Arsenal: Sead Kolasinac seeking one elusive key to success

Nobody started last season hotter for Arsenal than Sead Kolasinac. So what went wrong? Well, that’s easy. And it’s what needs to go right next season in order for him to find success.

When Arsenal closed out their summer transfer window last season, I was convinced that Sead Kolasinac was going to be the true treasure of the window. More than Alexandre Lacazette, more than all of them combined. I had spent the previous year watching him at FC Schalke and I couldn’t wait to see his physicality and tenacity translating into the league that invented that type of play – The Premier League.

Early on, it was easy going. He was a marauding fiend to opposing teams. He could rocket off shots from the corner of the box, he could cross, he could stop on a dime and cut inside and find a team mate. Best of all, he could hug the touchline, go all the way to the back line and stretch defenses deep and wide.

He was in the fast lane to player of the season for the club went everything started to go wrong. A series of injuries interrupted his form and, when he returned, it was clear that his confidence was shaken. Not just that, but all of those skills we had seen seemed to be dwarfed by his flaws.

That’s how it continued for the better part of the year. Nacho Monreal broke out in a big way and kept the Bosnian tank planted on the bench, with little hope of winning his place back.

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Any time he’d start to make progress, injuries would disrupt all of his progress and he’d have to start over, with an empty tank of confidence. Every so often we’d see his best self, but the consistency that he might have found was impossible to hold onto because of his sporadic appearances.

On the one hand, it was a frustrating string of events, to see someone who we know is so talented constantly robbed of time because he couldn’t stay on the pitch.

On the other hand, we know the solution. Which is a rarity. So many times, players struggle and disappear and it’s not clear why. With Kolasinac, that one elusive key to success is simply health. All he has to do is stay on the pitch and he will be a crucial performer for the Gunners.

Not just that, but boy howdy does he fit Unai Emery’s schematics of high-pressing and ball-winning. That is Kolasinac’s M.O and it can truly flourish if he can only stay on the pitch with his legs underneath him.

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Also, do keep in mind that he is only 24, which is right about the time when the good form starts rolling in and we see the best of players. I’m certainly ready for the best of Sead Kolasinac.

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