Arsenal: Sead Kolasinac giving one gift that keeps on giving

Arsenal’s thrilling victory over Everton had numerous stand-out stars, but Sead Kolasinac was not one. And that is such a good thing.

Anytime you beat someone 5-2, there are going to be plenty of talking points. Especially seeing as how those goals were split five ways, with a different Arsenal player scoring each one. There were so many standout performers that’s it’s tough to pick out a weak point, as there really wasn’t one. Everyone stepped up when they were needed.

There was so much wealth to go around, that you could be forgiving for not stopping and realizing anything particular about Sead Kolasinac. The Bosnian was right back where he always was, at left wing back, but he didn’t do anything spectacular or noteworthy.

And to me, that is such a fantastic sign because of what it means in the long run.

It wasn’t that long ago that I noticed that even when I don’t specifically recognize something Kolasinac has done, he is still doing his job, not messing up, and living up to his expectations. It’s become commonplace for him to have a good match. That’s just what he does.

Against Everton, Kolasinac had a good match. And it was just a casual reminder that he isn’t an enigma, like so many of our other players. He is the incarnation of reliability, sort of along the lines of Nacho Monreal.

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Monreal goes match after match and consistently churns out solid performances, but without purposely watching him, you may not notice him. He does, after all, only play defense.

Kolasinac is the same way. He wins back possession better than anyone else on that team and is adept at getting forward with the ball and keeping possession, but these aren’t the flashiest things in the world. You have to purposely watch him to understand that he is, yet again, doing his job.

This is the gift that keeps on giving, especially as it is so early in his Arsenal career. There is always a built in “acclimation” period for any player coming over from another league, but Kolasinac has played like a regular starter and in each and every performance, he has received a bare minimum 7/10 player rating.

The best part about him though, is that there is upside. He has gone up to the eights and nines and has made it clear that he can make an impact, but if it isn’t there, he is perfectly content with simply doing his job.

Next: 5 Things Learned Against Everton

As supporters, it doesn’t get much better than that. Do your job regularly and give us hope for upside. What a signing.

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