Arsene Wenger revealed in the press-conference that he chose to go with a changed back-3 against Stoke after seeing his defence leak three goals at home to Leicester. He revealed he dropped Holding to retain his confidence.
To be honest, Mustafi and Monreal didn’t do much to cover themselves up in glory either. Mustafi backed off from Berahino, letting him have a go at him before releasing the pass for Jese. Monreal wasn’t too tight on Jese and hesitated before the pass was played; expecting him to take a different route but that wasn’t to be. That’s two defensive mistakes within 20 seconds, and in a league as unforgiving as the Premier League, 9 times out of 10; you will get punished.
Per Mertesacker, a central defender by trade was on the bench. His absence against Leicester was felt, as his experience and intelligence makes up for his lack of pace. He was kept out of action due to a head injury suffered during the Community Shield. He did have a full pre-season under his belt and did not miss any training session for Arsene to justify his absence by lack of match fitness.
Having a central defender playing in his position is vital for any team aiming to gain the upper hand. His ability to interpret the direction of the opposition attack is essential for when it comes to disrupting the play. Monreal, who played as the pivot of the back 3 is a full back by trade. A full back’s responsibilities on comparison to that of a centre back is much more diverse. While they do have to defend, a full back has to have an affinity for attacking as well. No amount of versatility can change the thought processes.
You need to field 3 like-minded defenders as the back three to get a better cohesion. Simplicity is the most complex concepts, an irony in itself.
Furthermore, Rob Holding had one bad game that saw him drop two steps down. Arsene Wenger spoke about his confidence in the press-conference and how he wants to help him retain it. Any individual would agree on the fact that dropping a player out of the squad altogether is sure to dent his confidence, rather than improve it. As far as man-management goes, that is not a step in the right direction for the manager.
Arsene must stick to the basics and not experiment around much, simply because he cannot afford to do so. Every manager wants autonomy in their respective setups but Wenger has been enjoying that for far too long. While it still is early days in the season, such glaring mistakes aren’t expected from a manager who has been in the trade for more than 26 years.
