Michael Owen says it was a ‘total mismatch’ between Rob Holding and Erling Haaland following Arsenal’s 4-1 defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday night at the Etihad.
The former England striker added that he ‘felt sorry’ for Rob Holding because he thinks Erling Haaland was ‘too big, too strong and too quick’ for the Arsenal defender.
For a number of weeks now, the Englishman has been filling in at the heart of Arsenal’s defence, with William Saliba out injured.
The France international’s absence has been a big miss for Mikel Arteta’s side, who have dropped points during their last four matches.
As a result of that, their lead at the top of the Premier League table is just two points, with Manchester City having two games in hand.
Michael Owen touched upon the battle between Holding and Haaland and how there was no contest, as he told Premier League Productions (26/04/23 at 10:20 pm).
“They are sort of half-pressing,” said Owen. “Manchester City have gone long once, then, all of sudden, what do you do when they go long? You try to press them and if they have options, then you are struggling.
“It’s an unbelievable goal (Kevin de Bruyne’s first) from Manchester City’s point of view – they go long. Look at Partey, with Kevin de Bruyne, the eventual goalscorer. He lets him run.
“The main culprit here is Rob Holding. You can be very, very aggressive in this situation (as he is pinned up against Haaland when Stones plays a long ball to him). You have got a man in Gabriel right behind you. Either win the ball or give a foul away. Once you half-heartedly put in a challenge and the big man brings the ball down exquisitely well, then, all of a sudden, they have turned and you are in big, big trouble.
“Holding, in particular, it was a total mismatch. I would have been grabbing all kinds of help that I could. I mentioned this at half-time, he had to be more aggressive. You can’t let him bring the ball down so simply and let him turn to bring the ball down for de Bruyne. He was just too big, too strong and too quick for him, in every way shape or form. I felt sorry for Holding.”
OUT OF ARSENAL’S HANDS
They can feel sorry for themselves as much as they like, but it’s out of Arsenal’s hands now.
Perhaps that will ease the pressure on the Gunners and allow them to win the rest of their Premier League games and just hope that Manchester City stumbles somewhere.
On one hand, it’s been a season of real progression from the team, but considering where they were for many months of the campaign, this one is going to hurt.
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