crisis, but Chambers and Ben Gibson were their starting CBs.

Next season the two of them could have a big impact. Merts with Chambers and Holding in a back three could be excellent.

I expect both of them to be ahead of Gabriel in the pecking order.

Top post. Articulated everything I was going to say.
 
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