Arsenal's makeshift back three is odd — but it really works, says Rob Holding

Hold-up play: Rob Holding tries to stop Red Star striker Richmond Boakye
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James Olley2 November 2017

Arsene Wenger was always expected to rotate his squad in the Europa League this season but few would have predicted the defensive line-up that has taken them to the brink of qualification for the knockout stages.

The Gunners will reach the last 32 on Thursday with victory over a Red Star Belgrade side defeated in the reverse fixture two weeks ago courtesy of a magical team goal finished acrobatically by Olivier Giroud.

Significantly, that win was also secured with Arsenal’s first clean sheet in the competition, something which appeared highly unlikely when Wenger’s selection in Serbia was confirmed.

Rob Holding, with just one European outing to his name prior to this campaign, was suddenly the most logical choice in a back three comprising midfielder Mohamed Elneny and full-back Mathieu Debuchy. The trio reprised that role in the Carabao Cup against Norwich and it would be no surprise were they to do so again on Thursday, especially with Shkodran Mustafi’s hamstring injury and Sunday’s Premier League trip to Manchester City in mind.

There were occasions when their lack of pace was exposed by Norwich and Arsenal will have to be wary of Richmond Boakye’s speed on the counter-attack but the Red Star forward was shackled sufficiently at the Stadion Rajko Mitic with Holding grateful for Elneny’s diligence throughout.

“It is a strange one but it works,” Holding said. “Mo puts his heart into everything so as soon as he was named alongside me, I knew he would be willing to do all the dirty work that needs to be done at centre-back.

“Right in the last minute, Red Star put a good cross in, it went over my head but Mo was in the right place to head it away. If he hadn’t have made that, the striker had a free header, so I was delighted with Mo for that. I congratulated him for that after the game.”

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Elneny was used at centre-back in pre-season but his inclusion there is a product of Mustafi’s absence and Calum Chambers’s fitness issues. Of greater surprise is Debuchy’s renaissance, with Wenger making little secret of his uncertainty over whether the 32-year-old could last 90 minutes prior to playing in Belgrade. Yet, he did and went one better by surviving 120 minutes against Norwich and a player who has been told he could leave the club at least twice is now performing an important role.

Debuchy’s inclusion affords Wenger the chance to rest Laurent Koscielny and Nacho Monreal before facing City.

Per Mertesacker has featured in the Europa League this season and his participation, or lack thereof, tonight is likely to be indicative of Wenger’s plans for Sunday. It would be a big ask for Mertesacker, aged 33 and retiring at the end of the season, to play twice in the space of 66 hours.

Wenger will have confidence his second string can finish the job tonight, although Red Star’s 1-0 win at Cologne on matchday two should sound a note of caution. The Arsenal boss claimed yesterday that “this is the first time in my life that I see how united and focused the entire squad is”. The triumvirate of Holding, Elneny and Debuchy encapsulate that more than most.