ROB HOLDING won’t be carrying the can for Arsenal’s dramatic late collapse that ruined their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League.
The 26-year-old central defender was widely blamed for the critical 3-0 loss to Spurs when he was sent off in the 33rd minute for a second foul on Son Heung-min.
With just two games from last season remaining after that, Arsenal were never able to recover from that devastating setback as rivals Tottenham snatched fourth place right at the time of death.
However, Holding insists that he should not be the scapegoat.
He said: “Of course I was disappointed with the way the season ended, but it didn’t come down to just the Tottenham game.
“There was a stage where we were fourth in the table with games to go and we thought ‘we could do this.’
“But we lost five of our last ten games and let it slip away.
“There were three games before Tottenham against Palace, Southampton and Brighton when we really should have finished but we lost points.
“So people can say it was all because of the Tottenham result, but if things had been different earlier it wouldn’t even have been a big game.
“The day after Tottenham I was walking the dog and thinking over and over ‘what could I have done differently?’
Most read in the Premier League
– –
FREE BETS AND REGISTRATION OFFERS – BEST OFFERS FOR NEW CUSTOMERS
“I didn’t want Son to have a bye so I tried to make it a physical battle and even after that we could have gotten into the top four if we hadn’t lost our next game in Newcastle.
“But it is what it is. I can’t dwell too much on that. We all have to move on.”
With William Saliba and Pablo Mari returning to the squad after last season’s loan, Holding’s path to regular Arsenal first-team football is not going to be an easy one.
He admitted: “Now we have more strength in central defense and more competition for places.
“I’m not going to give up and say ‘if I’m not a starter, then I’m not interested in coming in and helping the team.’
“We want to qualify for the Champions League and we have two chances to do so if we finish in the top four or if we win the Europa League.
“My preference would be to have both.”
–
