Klaus wrote:
Either way I'm not suggesting he should start for us, I'm just saying maybe Arteta likes him. He was a bit overrated before his injury, and since he came back opinion has swung to the point where people now talk about him like he's Igors Stepanovs.
It’s not about him being Igor Stepanovs. It’s about buying and fielding the most appropriate types of players for your system. For example, while Courtois is a good goalkeeper, I wouldn’t advocate buying him. He has incredible distribution with his hands but is inferior to both of our guys with his feet. It would nuke our ability to play out of the back.
Holding is the same. Big, strong, good in the air, hardworking. But he slows down your ability to play out the back. Plus his lack of speed means you expose yourself to counters when you attack because you can’t keep the team compressed for fast passing and the press when you lose the ball. It doesn’t show up as much when you’re playing the top 4 and have 40% possession, but it will be a bigger problem going forward.
