Arsenal defender Rob Holding has been slammed for his poor display against Manchester City as his side slipped further away from the Premier League title.
How did Rob Holding play against City?
Mikel Arteta's side were far from their best as they fell to a crushing 4-1 defeat to severely dent their title hopes after being outclassed by City, and Holding had a tough time as he was terrorised by Erling Haaland throughout the game.
Although he netted a consolation goal towards the end of the match, his failure to win a duel against Haaland led to the first goal, and his performance appeared to sum up the Gunners' pitiful showing.
The Englishman has been filling in as William Saliba continues to be sidelined with injury but has failed to impress the likes of Watts, with Arsenal failing to win their last four matches.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Watts slammed Holding's display, lamenting his lack of ability to deal with the threat of Haaland.
"Rob Holding was exposed woefully," he stated.
"He really struggled, as we all thought he probably would. Haaland gave him the run-around, dominated him, I gave him a three (out of ten)."
Should Holding be dropped from the team?
Holding's current run in the first team appears to have coincided with Arsenal's poor run of results. The Gunners have conceded 12 goals in their last four matches, having conceded 26 in the previous 29.
Saliba has been a big miss, but with Takehiro Tomiyasu also injured, Ben White has remained at right-back, leaving a shortage of alternatives in the squad who could replace Holding for the rest of the season.
One option would be to play January signing Jakub Kiwior, but as a left-footed centre-back, it remains to be seen whether he could play alongside Gabriel Magalhaes in a back four.
Another option could be to move White back into the centre, where he played last season and throw a wildcard option in at right-back. Jorginho could come into midfield with Thomas Partey moving to the right having played there previously, or one of Kieran Tierney or Oleksandr Zinchenko could play on the opposite side.
With Arsenal looking out of the title race barring a miracle, the final few games of the season could allow for more experimentation with less pressure, but Arteta's side will want to finish strongly – and finding an alternative for Holding could help them recover their form.
