Tag Archives: saed kolasinac

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly of Arsenal’s International Break

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The Good

Mohamed Elneny

Egypt 2-1 Congo

Mohamed Elneny played the full 90 minutes of Egypt’s World Cup qualifying win over Congo which saw his country to qualify for a World Cup for the first time since 1990.

Egypt to win the World Cup: 150/1

Alex Iwobi

Nigeria 1-0 Zambia

Alex Iwobi came off the bench to score Nigeria’s only goal as the Super Eagles became the first African side to secure qualification for the World Cup. A 1-0 victory.

Nigeria to win the World Cup: 150/1

David Ospina

Colombia 1-2 Paraguay

David Ospina featured as Colombia lost 2-1 to Paraguay, with the visitors scoring twice in the final minutes to snatch the three points.

Peru 1-1 Colombia

David Ospina and Colombia will play at their second successive World Cup after securing a 1-1 draw against Peru.

Columbia to win the World Cup: 33/1

Alexandre Lacazette, Olivier Giroud

Bulgaria 0-1 France

Alexandre Lacazette and Olivier Giroud both featured in France’s 1-0 win over Bulgaria. Lacazette started in an exciting front three with Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappe, Giroud was an 85th-minute.

France 2-1 Belarus

Olivier Giroud became France’s joint-seventh top goalscorer as he helped France to secure their place at next summer’s World Cup with a win over Belarus in Saint-Denis. Giroud charged through to double Les Bleus’ advantage just after the half-hour mark. Giroud played the entirety of the game, with Alexandre Lacazette an unused sub.

France to win the World Cup: 5/1

Nacho Monreal

Spain 3-0 Albania

Nacho Monreal was an unused substitute as Spain hit three past Albania in World Cup qualifying.

Israel 0-1 Spain

Monreal helped Spain keep a clean sheet as the former world champions saw off Israel 1-0 in Jerusalem, courtesy of a late goal from Asier Illaramendi.

Spain to win the World Cup: 7/1

The Bad

Sead Kolasinac

Bosnia & Herzegovina 3-4 Belgium

Sead Kolasinac played the duration of Bosnia’s World Cup qualifying defeat to Belgium, where he was booked.

Estonia 1-2 Bosnia-Herzegovina

Sead Kolasinac played the first half in Tallinn as Bosnia-Herzegovina’s World Cup dreams were dashed despite them finishing Group H with a win in Estonia. Greece’s home win over Gibraltar meant it wasn’t enough to reach the play-off round.

Aaron Ramsey

Georgia 0-1 Wales

Aaron Ramsey won his 50th Wales cap and assisted Tom Lawrence’s winner in his country’s 1-0 win at Georgia.

Wales 0-1 Republic of Ireland

Aaron Ramsey was on the losing side as Wales were beaten 1-0 by the Republic of Ireland in Cardiff, ending their World Cup qualification hopes.

The Ugly

Shkodran Mustafi

Germany 5-1 Azerbaijan

Shkodran Mustafi started Germany’s World Cup qualifying win over Azerbaijan but was substituted after just 36 minutes through injury as Germany maintained their 100 per cent record in World Cup qualifying.

Germany to win the World Cup: 5/1

Alexis Sanchez

Chile 2-1 Ecuador

Alexis scored the winning goal in the 86th minute against Ecuador to seal three points for Chile, who are now on the verge of automatic qualification to the World Cup.

Brazil 3-0 Chile

Copa America winners in 2015 and 2016 – but Alexis and Chile won’t be at next summer’s World Cup. The result that saw Chile fail to finish in the top five qualifying spots in South America as a consequence of other results. Alexis played the full 90 minutes.

The Neutral

Granit Xhaka

Switzerland 5-2 Hungary

Granit Xhaka opened the scoring for Switzerland in their World Cup qualifying win over Hungary. The midfielder capitalised on goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi’s slip to slot in from close range are just 18 minutes.

Portugal 2-0 Switzerland

Granit Xhaka’s Switzerland could still make the World Cup in Russia next summer – but his Switzerland team will have to qualify through the European play-off round after losing their decisive qualifier in Portugal.

Switzerland to win the World Cup: 80/1

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Arsenal have a new cult hero?

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Typical Wenger signing. An unknown on a free transfer. #WengerOut was what I saw a lot of people tweeting when we had confirmed the signing of left back Sead Kolasinac on a Bosman from Schalke. How wrong they are.

The signing of Kolasinac is a perfect example why it is not about what you spend, but about who you buy.

When you look at Manchester City spending £150-odd million on full back this summer, we have got the best of the lot in Kolasinac. And he is quickly becoming a fans favourite.

Even if you did not have half a brain, it would not have been too tough to realise that we were getting a quality player in Kolasinac.

Last season he was named in the Bundesliga team of the year ahead of the likes of David Alaba. His numbers were brilliant.

12 interceptions in a single game; the most in Europe’s top 5 leagues and the most assists by a Bundesliga defender in 2016/17. His 5 assists for Schalke was also more than any other player for the club.

Since his arrival at Arsenal, he has grown in stature every game he has played. A tank of a player who battles for every ball, you imagine in another life he would have been a Bosnian War General. He can clearly handle himself.

He has already made his mark for the club this season, with 2 Premier League assists. And last night he scored a fabulous goal. He is an all round defender. He can cross, shoot, tackle, intercept, and bully opponents.

And it is not just his football that speak loud, it is his attitude.

After scoring against FC Koln on Thursday, he raised his shirt to show a Schalke t-shirt underneath. It was to wind up the Koln fans. It is stuff like this that fans love. It is stuff like this that put someone like Lukas Podolski in the fans hearts so quick. It is stuff like this, alongside his performances on the pitch, that will quickly make him the new terrace cult hero.

Just as long as his performances on the pitch are high and not overshadowed by the over stuff, we could be seeing one of our greatest ever left backs slowly develop in front of our eyes.

Sead Kolasinac – It is not what you spend, but who you buy.

Great attitude.

Keenos

Arsenal set to sign 3 players in a week

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The transfer window opened Saturday and Arsenal are in danger of making 3 major transfer within the first full-working week.

Arsenal’s deal for 24 year old Bosnian full back Saed Kolasinac from Germany side Schalke 04 on a free transfer was made official as the clock clicked to 00:00 on Saturday morning.

The full back gives Arsenal the option of playing him out wide or at the left side of a back 3. He will be interchangeable with Nacho Monreal and Arsenal will just have to work on getting the combination and positioning right.

A record breaking £45m deal for Alexandre Lacazette from French side Lyon will likely be completed within the next 24 hours.

Arsenal have chased the Frenchman for some time now, and the big money early move shows that the club heave learnt from previous transfer windows where they let key targets slip through the net due to chasing other targets.

Arsenal will potentially rush through a deal for Riyad Mahrez or Thomas Lemar before the week is out.

Arsenal have already placed bids for Thomas Lemar, which have been rejected. Monaco seem to be reluctant to sell any more players, but Lemar seems keen on a deal to take him to Islington.

Despite the rejected bid, Monaco manager Leonardo Jardim said over the weekend that he fully expects more players to leave.

‘Three players have left – Dirar, Valere and Bernardo,’ he said. ‘Other players could leave us.’

As for Mahrez, the news came out of the blue late on Saturday that Arsenal had renewed their interest in the Algerian.

Whether this is because the club believe the Lemar deal is dead in the water, or have now accepted Alexis Sanchez is off it unclear. There is of course the scenario that the news was broken from some journalist on work experience who was just trying to get his profile up.

A move late in the week for Thomas Lemar of Riyad Mahrez will be in the hope of softening Alexis Sanchez’s move to Manchester City.

It’s going to be a busy week at Highbury House.

Keenos