Arsenal: More and more we depend on Sead Kolasinac

Arsenal’s draw with Manchester United was certainly odd, but it’s also beginning to shed a light on who we are growing dependent on, and Sead Kolasinac is the guy.

Arsenal‘s attack is clearly their strong suit. You can take one look at the Premier League table and see that. Switching to a three at the back is certainly helping the defense, and I think we’ll see that more against lesser teams.

But the attack, while proficient at scoring, isn’t creating a whole lot of chances. Against Manchester United, we saw more of that, as Alex Iwobi was incredibly loose with possession and Aaron Ramsey, while positive, was injured and removed at half.

Yet again, the Gunners found themselves dependent on one man to be the primary chance creator from open play, and that man is Sead Kolasinac, wingback extraordinaire (let’s not talk about his “mistake” just yet).

Kolasinac – yet again – led the team in creating chances, as he put three on plates. While none were converted, the threat always remained. His ability to not just make it to the opposing goal line, but also turn the corner and cut back in towards the center, is remarkable.

It is something that not even Hector Bellerin can do effectively, and it’s the primary source of clean attacking threat that the Gunners are finding these days.

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The only other person that created more than one clear chance was Lucas Torreira, and that’s because he was on set-piece duty.

Kolasinac is the driving force behind the creativity on this attack and I while I’m thrilled that he is playing so well, I’m also growing to be a teeny, tiny bit concerned that no one else has been able to step into the spotlight, particularly in the center of the pitch.

Those two attacking midfielders are struggling to create consistent chances, no matter who is put out there, whether it be Ozil, Mkhtiaryan, Iwobi or whoever else Emery wants to toss out there. Mkhitaryan did snap back for his second half performance with a positive showing, but in the end, what we need is a consistent central midfielder who can do what he did for 45 minutes reliably. Not just for 45 minutes.

I don’t want to be too critical of the Gunners. Old Trafford is not an easy place to play and for as odd as the game was, it’s hard to be too bitter about snagging a point, even if we are obviously the better team. And there’s nothing wrong with relying on any particular player, I just hope that, as this fixture list becomes more congested and the injury-prone Kolasinac is called upon more and more, that someone else can step up as well.

My money is still on Ramsey, so hopefully he isn’t hurt too badly.