Former Bolton defender Rob Holding has opened up on the leadership qualities he honed at Wanderers he is now putting to good use at Arsenal and how a loan move to Newcastle United did not come to pass.
The 26-year-old came through the ranks at Wanderers and made a total of 30 appearances for the club during the 2015/16 season, scoring once against MK Dons. His performances then earned him a move to Arsenal in the summer of 2016 for an initial reported fee of around £2m.
Holding has gone on to make 138 appearances for the Gunners and score three goals. He has won the both the FA Cup and the Community Shield on two occasions during his time in North London.
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Holding will soon be embarking on his seventh season with Arsenal and is one of the longer serving players in Mikel Arteta's squad. A new captain is anticpated soon at the Emirates Stadium, with Martin Odegaard the likely candidate for the armband.
But Holding opened up on his own leadership qualities and the captain's armband he wore throughout his time at Wanderers when coming through the youth team ranks. It is something he hopes helps others to learn and develop by following his example.
He told The Athletic : “It’s (leadership) followed me around from when I was at Bolton, really. Through the age groups, I was always a captain of the team. It’s been a blessing and sometimes been a curse — you’re sort of expected to be the one that steps up, even though you’ve not been chosen to be the one.
“It means setting the standards, doing things right — don’t be doing anything stupid, messing up or being late. It’s just simple stuff.
“It should just be a given. That’s how I was brought up by my dad. He was a stickler for rules and that rubbed off on me.
“I always end up being one of the guys to help people learn and develop. You want a guy that’s going to help people and bring them forward, rather than hold them back.”
Holding will soon begin his seventh season at the club, but there was a time when his spell at Arsenal could have been interrupted for a season. He was close to joining Newcastle on loan in the summer of 2020 for the following campaign to get minutes under his belt.
The potential move followed his recovery form anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in his knee, but Holding explained how a conversation with Arteta meant he ended up staying with the Gunners. He believes his long time at the Premier League side is testament to doing things right on the pitch and is aiming to maximise his time playing football.
He said: “It was always going to be a loan. I was just back from my ACL injury and thought I needed a full season of playing. But after the Community Shield against Liverpool, the boss said to me, ‘You’re going to play here, I don’t know why you’re planning on going on loan’.
"And I said, ‘If I’m going to play here then yeah, I’m happy, no problem’. And I ended up playing 35-odd Premier League games that year.
"I’ve been here seven years now and the club have made other signings at centre-half since I’ve been there. It comes down to me backing myself and proving to the manager that I’m good enough to play — and that’s spoken for itself over the past six years.
“I’ve seen a few centre-halves that have come in and have now gone, and I’m still here — so I must be doing something right. It’s another challenge, and we go from there.
“I don’t want to look back on my career and think, ‘Oh, yeah, I played really great in the last 10 minutes of games’. I don’t want to be known as ‘the 5-3-2 defender that comes on and sees out games’, as funny and as amusing as it is.
“I want to look back at my career and think, ‘I’ve played a hell of a lot of games’. And if that’s for Arsenal, then great.
"But whatever happens, I’m not going to just give up and be like, ‘Because I’m not starting, I’m not interested in coming on and helping the team’. If I’m getting on the pitch, then I’m going to be there and doing my best for the team and helping them get to where we want to be.”
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