Kevin Campbell told the Highbury Squad podcast that George Graham would have taken off Rob Holding in the first half during Arsenal’s defeat to Aston Villa on Saturday.
The former Gunners hitman shared that Holding was at fault for Ollie Watkins scoring inside the opening minutes.
Following a short pass from Cedric, Bertrand Traore pounced on the ball, made a darting run inside the penalty area before feeding Watkins with a low cross.
Campbell shared where Holding went wrong, as he allowed the Villa man space inside the six-yard area.
“Let me tell you something,” said Campbell. “If George Graham was the manager, he might have taken Rob Holding off.
“He [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.”
It has been five years since Holding swapped Bolton for Arsenal in a £2 million deal (BBC Sport) and it’s fair to say that he is still trying to win over fans.
It’s understandable that it has been a tougher road than usual because Arsenal as a whole haven’t progressed, so it’s difficult for individual players to take such forward steps.
But there’s no doubt that question marks are still above Holding’s head, as he will be hoping he can take Arsenal out of the bottom half and into the European places.
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