Arsenal: Sead Kolasinac has “old problems” written all over him

Arsenal yet again benched Sead Kolasinac, which makes this more than rotation. It also defeats every single attempt at making sense of it.

Arsenal benched Sead Kolasinac in the midweek fixture against West Ham, but that was no great shock. There was a lot of rotation. It was assumed that he would be back to face Newcastle. Obviously, he wasn’t, lest I wouldn’t be writing this.

Instead, 20-year-old Ainsley Maitland-Niles was deployed. I’m not griping that Maitland-Niles is playing. I am griping that Kolasinac isn’t. Mostly because no matter how you approach this “logically” there is no a single justifiable reason why he isn’t playing.

So let’s engage those attempts at logic. Attempt No. 1 is that Ainsley Maitland-Niles had a good match against West Ham, which he did. And that’s wonderful. Like I said, he should be playing. But there are other places to play him. For instance, you could play him instead of Alex Iwobi, who has been less beneficial to the team than Kolasinac.

Or you could play him at rightback, as Hector Bellerin has been in a fit with his form as well. Either opens up a highly influential Kolasinac to play his favored positions, which is a side point of logic defying.

When asked what his favorite position was between left wingback, leftback and centerback, Kolasinac said leftback. He has played both other positions but as soon as his favored position opens up, he gets sat.

Attempt at logic No. 2 is that Wenger wants more offensive push. Well, that’s silly. Kolasinac’s offensive numbers are some of the best on the team, let alone with defenders. He has the third most assists on the team behind just Ozil and Ramsey. 

Defensively, only the traditional fillers of the defensive three are more effective at winning the ball back.

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For those worried about his “temper,” Kolasinac has just one yellow card on the year. Six Arsenal players have more than that and a further six have just as many.

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So what is it then?

My fear is that it comes down to Wenger’s old habit of trusting players he has invested more in. The same problem that kept Lucas Perez out of having a fair chance, only less extreme. Or more, because Kolasinac has had a chance and he has proven it, yet in a moment of desperation, Wenger has benched him for no apparent reason.

Wenger is choosing Bellerin, Iwobi, even Alexis over Kolasinac when the Bosnian has been better than each of those three in his own right. This is favoritism. It’s not systematic. Kolasinac loves left back. It’s not tactical, Kolasinac always fit in. It’s a matter of personal preference. Kolasinac is in no danger of leaving, as he’s only just arrived, so that gives Wenger even more license to take the easy way out.

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I don’t want to be all sour graping after the win, but it’s so bothersome. Kolasinac has so much of what this club needs but he’s been tossed aside, for now at least.