Rob Holding Reveals Tactical Advice Given To Him By Steve Bould

By The Editor
on 23rd August 2017

Rob Holding reveals Bould’s influence…

Arsenal defender Rob Holding revealed that he’s often given pointers in training from assistant manager Steve Bould who’s been criticised for his lack of input in recent years.

Bould was promoted to the first-team in 2012 following Pat Rice’s retirement, and he initially hit the ground running by negotiating three clean sheets in the opening three games of that season.

A back four of Carl Jenkinson, Per Mertesacker, Thomas Vermaelen and Kieran Gibbs kept out the likes of Sunderland, Liverpool and Stoke City – with the later two games taking place away from home.

Much of that success was put to Bould’s defensive work, yet we quickly deteriorated and talk of a rift between Bould and Wenger surfaced which has never really been convincingly debunked.

However, as our defensive problems persist, Holding revealed in his latest feature on Arsenal Player that Bould often pulls him up in training to discuss his body shape and positioning.

“There were times in training where Steve Bouldy pulled me in to say that my body shape should be slightly different or I should’ve been in a slightly different position,” Holding told Arsenal Player.

“Then we’d go through it after training on the cameras and I think that was the stuff that helped towards me getting back into the team.”

Holding seems to be one of Wenger preferred options in a back three, although he left him out of the squad at Stoke City due a “lack confidence” after the 21-year-old’s display against Leicester City.

Check out the video above as Holding discusses his rise to the first-team over the past 12 months.