Arsenal: Sead Kolasinac is exactly who we thought he was

Arsenal deployed Sead Kolasinac in the starting XI for their preseason opener and, go figure, the Bosnian was exactly who we thought he was.

Arsenal had two new signings ready to make their debuts against Sydney FC and it’s no secret who fans were more excited to see – Alexandre Lacazette. We’ve been waiting years to have a forward like him and, no surprise here, he didn’t disappoint, as he scored his first goal within minutes of being introduced.

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But Sead Kolasinac is also a big deal. A really big deal. Bundesliga team of the year and arguably one of the top fullbacks in the world. The fact that he was free may be diminishing the hype, coupled with the arrival of Lacazette, but his importance is right up there with the Frenchman.

When we signed him, it was pretty widely understood what we were signing him for. He was an aggressive, no-nonsense, proactive, sometimes downright mean defender. That’s what he had always been in the Bundesliga and we wanted that at Arsenal.

After 70 minutes of first team play, I’d say that we got that at Arsenal. He is exactly who we thought he was, at least so far in his brand new career.

I have to admit that I was a bit ticked that he was stuck playing center back. I hope that he was brought in to be a wing back.

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But even still, as center back, we saw his ability to do all the things we signed him to do. He was so aggressive that he was bolting into passing lanes in the opposition half. There is no holding back with this guy.

Not only that, but we saw his ability to get forward, to make constructive passes, and to retain the ball, which is always a good thing.

Kolasinac is going to fit right in. He is an intelligent defender with the physical attributes of a center back, the aggressiveness of Francis Coquelin and the wingbacking abilities of Alex Oxalde-Chamberlain. He is a Bosnian-army-knife of defensive aptitude and we are going to see so much of that this year.

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I’ll try not to get too far ahead of myself, as it was only one preseason match. But still, to see him display all the things we wanted and fit in so well in his first 70 minutes with a new club? That’s really hard not to be excited about.