Arsenal: Yes, Sead Kolasinac should be very, very worried

Ainsley Maitland-Niles started in Sead Kolasinac’s place for the second successive game on Saturday against Newcastle United. Yes, the Bosnian should be worried about his future.

Keeping a squad fresh is not easy. Keeping a squad fresh when the manager has been the same for more than two decades is not easy. Keeping a squad fresh when investment in new recruits is limited. So keeping Arsenal’s fresh, obviously, is not easy.

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Much of that falls on Arsene Wenger. He is the final decision-maker of the club. He decides who is bought and sold. He decides who plays or who doesn’t. He decides what formation is used and what formation isn’t used. He decides the style of play, the philosophies of the club, the ideals by which the organisation abides by. He decides everything, and that everything has become stale.

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One way to inject a little new and different into the club, maintaining its freshness, keeping players and coaches on their toes, attentive and committed to the future, is to turn to youth. And that is exactly what Wenger has done.

Even though Sead Kolasinac was only signed in the summer, Wenger decided to opt for an element of rotation. Ainsley Maitland-Niles started in his stead against West Ham United in midweek, something that was a little surprising, if at least understanding given Wenger’s desire to rest the Bosnian. But few then expected him to follow that up with another start just three days later. That is exactly what happened. Maitland-Niles started against Newcastle and played wonderfully. This is what Wenger had to say about his performance, his talent and his future in his post-match press conference:

"“I believe he is the future. He can play left back, right back, central midfield. Of the three positions, maybe the least natural for him is left back, but he adapts very quickly and is a good defender. He has that sense of one against one, he is very strong, he is very quick, he has very quick recovery runs when he comes back. He has some aspects to learn: experience and he has to work on his heading. But overall, what he has done in the last three days is positive.”"

There is a chance that Wenger is simply wanting to provide Kolasinac with an extended period of rest. He has no prior experience of English football and is used to a winter break, having played much of his football in Germany. Obviously, he will not get that luxury on these shores, so maybe Wenger is wanting to manufacture a ‘winter break’ for him.

Even if that is Wenger’s primary intention, such was the success of Maitland-Niles’ two performances, especially the latter on Saturday, Kolasinac should be concerned about his starting role. Not only is Maitland-Niles set to push him hard for his place in the team, but with a shift to the back-four, Nacho Monreal could also be reconsidered as a full-back.

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Suddenly, there are many different options for Wenger to turn to at the left-back position. We have seen Hector Bellerin steal the right-back position from Mathieu Debuchy when injuries came to the Frenchman. Kolasinac should be wary of the same threat. Two games are not enough to lose a job. But they are enough for questions to be asked.