Several years ago Roy Keane took aim at three Arsenal players who he felt had "big question marks over them".
Two of them remain at the club with Mikel Arteta very much reshaping his squad at the Emirates, so much so that the Gunners could claim the Premier League title for the first time in almost two decades. They hold an eight point lead, which is testament to the turnaround led by Arteta.
Keane's comments came back in 2020 after the north Londoners had lost 3-1 at Liverpool early in this season. Arteta was embarking on his first full campaign as boss, which would go on to be a turbulent one, but Keane had reservations over several of his defensive players.
The Irishman said on Sky Sports: "There's no getting away from that but he will still want some improvement. His hands are tied which is a big problem because he still needs a couple more players in. We saw again tonight that defensively – I still think David Luiz, Kieran Tierney and Rob Holding, there's big question marks over them. Luiz still has that mistake in him."
Luiz has since left the Gunners with William Saliba and Gabriel the preferred duo at the heart of the defence. Both Tierney and Holding remain however, but have been restricted to squad roles in north London.
Arteta has regularly utilised Ben White at right-back, a switch he made at the start of the season, with Takehiro Tomiyasu also an option. Meanwhile summer signing Oleksandr Zinchenko has slotted starting into the starting XI, which has hampered Tierney's minutes amid talk of a move away.
The Scot, who has previously been a favourite at the Emirates, has only been able to start four times in the league this term with Arteta challenging him to change the situation, having also admitted he could seek pastures new. "He’s played under me a lot. He understands the situation and he needs to challenge the situation," said the Arsenal boss.
Holding meanwhile has started just once for the league leaders and has by no means been a regular throughout Arteta's time in charge. The bulk of his minutes have come in the cup competitions but his boss underlined his role last term after a match winning display against West Ham.
He said last season: "I said to you guys, to good people, to good things happen and Rob is another great example, but now when he plays well to give him credit, especially when he doesn't play, the way he trains, the way he is amongst the team, he's just a phenomenal person and player to have around the team and today, when you ask him to come he's always ready to do something."
