I don’t know about the rest of the global Arsenal family, as we all prepare for whatever this time of year means to us, but one of the things I am hoping that the house breaker in the red and white suit brings me for being a good little boy is the news that Laurent Koscielny is fully fit and able to play in every game for the Gunner until the end of the season.
It might be a bit too simplistic, as the likes of Aaron Ramsey, Mesut Ozil and Theo Walcott are all players that would have a massive impact in almost any team, but I firmly believe that having our French centre back fit would have made a huge and vital difference to our season so far.
For instance, we would have finished first in our Champions League group as there is no way Anderlecht would have recovered from three goals down at the Emirates with Kos the boss alongside Mertesacker. It is telling just how lost the giant German looks without his usual partner in crime to add the pace and aggression to our central defence.
We would not have collapsed at the back and let Stoke go 3-0 up by halftime. We would not have let Man United pick our pockets or Skrtel to have a free header to deny us a rare away win either.
I am not saying that Koscielny is the best player Arsenal have, just that he seems to be irreplaceable for us at the minute. If, god forbid, we lost Alexis then Walcott or Campbell or the Ox could step in. The same is true for Giroud(Welbeck or Sanogo) or Ramsey or Cazorla. But without Koscielny or a seriously good defender signed in the transfer window, Arsenal will keep giving away goals and not giving the attacking side of the team a solid platform to build on.
Do you agree that Koscielny is the most important player for Arsenal right now?