Rob Holding will have to try to contain Erling Haaland when Arsenal play Man City (Photo: Getty)
Kolo Toure says Rob Holding is not to blame for Arsenal’s disastrous recent run as the Gunners prepare for the pivotal clash at Manchester City.
Arsenal’s chances of winning the Premier League title have taken a nosedive over the last three weeks, having taken just three points from a possible nine.
Firstly, they blew two-goal leads at Liverpool and West Ham before scraping a 3-3 draw with bottom of the table Southampton at the Emirates last Friday.
It means that their lead over City is down to just five points having played two games more, and what’s more they travel to the Etihad on Wednesday night for what looks set to be the title deciding game.
Many believe Mikel Arteta’s side, who have topped the table for so long, have blown it in the title race, with some fans turning their anger on Holding who has started the last five league games in the place of the injured William Saliba.
Centre-back Saliba had been pivotal to Arsenal’s title campaign and his absence has been noticeable, with the team failing to keep a single clean sheet since he suffered a serious back injury in the Europa League defeat to Sporting Lisbon in March.
However, former Arsenal and City defender Toure believes the criticism of Holding is not warranted and believes the rest of his side must do better in order for the 27-year-old to play at his best.
Kolo Toure won the Premier League with both Arsenal and Man City (Photo: Getty)
‘He hasn’t played a lot of games but he’s a player that the manager trusts,’ Toure, who won the title with both clubs, told football.london.
‘I don’t think the [recent] results have only been his fault. It’s been the [entire] team, in my opinion, it’s not only him who defends. Everybody defends with him.
‘You just need to to stay calm and just try to help his team because he’s part of the team. When you’re a manager, you have 23 players that you count on and when there’s an injured player, there’s one who will have to come and Holding has been trying his best.
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‘And for me, it’s too easy to blame him because he’s the one who is playing right now, but he is doing his best, and it’s up to the team to to make sure they can help him perform as well.’
Prior to this run, Holding was yet to start a league game this season and had in fact played just 19 minutes of Premier League football.
The Englishman did start Arsenal’s FA Cup fourth round game at City back in January but was subbed off at half-time have been booked and run ragged by the goal-scoring sensation that is Erling Haaland.
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‘I don’t think the results have only been his fault.’