It has often been said of Arsenal under Arsene Wenger that we are all about the creative, passing and attacking side of the game, with the defending part of football often left to its own devices and seen as a necessary evil. The signing of players like Sebastien `the squid` Squillaci and Andre `the donkey` Santos are two compelling pieces of evidence to support this.
And our defence last season was one of the main reasons why the Gunners managed to spend a lot more time on top of the Premier League table than any of our rivals, although we were not there when it mattered. People have been talking about why we have been so leaky at the back and of course, injury problems have played a big part, but a Metro report suggests that the answer is much simpler than that, just two words, Laurent Koscielny. It is not just his defending though, as he seems to make those around him play better, especially Mertesacker who looks like a lost giraffe without the Frenchman next to him.
Of course the Gunners need to be scoring goals at the other end, but our new star striker Alexis Sanchez seems to have solved that problem. So as long as we can be solid in defence, Arsenal should be a serious threat to anyone. And the stats show that Koscielny makes a huge difference to our defence. In fact they are jaw dropping.
Since August 2013 Arsenal have played 58 Premier League games and Koscielny has completed just 37 of them, missing 10 of the 21 this season. Without the Frenchman, our goals conceded rises from 0.7 to 1.9 per game, our clean sheet percentage drops from 51 to 14 and our points per game drops from 2.27 to 1.33. Arsenal won 70 percent of games Koscielny completed and a measly 33 percent without him.
To put things in perspective, using those figures, without Kos Arsenal would finish this season with 58 or 59 points and with him we would gain 74 or 75. Last season that would have meant the difference between 4th spot and the Champions League and 8th spot, behind Man United and out of Europe altogether.
So is Koscielny just as vital to Arsenal success as the star man from Chile?
Well, yes.
Ok, Arsene, YOU WIN, OK??? YOU WIN!!! I’m a desperate, addictive gunner!!! I lied when I said I won’t bother roaming the internet checking to see if we’ve signed anyone or if we are close to sealing a deal, I lied. I also lied when I said I’m keeping myself busily calm with YOGA (seriously, I don’t even know which lazy jobless moron came up with that sh*t).
Please, Wenger— as all the AKBz must have told you— I’m one of those fans that don’t say nice things about you, don’t take it personally; please I could change— sorry, I mean I will change, I WILL: Just get us a guy like Wanyama or Sneidelin and any good CB of your choice (ok, sometimes your sense of judgment sucks, but do I really have a choice??? Please may I suggest eh, eh… Never mind, let’s go with yours) and I will forever sing your praise!!!
Do this for a dying brother, please Arsene— the rumours are killing me!!!
Well said! “Bosscielny is a key man in the arsenal defense without a doubt! Coyg!
I don’t think many people needed proof to see Koscielny is a world class defender and absolutely vital to our team. The amount of clean sheets with/without him in the team is astonishing and his all round defending stats are very solid aswell.
Hail LAURENT KOSCIELNY….!
We don’t really need proof but thanks anyway
As for Sanchez, at some point he may get injured. If that happens I don’t see a WC guy to score goals and assists. If Sanchez doesn’t play you can bet your bottom dollar that Wenger will play Ozil on the left, so Ozil won’t be as effective with assists. Also Giroud and Welbeck are good but no where near Sanchez.
I think we have less WC players than Shitty, Chelski and ManUre
To win the PL we NEED a few more WC players. I’m not saying all have to be WC or even half but 1-3 more.
A WC striker will be perfect if Sanchez is injured and amazing with Sanchez
Also another WC winger/attacking midfielder like Reus or Draxler would be nice but not necessary
A WC defender and DM would also propel us.
My point is that if we have AMBITION we NEED to look higher than Mertsacker, Coquelin, Cazorla, Giroud and Welbeck.
Whether it’s PL and beating Chelski, City and United or Champions League and beating the likes of Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern, Milan etc.
We need more top players. Obviously not this January but by the end of the Summer. The money spent will be made back and we will get trophies. Club wins, share holders win, players/manager/staff win and most importantly the fans win.
But at what cost to his own health. It’s OK to joke that his chosen partner is a lost giraffe but he is also a highly paid defender. That he depends on Kos and others to cover his ass is surely not fair and sooner or later our main man will have to give in to being overworked. What Manager would be prepared to sacrifice his best defender to prove that Mertesacker was indeed not one of his many panic buys?
Well said.
Kos’s injury will, I fear, be a recurring one and he will need to be rotated.
Arsenal will need top class defenders brought in this week.
Southampton are still slugging away in the top 4 which leaves us and UTD for the last spot, ignore this window Wenger and you will drop out of the CL.
Walcott is a world class winger if he stays fit for 38 games.
@fred.. It’s so funny how Cazorla never gets credit at all.. He is always discarded and not rated by 98% of people on this site.. Whatever he does is dismissed because he only cost £16 million and did not come from a so called big club, but we got some who cost more than Cazorla in the team that have done absolutely nothing since signing for us..
It does really leaves a bitter taste in my mouth
You must have an itchy trigger finger there my friend – can’t wait to get going on the Ozil thing again? You’ll have your chance soon over the next few weeks when he starts playing again. But don’t make things up (“98%”) and involve Santi in a lame effort to have a pop at Ozil again. I would say out of all the regular players over the last 2 and half seasons that Santi is near the top of most punter’s list in terms of favourite player. “98% of people on this site…” do not rate Santi is laughably inaccurate.
@Jones.. Here we go.. I have not even mentioned Ozil’s name and already his body guards are snapping…. Most of you had been calling for Cazorla to be offloaded since last season and all summer, then the start of this season until he has stepped up again in the last few months..
It’s funny that everyone on here has their favorite players and will absolutely bad mouth the rest of the players (Giroud, Wilshere, etc) but some of us are not supposed to have our own favorites and when we say what we think about some players we cause melt downs on here..
smh
My favorite Arsenal Players- top 5
1. Sanchez (obviously)
2. Koscielny
3. Ozil
4. Rosicky (amazing for his age)
5. Tie between Walcott and Ramsey
So yes I think highly of Koscielny. He is our best defender and top defender
Do you rememberthe tihe match where Koscielny completely owned Messi a few years ago?
You don’t say, well we don’t call him Boss for nothing!!!
It gives us some assurance when he is in that back 4 and he is one our key players no doubt about it. Its sad the club has not secured a partner to complement and match his strengths, he spends most of the time covering for Mert and making our defense look good. If only Wenger could finally hear the funs cry and bring in someone who could take slow Mert’s spot and ultimately improve us (am sure even Mert would accept a small part role or been rotated at this stage of his career and at a top club like Arsenal).
His truly come a long way, from Zero to hero. All hail the boss!!!
Don’t want to start this whole Mertesacker thing going again, but CBs are very often rated as a unit or a pair. If you stuck a 19 year novice or stand-in LB with Terry at Chelsea I am sure his performances will drop off big time without Cahill. To suggest that the impressive Kos stats are solely a reflection on his individual brilliance/contribution is disingenuous – the greatest CB who ever lived is not gonna produce those stats by himself. It would be interesting to see Kos paired with someone other than Merts and see how he does. Seen a few people on here who would like to see Kos and Chambers or Kos and Monreal – not a good idea IMO I have serious doubts whether he would be as good.
Yes that is so true… You can just see a massive difference when Kozza is playing!
I always feel a bit more calm when he is playing.
does he have a song??
I certainly think we should consider Ronald Koeman as our next
manager.Here’s why:
1.He has ambition. Something wenger lost in 2005
2.Great tactician.
3.Not afraid of the big teams.Wenger can’t beat anything in a man
utd jersey or Chelsea jersey
4.Eye for talent. Evidenced by the signings of Mane,tadic,pelle
5.Gives youth players an opportunity. Reed,Gardos,Targett
6.Knows how to replace players. He has certainly improved Soton
despite them losing their best players
7.He has the edge over wenger in previous meetings, including his
time at psv
8.Add more
Half season and Soton sit nicely above us.
Another panic comment!
Last year it was Roberto Martinez, Jurgen Klopp, and Diego Simeone.
Only Simeone seemed to perform well.
Now Ronald Koeman.
Get a grip mate!
Lethal prince,go eat a dick
Spot on Lethal Prince 9. There are some on here who must spend their entire lives hopping on and off bandwagons.
The reason why Soton is doing well is not necessarily Koeman, there reasons are below:
1. No pressure, many people were expecting them to be relegated and that played to their advantage
2. Playing style: The manager is new and many players are also new hence opposite managers were not really geared for him and his type of play, this will change soon
3. Defence: They were very good even last season and only lost Lovren in defence, that stability is what is winning them games
4. Injuries: Lack of injuries is not necessarily attributed to good training techniques but luck and not being targeted by opposition teams etc
And I hate to say it but spuds manager Pochettino also gave Koeman a great starting platform. It is difficult to distinguish between the way they are playing now and the system Pochettino had them playing and worked so hard on. I will however hold judgement though – if they finish top 4 this season I will be very impressed and a bit surprised despite where they are now and what they are doing. If they nick 4th spot off United I will be impressed and it will take until the beginning of the following season to stop laughing – would be priceless. If they finish top 4 for the next 2 or 3 seasons then they will have officially joined the “big boys”. We get one season shocks and wonders every year in the PL. Doing it more than once is the key.
love kos but the only problem is with him being such a vital member of the first eleven he’s gonna be expected to play every game, with his chronic achilles injury I fear he might not be able to do this at the top level into his mid thirties but obviously hope he proves otherwise because he’s a top quality defender.
We need to start thinking about integrating a new central defensive pairing because although monreal and debuchy try their best when per and kos are out they’re both approaching 30, we need to partner chambers with another younger centre back so he can develop a better understanding of his strengths and form a partnership as fruitful as the current one.
Almost half way into the transfer market…
It is so frustrating to note that our only chance of getting a signing is youngster Krystian Bielik. Even this deal is stalling and if we do not manage to get him it will be very embarrassing especially if reports are true that we have even sent Law there (17 year old, he must be really good and one whose not far off from 1st team action for all this fuss)
I hope other BIGGER deals are been worked on behind the scenes and are close to been done.
One thing Arsenal is currently missing is the fact that the big boys are not very active in this window, this will not be the case come summer depending on how things go. This gives us an advantage to negotiate and secure our targets. Its not as though the team is perfect right now, it still has room for us to bring in 1st team players. The same players been scouted by us are also been looked at by other teams so stalling around when we already know what we want does not make sense!
Wake up Mr. Wenger!!!
I still believe merts will b d first choice def with kos even after d new def arrives.(all d best coq will b cheering fr u vs city)