Arsenal: No one can do what Sead Kolasinac does

Arsenal are sweating ahead of Manchester City due to Sead Kolasinac’s pending health, but know that no one can do what the Bosnian does.

Arsenal‘s impending match against Manchester City is the biggest match of this young Premier League season. Not just for the Gunners, but for everyone. They can prove that City are human, they can prove them mortal. No one has dented their loss column yet. They remain the one team, that has yet to show significant weaknesses.

Which puts the Gunners in such a unique place to do something special. But the problem here is that Sead Kolasinac is not a guarantee to be healthy. He missed training ahead of the clash after being taken off against Swansea City.

And need I remind you that against Swansea City, Kolasinac was everything. He coolly finished the equalizer, a finish we have seen him accomplish before. The Bosnian has not only scored this year, he has been scored massive goals this year.

He was brought on to be a spine for the team, primarily defensively, but I’d argue that he has been far more impacting on the attacking side of things than the defensive side of things. And he has done it in a way that I think only he could.

In our search of a left wing back prior to Kolasinac, I had been exploring all options, from Ricardo Rodriguez to Ben Chilwell to Kieran Tierney. All had their upside and their promise, but I don’t think – dare I say I know – that none of them would be doing what Kolasinac is doing.

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And that is something that I don’t think can be emphasized enough. Even Alexis Sanchez is playing beautiful interchanges with the Bosnian, who was said to be too crass and too blunt of an object to do anything sharp like that.

Which is where the concern comes in regarding Manchester City. City is not a team that has a lot of weaknesses, but if you were to put Kolasinac and Alexis on the same side, you could batter a pretty big hole in a stingy City side. Like when that Uruk-hai dove into the breach at Helm’s Deep and blew the whole thing wide open.

That’s what I see Kolasinac as. Similar physique and everything. Similar neglect of fear and trepidation.

But he’s no guarantee to start. I said this earlier in the year but I’ll say it again – Kolasinac is the one guy in the starting XI that can’t be appropriately replaced. Every other position has a reliable enough back-up that can stem the tide of doubt. But not Kolasinac.

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In summary, Kolasinac has to play. If he doesn’t play, we take the strength of that left hand side and turn it into a weakness.