The Gunners had a season to forget in the Premier League last term, only managing an eighth placed finish, outside of the European places.
Arsenal’s top flight rivals Chelsea meanwhile ended their season on a high, lifting the Champions League, while clinching a fourth-place finish in the league despite having struggles of their own during the course of the 2020/21 season.
Holding has insisted that despite Chelsea’s achievements last season, he does not see the Blues as a club Arsenal aspire to be like.
The Gunners centre-back added that his team need to focus on improving their results and league position and only need to see Chelsea as competitive rivals.
“I see Chelsea as a competitive rival for us”, Holding told the Guardian.
“I don’t see them as a team we aspire to be like, and I don’t think they see us that way either.
“There’s a mutual respect between us and a recent history with FA Cup finals and playing each other in big games.
“I don’t think that, because they won the Champions League, we need to be more like Chelsea.
“Our results and league position need to improve, of course, but when we play each other it’s competitive.”
Arsenal have a friendly scheduled with Chelsea on Sunday, while both teams will clash for the first time in the upcoming top flight campaign on 22nd August at the Emirates Stadium.
