Arsenal are reportedly searching for a new left-back this summer. But does Sead Kolasinac not deserve a shot at the starting role next season?
The plans for the summer market are slowly being established. As Unai Emery continues the implementation of his style and system, so too must the club persevere with an overhaul of what was a rather tired-looking and underwhelming squad. This summer will be a significant period in that process.
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What Arsenal and Emery must do is self-scout and determine what positions are the most important to address, setting a list of priorities to dictate how they invest they somewhat limited resources.
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One position that seems to have been named as one of the key needs of the team is left-back. This week, Charles Watts of Football.London spoke on what he foresaw for the summer window ahead. This is what he said:
"“The three areas where Arsenal are prioritising are left-back, a wide attacker and a replacement for Aaron Ramsey <…> In terms of left-back, I don’t know who they will sign. They like Tierney at Celtic but he will be too expensive.”"
While this is far from a declaration of confidence about who the Gunners are targetting this summer, it is clear that Emery, his coaches and Raul Sanllehi feel that left-back is a major need of the team and that they do not, at present, have an internal solution to the problem. This is what the transfer window has been designed for, after all, addressing one’s needs.
But should left-back be the biggest need of the team this summer? Do Arsenal really lack an internal solution to the problem? Specifically, have Sead Kolasinac’s recent performances not done enough to at least justify a shot at earning the starting left-back position next season?
From an offensive standpoint, Kolasinac has been one of the best full-backs in the Premier League. He has five assists, which is bettered by only Aaron Ramsey and Alexandre Lacazette, and he has the fourth-highest chances created per 90 minutes in the squad; of players that have played more than 1000 league minutes for the Gunners, only Mesut Ozil, Ramsey and Henrikh Mkhitaryan create chances at a higher rate than the bulldozing Bosnian.
His numbers also stand up on a league-wide basis, with Lucas Digne the only full-back to create more chances than him on a per-90 minutes basis, and only Andy Robertson, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jose Holebas notching more assists. He also has the highest assists-per-90-minutes of all defenders in the Premier League that have played more than 800 minutes.
But Emery and Arsenal are not looking for a new left-back because of Kolasinac’s inability to contribute offensively. It is his vulnerability at the other end that is motivating this search. Kolasinac’s defensive misgivings, his lapses in marking and concentration, his over-eagerness to dive into challenges, his unbalance and slow change of direction that causes him issues with smaller, more agile attackers, all comprise an extremely uncertain and targetted defender.
Are those issues fixable? Emery clearly believes not. He would not be looking for a new left-back if he thought otherwise. But does Kolasinac not deserve a chance to prove that he can improve defensively? I do not know the answer, but it is a question that is most certainly worth asking.