Arsenal: The Sead Kolasinac train needs some serious track work

Arsenal have a gem in Sead Kolasinac. But even the steam engine that he is requires maintenance, as something just isn’t right with him.

There aren’t many players I’m more excited to have at Arsenal than Sead Kolasinac. When he first arrived in the summer, I was completely confident in asserting that he would make a bigger impact than Alexandre Lacazette.

For awhile, that looked to be right. He was scoring goals and assisting and he was high on life. The Bosnian Tank became a quick favorite and all looked to be paradise for the free transfer from FC Schalke.

But the train derailed when he suffered an injury towards the end of 2017 and was replaced by Nacho Monreal. The Nacho man became a superhero in no time flat and, just like that, Kolasinac was on the back foot.

As is often the case with someone like Kolasinac, it was just a matter of time before he got back on the tracks and started up the engine. The problem, though, is that it has been one snag after another.

Check out the latest episode of the Pain in the Arsenal Podcast here!

If he’s not hurt, he is struggling with form. He can’t stay on the pitch long enough to find his confidence and his form. It’s a frustrating cycle that has this year going from massive boom to massive bust for the first-year Bosnian.

And now things are getting worse.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

Just as the Gunners were returning from a two week break and as they were readying themselves for another hectic period of two matches per week, Kolasinac went down with another injury, this time for Bosnia.

Tuesday night, against Senegal in a meaningless match, Bosnia played out a 0-0 draw and, in the process, lost Kolasinac with 13 minutes left to go in the match with what appeared to be a knee injury, which is not the first time he has struggled with such this year.

Long term, there shouldn’t be any cause for concern. Kolasinac is just 24 years old and we’ve seen what he can do. But as we are all too aware of given the illustrious injury history of the club in recent years, we’ve seen this kind of thing before.

Kolasinac is built on confidence and and requires full fitness to be at his menacing best. There is no “toned down” version of the guy, nor should there be. That being the case, these recent woes are indeed troubling, and unfortunately, they don’t seem to be getting any better.

Next: Top 5 Summer Positions Of Need

The extent of the injury isn’t known yet, but hopefully he can start finding some health and form as the season winds down.

Home/Arsenal News