Arsène Wenger says Sead Kolasinac is a player whose attitude “provokes happiness” and believes the defender, signed from Schalke this summer, may be the strongest he has ever worked with.
Kolasinac, 24, has played on the left side of a three-man central defence since Per Mertesacker’s injury in the Community Shield, although he is also a candidate to occupy a more familiar wing-back role in Saturday evening’s game at Stoke City now that the club captain has recovered from his head wound. His all-action style has endeared him to supporters but Wenger is particularly impressed by the way he channels his aggression.
“Maybe he is the strongest, he is naturally strong,” Wenger said when asked to compare the Bosnia international’s physique to previous players he has managed. “He uses quite well the strength of his body without violence and when he intervenes it doesn’t look to be a foul, he just uses his body strength. It is an important quality to help adapt to the Premier League.”
One Stoke player can attest to Kolasinac’s force. Jesé Rodríguez should make his debut against Arsenal and the Spanish forward spent nine months out after a challenge from Kolasinac during a Champions League match between Real Madrid and Schalke in March 2014. It was more a shuddering thud than a studs-up tackle but the result was a torn anterior cruciate ligament for Jesé, who at that time bore hope of a glittering future with Real.
The history between Aaron Ramsey and Ryan Shawcross has already added an edge to this fixture in recent times although the blood and thunder has largely subsided. The ruggedness Kolasinac provides would have been a useful facet between 2008 and 2016, a period in which Arsenal won just once at Stoke and routinely struggled against the bulk and aerial threat of players such as Ricardo Fuller, Kenwyne Jones, Peter Crouch and Jonathan Walters. They were repeatedly bullied by opponents who would take pleasure from the obvious affront their style provoked in Wenger’s players; it was the post-Highbury era and Arsenal lacked the kind of enforcement that characters like Patrick Vieira could guarantee.
“When we built the [Emirates] stadium we had to sell these players and we played with very young players,” Wenger said. “When we played Fàbregas or Nasri when they were very young they did not have the experience to deal with [physicality] so much. We had less physical players on top of that maybe, but most of the time it was because we had a very young team.”
The makeup of Arsenal’s current squad means that excuse has expired but Stoke are different, too. Their lack of intensity when the sides last met, on 13 May, was startling and they were picked off in a 4-1 home defeat. Another lethargic performance would probably bring a similar result and Kolasinac has the vigour to take advantage in offensive areas. He made nine assists for Schalke last season and Wenger believes his unorthodox attacking style is another beguiling attribute.
“He has the capacity to repeat runs, and we noticed when we watched him play that he is quite dangerous in the final third,” he said. “He already has some assists since he came here, so overall maybe he is not a glamorous dribbler but the quality of his runs is very efficient.”
That was all packaged up in the assist Kolasinac provided for Theo Walcott in the Emirates Cup win over Benfica, muscling his way to the byline before chipping the ball over delicately. The home support has warmed to him and there has been a sense that he sets the kind of tone that carries others along.
“There is something there and you feel that from the crowd,” Wenger said of Kolasinac’s demeanour. “The determined attitude gets to the crowd and the crowd responds to that, and that gives a swing to the team, you can see that with him and when he intervenes he provokes happiness.”
Wenger described the signing of Kolasinac on a free transfer at the end of his Schalke contract as a “no-brainer” and a “nice bargain”, particularly in a climate where other full-backs – such as Benjamin Mendy and Kyle Walker of Manchester City – have been traded for sums above £50m.
“It allows you to divide your buy by two,” he said. “When you buy two players, the price of one you buy, you can divide by two. One player for £50m is two for £25m.”
Shkodran Mustafi joins Per Mertesacker in returning to Wenger’s squad, increasing his defensive options further, while Francis Coquelin is also available. Alexis Sánchez is likely to require another week to recover from an abdominal injury.