Ian Wright highlighted Arsenal duo Rob Holding and Hector Bellerin, whilst speaking to Premier League Productions, as two players who were ‘magnificent’ during their 3-1 win against Chelsea on Boxing Day.
In games gone by, Holding and Bellerin have been on the end of some heavy criticism from the Arsenal supporters for their performances out on the pitch.
But against their London rivals, a returning Bellerin produced his best performance of the season, whilst Holding was forward-thinking and strong in his defensive duels.
Wright touched upon that positivity and how Holding played a big part in Arsenal’s third goal of the game against Chelsea at the Emirates.
“People say Chelsea didn’t play well,” said Wright. “I am not worried about how Chelsea played. I am more worried about what Arsenal do to impose themselves on the team and then you negate Chelsea. That’s what they did today and they have to take credit for that.
“What the build-up showed [for the third goal], again it came from Rob Holding, who had a magnificent game today, alongside Hector Bellerin, Tierney and all the guys.
“But this pass here [Holding’s forward ball to Xhaka in midfield], it’s something that they weren’t doing [before] – Once you do a pass like that, it opens everything up. Chelsea are on the back foot. You have people going forward.”
After weeks and weeks of decline, Mikel Arteta finally has something to build on with this Arsenal side.
What’s even better is that he didn’t have Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Gabriel at his disposal, so they will only get stronger on that front.
But the key for this Arsenal side is to now add consistency to their game and hope the team can shed some light into this Arteta process heading into the New Year.
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