Arsenal: Sead Kolasinac benching defines the entire problem

Arsenal’s destruction at the feet of Liverpool was almost expected with that starting XI. Sead Kolasinac’s exclusion defines the whole problem.

Arsenal’s appalling dissection by Liverpool left so many questions that you literally had to write them all down, lest you forget the ones you started with by time you got into the twenties. It was horrible and you’d be more likely to pack yourself into a single white envelope and successfully ship yourself to Spain than you would be to pluck a positive note from the carnage.

You could sense something awful from the start though, with the crucial absences. It was a team minus all of the repairs that had been made in the summer. Which is so incredibly counter-intuitive that I can’t even think of an analogy for it.

But leaving Sead Kolasinac on the bench has to rank up there among the most jingle-brained things to do. Obviously Alexandre Lacazette‘s benching is up there too, but I’ve already ranted about that, so let’s focus on the Bosnian.

If you looked at what Arsenal lacked on the day, the first thing you’d say is ‘everything.’ But when you get into specifics, you may such things as fire, determination, transition play, hunger, defensive solidity. And that’s just off the top of my head.

Sead Kolasinac has all of that. The man is one of the most determined player that we have. He never stops. And it’s not like he’s just a battering ram on speed. He has such a finesse to his play that he can filch a ball and turn it the other way in a second or less. Transition play.

Defensive solidity? He may not be a center back, nor should he be, but the defensive perks he provides on that left hand wing are invaluable. And they would have been such a boost to a left flank devoid of any hope from the onset. Liverpool ate that side alive.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

How appropriate that Kolasinac, the solution to a big chunk of the problems, or at least a feasible font of help, was left on the sidelines, observing.

No doubt Wenger thought the same thing he did with Lacazette – that he has to ‘protect’ them during their “acclimating phase.”

If there was ever a player who doesn’t need to acclimate to anything, it’s Sead Kolasinac. He was made for the Premier League. He can own and entire side of the pitch and he will never give up. Tell me of another Arsenal player that can do that.

And for that matter, tell me why we have half-arsed Alex “Meh”lade-Chamberlain having a jog out there, wishing he was wearing any shirt bu the one on his back (the ungrateful prat) when Kolasinac, who was the solution on that side of the pitch and actually wants to be here, gets shoved aside.

Next: Arsenal vs Liverpool Player Ratings

That is a microcosm of everything that went wrong. The guys who were brought in to fix things, who want to fix things, are being overlooked by the players who either haven’t been able to fix things or don’t care to try.

Home/Arsenal News