Skip to main content

Kolasinac vindicates Wenger's judgement

Arsene Wenger first made his name as Arsenal manager by discovering players that few rivals had spotted and signing them at bargain prices.

Victory in his 800th league game in charge, 2-1 against Swansea City at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, came thanks to another player who attracted few headlines when he arrived at the north London club.

Sead Kolasinac, the Bosnian left wing-back, is unlikely to make the same sort of impact at Arsenal as Patrick Vieira or Thierry Henry, but his pre-season arrival on a free transfer from Schalke 04 proves Wenger can still spot unheralded talent.

Saturday saw Kolasinac scored his third goal for the Gunners, and first in the Premier League, to cancel out a first-half opener by Swansea's Sam Clucas. Kolasinac then set up the winner for Aaron Ramsey.

"Since he has arrived he has convinced everyone that he is a good signing," Wenger said. "And when you see the quality of his performance today, you can see there are still some good deals to make out here.

"Kolasinac was decisive today because he scored and made an assist. He has the natural qualities that suit his position as a wing-back, first that as a defender he is more offensive. And secondly because he has the body power in his game that you absolutely need in the Premier League.”

DEJA VU

Wenger might have added that the Bosnian also has the willingness to play on despite injury that supporters appreciate. Although he finally came off the field 12 minutes from time, he did so reluctantly.

"He had a hip injury before but came back today," Wenger said. "We hope to get him fit for next Sunday against Manchester City.

"He wanted to play on but it came back a bit too much and I thought there was no need to take a gamble," the veteran French manager added.

Wenger's first league game in charge in 1996 finished with the same raw scoreline albeit against a different opponent -- "away to Blackburn, 2-1 for Arsenal," he recalled.

"When you play 800 times, you have some deja vus."

Many away teams turn up at the Emirates intent solely on defending but Wenger, as he has often done, found a way to win the tactical battle and the game.

"At half time I was a little worried and I knew that Swansea had conceded only one away goal," he said.

"It was important to play quicker, sharper, with more penetration, which we did in the second half."

Paul Clement, the Swansea manager, bemoaned Andre Ayew's failure to capitalise after catching Per Mertesacker in possession just before half time, Petr Cech saving his shot.

"It was a big chance," he said. "Two-nil at half-time and it's a different situation.

"We played well in the first half but they have so many talented offensive players that you have to stay focused for the whole game.

"Their first goal was a bit lucky -- the ball was bouncing around. I was more disappointed with the second. We didn't get the details right, we were too open."

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kenyan Law Court dismisses case of man seeking compensation after his wife eloped with another man from hospital

  A lawsuit filed by a man seeking to be compensated by St Mary's Mission Hospital in Kenya for allowing his wife to leave the hospital with another man after giving birth, has been struck out by a law court.    The appellant had sued the St. Mary's Mission hospital at Kakamega law courts in 2020 seeking general damages from the facility on grounds that the hospital had discharged his wife and allowed her to leave with another man. After delivering and at the time of discharge, the wife of the appellant claimed he was the baby's father.   The court of appeal judges Patrick Kiage, Mumbi Ngugi and Francis Tuiyott sitting at the Kisumu Court of Appeal, empathized with the man, but disagreed that he (the appellant) be compensated by the hospital for not detaining his wife.  They upheld the lower court's judgement which added that there's no remedy that lies in the law for such grievances.   Kiage said;   "I agree that if a man takes the woman he loves to t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Hurricane Hits Texas, One Person Reported Dead

Hurricane Harvey hit Texas as a Category 4 storm on Friday, battering the coast with 130-mph winds and torrential rain. It was the strongest hurricane to hit the United States in more than a decade leaving a massive destruction, loss of electricity, wrecked buildings and has so far killed at least one person. Scroll down to see more pictures of the incident:
Post a Comment
Read more

Togo prime Minister Komi Klassou resigns

Togo’s prime minister and his government have resigned, the West African nation’s presidency said late Friday. President Faure Gnassingbe congratulated prime minister Komi Selom Klassou and his team for their “economic, political and social efforts and the encouraging results despite the health crisis around the world”, a statement on the presidency’s official website said. Togo has been due for a political reshuffle since Gnassingbe was reelected in February for a fourth term in office, but changes were delayed by the coronavirus pandemic. The president’s election win, which came after a constitutional change allowing him to run, extended more than a half-century of dynastic rule over the former French colony by the Gnassingbe family. The victory was disputed by the main opposition challenger, who has faced official harassment in the wake of the vote. The president has led the country of eight million people since taking over in 2005 following the death of his father Gnass...
Post a Comment
Read more