Keeping Kolasinac at Arsenal might not be a bad decision
Sead Kolasinac is one player who is often in the minds of Arsenal supporters. However, he will not be pleased to realize that he his remembered in a negative sense rather than positive.
The Bosnian is one of many players at the Emirates who Arsenal fans want to see out in the upcoming transfer window. But the criticism thrown at him has not always been fair.
Many have doubts over the talent of the 27-year-old, who was loaned out in January to German side Schalke. But have the clubs’ faithful really forgotten the old Kolasinac?
When Arsenal bought the German born full-back from Schalke in 2017, he was selected in the Team of the Season of Bundesliga, after a stellar campaign at Veltins Arena.
As a result, the left-back received attention from Manchester City, AC Milan, Chelsea and Juventus before signing for London club Arsenal.
His marauding runs down the left flank and ability to win one-on-one duels became a common theme at the Emirates, where he ended the season with 36 appearances and nine goal involvements.
The Bosnian’s xA (expected assists) number of 0.17 was one of the best in the Premier League in the full back category during his debut season. To put more context to how good it was, Kieran Tierney, a player who is extremely famous among Arsenal fans, had a figure slightly below than that of his counterpart at 0.12.
Kolasinac’s figures of Key Passes, Dribbles that lead to a Shot Attempt, Tackles Won and Carries into Penalty Area were better or marginally inferior to Tierney’s.
Those numbers, when compared to other Premier League’s full backs, also placed him in the top 20 percentile of defenders.
Many Arsenal fans have a poor image of the former Schalke man due to his performances in the 2019/20 season. But they forget that the defender had several injury problems and was sparingly used at his preferred wing-back role by Mikel Arteta.
Kolasinac is a very good player who lost his way last season. Although he’s on a high salary in North London at the moment, handing him a new contract by lowering his current wages might be more economical than adding a brand-new body to the left-back slot.
Kolasinac is still 27, and if he’s played in his natural position and given assurances of playing time here and there, we might see the old Kolasinac in the next campaign. A player who was famous for his pinpoint crossing and lung-bursting runs into the penalty area of the opposition.
Let’s not draw conclusions and ship the sail on the Bosnian already because Kolasinac has already proved that he can be effective if he’s given trust and time.
Just doesn’t look like a fullback, doesn’t seem to understand the position. He’s powerful and strikes the ball well but he’s an obvious target for the opposition whenever he plays. Maybe he’s more of a wingback in a 5 man defence?
Saka is far better when he plays LB, despite not having played there often – we’d be better off finding a solution from the academy than keeping Kola, frankly.
Davi, agree with utilizing the LB’s from the U23’s Joel Lopez 19yo or Tolaji Boli 22yo, who are both prospects.
Kolasinac?
He reminds me of Manu V Arsenal at Old Trafford. We were running away with 1:0 lead, it was just 2 minutes to the end of the game after additional time.
A long ball from De Gea landed in front of him in our goal area, he couldn’t clear with his right and Lingard slotted home for the equalizer.
I cried. He shouldn’t come near the team again. Just sell him.
pin point crossing and Kolasinac should not be in the same sentence. Decent player though.
The clue is that nobody wants him.
Get rid.
Terminate his contract
He wasn’t bad in attacking, despite making some bad decisions. However, I think Arteta doubted Kolasinac’s motivation, attitude, confidence and work ethic, after Arteta disbanded Kolasinac’s clique abruptly
Terminating his contract will be more lucrative to Arsenal, since he’s on high salary. It’ll also be better to gamble on a hungry young LB, instead of improving a senior LB
Very true, disbanding the clique is as important to wining the EL. Rotten apples need to be thrown in the bin, not mix with the fresh ones.I’m sure AFC has enough cash to terminate his contract or let him leave for free. Kolsinac, Xhaka, Elneny – get rid of Wnger’s last standing men and Mikel marches onward and upward.
I’d like to keep Elneny if possible, because he always works his socks off
Xhaka is indispensable to the squad, but it’ll be difficult to motivate him because he’s played for three managers without getting any major trophy and many fans never appreciate him. I think he’s going to push for a move, since he’s already 28 years old
We need better. Simples…if we want to challenge fot titles we need 11 good players plus good subs. Simples…..Kolasinac is not ever, ever gonna be in a title challenging team.
That what hé supposéd to bé and not bé forced to play Chaka or saka likes. No top player as Tierny will sign to bé benched when hé can play elsewhere.
The pass back king, sell.
No matter how you sugarcoat this guy my answer will be NO all day, I have had enough, sell him off £5m or anything, just move him on.
Am not saying his is poor or something, this is same players that form mafia and got UE sacked, he moved to shaker and continue in conjunction with Hunteler , now they got shakter relegated, you want us bring him to come and pollute the air again? After we manage to break the stronghold of him , Ozil, mustafi.
Don’t get me wrong Mafia in d team isn’t bad if use the right way but their own is to the destruction
Go for quality please. Kolasinac is not good enough for Arsenal. We should aim higher now!
Talking about left backs, one of Arsenal’s greatest England International Kenny Samson 61 is fighting for his life in an Exeter hospital after being assaulted and hitting his head on the ground. Police are interviewing a suspect.
Everyone always thinks Ozil was the only one of the players destroying Arsenal from the inside.. you don’t think his best mate at the club was involved too..
Paul, not surprisingly Ozil’s Fenerbahce is one of the clubs interested in Kolasinac. The problem with all the clubs interested in Kolasinac is his high Arsenal wages of £100k per week.
excellent point paul.
Nah, I’d ship him for any price. Had enough time, didn’t prove himself. Bye, bye.
Guys, do you think we can entice any quality LB to join us now, a club with lots of history but no european football. Nah, be realistic.
we may end up with another mediocre 30 plus years old LB as backup.