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Kevin Campbell says George Graham would’ve hauled Arsenal 25-year-old off in first half on Saturday
Arsenal defender Rob Holding has been criticised by Kevin Campbell, who believes George Graham would’ve hauled the Gunners man off in the first half of the Aston Villa game last weekend.
Mikel Arteta’s charges sought to make amends for their defeat to Wolves in midweek, but were guilty of numerous errors early on in the lead up to the hosts’ opener.
Bertrand Traore pounced on Cedric Soares’ poor backpass towards a hesitant Gabriel Magalhaes before teeing up Ollie Watkins for a close-range finish via Holding’s deflection.
Campbell, speaking on the Highbury Squad , said: “Let me tell you something. If George Graham was the manager, he might have taken Rob Holding off.
“[Cedric] does a bad short pass to Gabriel, but remember, they are not in on goal. Traore has the upper hand on Gabriel because he is all of a sudden caught in between.
“Here’s the problem. Rob Holding marks the space and not the player. This is the problem. If he was tight to Ollie Watkins, I can guarantee you that Ollie Watkins doesn’t score.”
Holding, 25, joined Arsenal in the summer of 2016 in a £2million move from Bolton, and has made 103 appearances for the Gunners, including 25 this season.
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Saturday was poor day at the office for Arsenal, their calamitous defending costing them an early goal, while a lack of attacking prowess meant they couldn’t strike back.
The Gunners had been unbeaten in seven prior to last week, but those two defeats have set them back, and Arteta now has a lot of work to do to get his charges back on track.