Arsenal Vs Burnley: Sead Kolasinac the best left back in town

Sead Kolasinac was excellent in Arsenal’s 3-1 win over Burnley on Saturday afternoon. The bulldozing Bosnian is now the best left-back in town, even with Nacho Monreal still in the fold.

In many ways, Sead Kolasinac empitomised Arsenal’s victory on Saturday.

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The 3-1 win over Burnley required a little fight. Kolasinac was more than happy to oblige, at one point barging Jack Cork all the way to his city’s namesake to win a 50:50. It required finesse in attack. Kolasinac played a key role in the first two goals, assisting Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and picking the right pass at the right time to instigate the counter for the second. It required control and composure. Kolasinac completed 92% of his passes.

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Everything that this tricky fixture needed for Arsenal to win, Kolasinac provided, as did many of his teammates. His return from a strange thigh injury, suffered in training just before a trip to Southampton ended a 22-game unbeaten run, was significant. Immediately, there was a greater thrust and threat down the left flank. He was an out-ball to evade pressure and an outlet to create chances. No player on the pitch created more.

What was most noticeable was Kolasinac’s ability to beat a defender. He may not be the most skillful dribbler or well-balanced runner, but thanks to this surging power and bustling style, he frequently bulldozes his way past defenders. The lack of dribblers in the Arsenal squad has been evident this season. The departures of Theo Walcott, Alexis Sanchez and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain have hurt the team. Although Kolasinac is far from a natural dribbler like those more traditional wingers, the fact that he can beat defenders causes problems for opponents and creates space and chances for his teammates.

I have been quite critical of Kolasinac’s defensive shortcomings throughout this 18 months at the club. His positional naivety, his curious decision-making, his lack of short-area quickness all contribute to a loose defender who has been exploited by plenty of intelligent, poised attackers in the past.

This defensive vulnerability is what has led to me consistently prefer Nacho Monreal, an experienced, aware but perhaps more limited player, to Kolasinac at left-back — it is a very different case at left wing-back. But Monreal’s age and depleting athleticism are beginning to take effect. He is still comfortable at centre-half, especially in a back three, but he struggles to stay with the increasing pace of the modern game when played at fullback or wing-back.

Kolasinac, on the other hand, lays down the law. He is the dominant presence up and down the left flank. He is almost always the most powerful player on the pitch, he is deceptively fast over long distances, he has great stamina to consistently bound forwards and backwards throughout the 90 minutes. It is an invaluable skill set that is completely different from that of Monreal and, in the modern game, is so much more effective.

Kolasinac is the best left-back in town. He proved it against Burnley on Saturday. Let’s hope that he can now just stay fit.