Arsenal: Sead Kolasinac’s straight line beats any dribbling

Sead Kolasinac rocked out as Arsenal’s chief creator again against Fulham, and it’s coming down to his token move – the straight line.

There was one point during the Arsenal match against Fulham that I heard one of the commentators give an overly accurate description of what Sead Kolasinac actually does when he has the ball on that left hand flank.

“He doesn’t really dribble,” he said. “He just runs in a straight line and no one dares get in his way.”

Very well put. It emphasizes the strength of Kolasinac in two ways – the fact that he is incredibly strong, and the fact that this is literally what makes him so elusive, because he doesn’t even bother being elusive. He just dares people to get in his way. If they do, he goes through them, but more often than not, they don’t.

And thus the straight line continues.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

• 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
• 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
• Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
• 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
• Mikel Arteta provides Gabriel Martinelli injury update after Everton win

I’ve spoken many, many times about Kolasinac turning the corner around the opposing defense. It’s what I refer to as his token move. It stems from his refusal to give up. The closer he gets to the goal line, the deadlier he becomes. When most defenders are giving up on the ball, assuming it will go out, Kolasinac is fighting tooth and nail for more.

But turning the corner is only the capstone of his token move. The straight line is the rest of it. The straight line is how he gets to the corner in the first place. He has that combination of enough speed to outrun most defenders, but enough strength to face them up just in case he needs to.

Kolasinac was a boss against Fulham, yet again. He was coming off some poor performances, but lined up as a wingback, we saw him shining as usual. He dominated with four chances, enough to lead the team. He got another assist, and should have had plenty more.

He was unselfish, as his one assist could well have been a goal of his own, but he chose the option that was more likely to result in a goal, finding Lacazette wide open. He’s going this all from the edge of the goal box, where most watch the ball go out of play.

And it all starts with that straight line. It all starts with his fearlessness in his charge. Without that part of him, he’d be left trying to dribble around the opposition, and he just isn’t a dribbler. He takes it right into their teeth and dares them to stop him.