Arsenal: Sead Kolasinac working to become himself again

Arsenal have been waiting to see Sead Kolasinac get back to his usual self and, against Valencia, we saw the foundation being laid.

Prior to the Valencia match, I wrote about how Arsenal‘s wingback situation had suddenly become a problem. Sead Kolasinac and Ainsley Maitland-Niles had both become such central figures to the creative attacking player that I was sure they could be counted on indefinitely.

Which proved inaccurate. Mostly in the sense that Unai Emery started experimenting with the back four again, but to be fair, that was likely a reaction to the wingback effectiveness dropping off in recent matches.

Sead Kolasinac especially was having problems. He had become known for blazing runs down the left, with creative and often sizzling deliveries from the left-hand side, and while it left his defense work in question, the attacking more than made up for it.

That element of the attack was lost as he struggled and was subsequently moved into a more traditional fullback role. He needed to get back to his usual self.

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We saw a lot of his usual self against Valencia. Whenever there was so much as a yard of space, he made it look like an acre. He had those familiar bursting runs down the left flank, never afraid to turn the corner when he hit the goal line, and while his deliveries were a bit hit and miss, they hit when they mattered most.

For awhile there this season, his deliveries were of such a nature that I thought it was just a matter of the strikers not anticipating how fast the crosses could get into the box. No one ever seemed to be there to receive them. It felt like a matter of time before they started to catch on.

Gradually, that’s starting to happen. Kolasinac is going to have to shake off the rust of having gone so long without being a key figure in this attack, but just seeing those blitzing runs again, and seeing him creating chances, and dinking balls into the box; it’s a keen reminder of what he can do when the circumstances are right. His lane was open for business and he took advantage in a big way.

We’re going to need much more of this in the closing matches of the season to see ourselves into a desirable position. Kolasinac had been one of our more consistent players all year before falling off the pace a bit lately, but if he’s back, that only means good things.