Arsenal: Sead Kolasinac glamour woven into his grit

His worArsene Wenger has made the point that Sead Kolasinac may be the strongest player he has ever had at Arsenal, but he downplayed his glamour. Unnecessarily.

Arsenal’s need for a left back seemed to go unchecked last transfer window, when they were strongly linked to Ricardo Rodriguez. The link was incredibly strong but nothing ever came of it and I think we can all be thankful for that now.

Because we got Sead Kolasinac. And he is literally everything we have ever dreamed of.

Arsene Wenger has come out to sing the praises of Sead Kolasinac, highlighting in particular his strength, which he notes as perhaps the best he has ever seen. His words, as quoted by the Metro:

"Maybe he is the strongest [I have worked with]. He is naturally strong. He uses quite well the strength of his body without violence and when he intervenes it doesn’t look to be a foul, he just uses his body strength. It is an important quality to help adapt to the Premier League."

So there you have it. Of all the players Wenger has managed, Kolasinac takes the cake. And it’s what he highlighted about using his body, but without violence, that I think is the truly special thing here and we are seeing it already. His ability to seamlessly pluck the ball from an opposing player and put his body between that player and the ball happens so quick you can barely even see it.

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It’s strength and it’s dexterity rolled into one and it’s truly marvelous to see. I don’t think I could ever get sick of it.

Wenger did go on to point out that Kolasinac didn’t make ‘glamorous’ dribbling runs, but that is what I beg to differ. His spin moves with the ball are just as effective as his spin moves winning the ball and again – that is something we have seen already.

Maybe I am just misinterpreting what Wenger is saying, but I would easily say that Kolasinac has plenty of glamour woven into his strength and grit simply in the way that Wenger described his ability to tackle. That is how the Bosnian is in every aspect of the game.

So yes, he relies on that strength, but he is surprisingly tactful and even glamorous with his ability to retain the ball and make something of it. That’s how he puts in so many chances, gathers assists and retains possession.

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I was pretty peeved when we passed up on Rodriguez, but yet again, Wenger has come through with someone even better, and for 100% cheaper as well.

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