‘Absolutely horrific’, ‘Awful’, these Arsenal fans slam 24-year-old’s display vs Leeds

A selection of Arsenal fans have slammed the performance of defender Rob Holding during the club’s 1-0 win over Leeds United in the third round of the FA Cup.

Holding made his first appearance for the club since his return from a knee injury but his performance was pretty average with his passing being a letdown at different stages of the game.

The centre-back conceded possession to the opposition on a number of occasions with his misplaced passes in either half, but fortunately none of them contributed to Leeds finding the net.

Holding did make one key block in the opening half following his error in distribution but overall, he had a frustrating return to first-team action against a Leeds side, who thoroughly dominated the first half.

As a result, the response from some of the fans has not been friendly and a few of them have taken to Twitter to express the frustration over the centre-back’s performance.

Twitter Reactions:

Rob holding’s passing is absolutely horrific

— Matthew (@minstrel69) January 6, 2020

Rob Holding has been awful

— GoonerViews (@GoonerViews) January 6, 2020

Rob Holding couldn’t pass water

— Kildare Gunner (@KildareGunner) January 6, 2020

What we learned from the Arsenal vs Leeds game:

Arsenal are learning how to fight and win close games.

Rob Holding is nowhere near ready to start for Arsenal.

Martinez is a great 2nd choice keeper.

Guendouzi back to his best 2nd half.

Everyone looked tired.#AFC

— ??? ?????? ??? ? (@AFC_AdidasEra) January 6, 2020

Leeds played well. Really well we got away with that first half. If they come up they’ll be a tough team to beat! But Rob Holding that game was atrocious! His passing was criminal! They countered us every time he gave it away! Martinelli though. I love him. #nohomo #ARSLEE #afc

— Andy. ?⚪️AFC (@manlikecoulter) January 6, 2020

With the injury to Calum Chambers, Rob Holding seems the immediate back-up option for the central defensive role, suppose one of David Luiz or Sokratis gets injured or suspended.

Shkodran Mustafi and Kostas Mavropanos are the other choices at the manager’s disposal but the former’s future with the club remains uncertain, given he has not even made the matchday squad in recent games.

Based on the Cup showing, Holding certainly seems to be lacking the match sharpness and hopefully, the board can back Arteta with funds for the purchase of a new central defender.