Laurent Koscielny

[Cripps_orig]

Arsène Wenger insists there is more to come from Laurent Koscielny (http://www.goonersweb.co.uk/first-team/players/laurent-koscielny) following his “immense” performance against Borussia Dortmund in midweek.

The French defender has taken responsibility as Arsenal’s defensive leader in the absence of Thomas Vermaelen (http://www.goonersweb.co.uk/first-team/players/thomas-vermaelen) and turned in a near-faultless display to help his side to a battling draw in Germany on Tuesday.

After quickly becoming the Club’s first-choice centre back and making 43 appearances last term, it is all too easy to forget that Koscielny is only embarking on his second season in the Premier League.

His growing maturity has been evident since his move from Lorient last summer and Wenger believes Koscielny has all the makings of an outstanding central defender.

“The fact that he has such a short experience at the top level makes his improvement potential bigger,” the manager told Arsenal.com. “I believe he will be a great central defender.

“I have always thought there is a massive potential in this player. That is why he has already grown this season and I felt in the last 20 minutes he was immense against Dortmund.

“He keeps things simple, he is quick and he reads [the game] well. Like every central defender who comes to England, he was surprised by the intensity of the game but he has adjusted now and adapted.”

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/wenger-koscielny-can-get-better-and-better

:lol:

Has either Wenger or Arsenal website ever seen Koscielny play? Immense v Dortmund would suggest no

[Flavs]

Like song he is a man of 2 half's. Shite in the first and awesome in the second.

And as Arseblog says he looks like an early drawing of Bart Simpson.

[fakeyank]

Like song he is a man of 2 half's. Shite in the first and awesome in the second.

And as Arseblog says he looks like an early drawing of Bart Simpson.

Agree about the 2 halfs there.. he was fuckin clueless in the first half and was the most dangerous player for Dortmund! 2nd half, he cleaned up his act and did a solid job.

[Cripps_orig]

Theres always a mistake in him and at 26, i doubt he'll improve much.

Sooner the Verm is back, the better

[Joker]

Don't rate him tbh. Looks a bombscare who's capable of a mistake at any moment.

[alexander]

this is just wenger building him up.

he is pretty shit tbh.

[Darth Vela]

Bizarrely it was his distribution that was so bad in the first half, usually he doesn't give it away much at all but in the second half he showed what a good defender he is when he isn't paired with a clown at CB, looks like he's going to take the brunt of a lot of the criticism this season, warranted or not.

[Cripps_orig]

Tbf, every critisism hes had from the day he joined us til now has been warranted cos well hes a bit shit

[7sam]

Its only when he is paired with Djouro or Scitchy shits happens, I partly agree with Arsene and think that if he put on some good performances such as Barca's retrun leg he would great to watch... Well, its his second season and I think this is his year to show his true quality.

[Marc Overmars]

The biggest problem is that we never seem able to keep the same CB pairing together for an extended run. The amount of injuries we get there means Djourou who is probably 4th choice now, will probably play as much as the first choice Vermaelen.

Frustrating.

[Özim]

He is error prone and cannot be relied on and at 26 he should be nearly the finished article.

Typical Wenger BS, the guy is delusional and praises all the sh*t, he does what the board do with him in fact.

[Ironing]

He's been alright this season

rather him than dojo at the minute

[Syn]

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/wenger-koscielny-can-get-better-and-better

It's possible that he can get a lot better. Age is not the only thing that determines how steep the learning curve is. Also, to be perfectly honest, while his first season contribution wasn't as 'aggressive' and visible like Vermaelen's, he seemed to read the game very well and make a lot of key interceptions. It's quite nice to see a defender that relies on intelligence rather than brute strength and physique as is the trend now days. He needs to be much better in his distribution though - most of his errors don't seem to come from a lack of defensive ability but he gives the ball away a fair bit.

Unsure about whether he'll be good for us this season. I know that he'll probably play a fair bit because Vermaelen's dead. (And as I'm not a fucking child, I don't need to have a strong opinion about every single player - there is a level between 'brilliant' and 'a bit shit').

[fakeyank]

It's possible that he can get a lot better. Age is not the only thing that determines how steep the learning curve is. Also, to be perfectly honest, while his first season contribution wasn't as 'aggressive' and visible like Vermaelen's, he seemed to read the game very well and make a lot of key interceptions. It's quite nice to see a defender that relies on intelligence rather than brute strength and physique as is the trend now days. He needs to be much better in his distribution though - most of his errors don't seem to come from a lack of defensive ability but he gives the ball away a fair bit.

Unsure about whether he'll be good for us this season. I know that he'll probably play a fair bit because Vermaelen's dead. (And as I'm not a fucking child, I don't need to have a strong opinion about every single player - there is a level between 'brilliant' and 'a bit shit').

He also seems to be brain dead sometimes about positioning. He has taken on Clichy's mantle of late.

Speaking of Clichy.. I hope that bugger is enjoying the warmth of his seat! :pal:

Soon, he will be sold to Shakthar or some other Greek team! :haha:

[Master Splinter]

Soon, he will be sold to Shakthar or some other Greek team! :haha:

Shakhtar are a Greek team? :unsure:

[fakeyank]

Shakhtar are a Greek team? :unsure:

http://walkwiththewise.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/did-you-get-the-message.jpg?w=310&h=227

[Power n Glory]

Arsenal propaganda. I know Wenger has been critical of the press and all the 'negativity' surrounding our club and defence but this isn't the way to go about it. The press team should have held off from writing this story. We don't need the reverse manipulation and it looks like a poor attempt to throw the spotlight on one player and manufacture a hero. Let the man play and put in a few solid shifts then the fans will notice. He'll rise through the ranks naturally that way. It happened with Song and it's the same for Schzney. They'll be a natural buzz about the player and it starts from the fans not something whipped up by the press or Arsenal press team. I know Wenger thinks we don't get enough credit in the media but we don't start heaping undue credit through our own site.

[Özim]

I know Wenger thinks we don't get enough credit in the media but we don't start heaping undue credit through our own site.
Yup not sure why he thinks we should get more credit, we're not very good, play boring football and seem to be getting thumped teams now as well, that when we're not giving away ridiculous leads of course.

Until he delivers something decent (which I'm pretty sure he won't) he won't be deserving of any credit and neither will his workshy, bottling team....his version of good football and entertainment has surely become very twisted in his head, because who actually enjoys the sh*te we put out week in week out?

As for Koscielny, the guy was playing in the 8-2 rout, it's hardly the time to be praising him, moreover he was average last season and made many costly errors. How Wenger can start praising players after last season's calamitous collapse and the poor start to the season is beyond me, Wenger really has no shame or pride it seems.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

He is error prone and cannot be relied on and at 26 he should be nearly the finished article.Typical Wenger BS, the guy is delusional and praises all the sh*t, he does what the board do with him in fact.

He is the finished article thats the problem tbh, as good as he is he makes mistakes in the important games thank feck he is 3rd choice ahey

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Wenger sticking up for kos :pal:

[gunnerrrrr]

He's dog shit, clueless

[cheesy bites]

He's really trying fucking hard to be worse than Djourou.

[Cripps_orig]

Worst Arsenal CB of all time

And i said this before the game as well.

The game just confirmed it

[Joker]

Worthless piece of shit. Just fuck off you cunt.

[Özim]

Worst Arsenal CB of all time

And i said this before the game as well.

The game just confirmed it
Been saying he was sh*te most of last season too, way too error prone rarely has a game without a major error.

For some odd reason he manages to get excuses made for him on the premise that he's a good defender. He isn't he's dogshite.

[Fats]

Im shocked that we never drop players when they have such a terrible run of form let alone just be a shit player

[Niall_Quinn]

You can't compete at the top level when you have players like Koscielny in the team. Simple as.

In fact turns out you can't compete at a lower level either when he's in the team.

Solution? Make sure he's not in the team.

[Özim]

Solution? Make sure he's not in the team.
Easily done, buy him a big mirror to do his hair in....he'll miss countless matches staring at himself perfecting it.

Buy a multi die kit for Song as well, that will keep him out.

[gunner6smith]

I don't think it's being overly harsh on the lad to say he's a pretty poor excuse for a central defender. Poor positional sense, no sense of leadership, not dominant in any way, shape or form either. There's not much to be said for him. Mind you, the whole defence was terrible today so I think to pick on him individually lets the other three off the torture rack to an extent. They were all extremely poor and evocative of the team's 2nd half display.

[Fats]

How much did he cost us???

MUGGED

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Worthless piece of shit. Just fuck off you cunt.

Said the same about RVP lol

[Olivier's xmas twist]

How much did he cost us???

MUGGED

10 mill i know we got mugged off.

[Niall_Quinn]

How much did he cost us???

MUGGED

£2mill less than Cahill was available for at the time, so it was reported. Maybe true, maybe not but it's another £10mill plus wages down the shitter when we could have signed a pair of decent defenders years ago. Complete false economy these bollocks players we've been getting in.

[Ollie the Optimist]

ok this is going to sound stupid but if cahill was so good, why were we the only top club in for him? why were we the only ones who bid for him? hes been hyped up cos he is english, yes i think he is good but i dont think he was the answer. someone like samba would be, big strong, scores as well. cahill doesnt really

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Easily done, buy him a big mirror to do his hair in....he'll miss countless matches staring at himself perfecting it.

Buy a multi die kit for Song as well, that will keep him out.

Song has been dog shite this season

[Japan Shaking All Over]

Verms will be better with Merts but we need the depth and we just dont have it..........should have picked up another.......fuck Dann would have been a better option than Kos, now we have to wait till Jan and by then the season should be over for us

Kos's confidence is going to be shot to pieces.........and things are not going to be any easier come next week

[Cripps_orig]

ok this is going to sound stupid but if cahill was so good, why were we the only top club in for him? why were we the only ones who bid for him? hes been hyped up cos he is english, yes i think he is good but i dont think he was the answer. someone like samba would be, big strong, scores as well. cahill doesnt really

Cahill doesnt score? Really? Really?

[Niall_Quinn]

ok this is going to sound stupid but if cahill was so good, why were we the only top club in for him? why were we the only ones who bid for him? hes been hyped up cos he is english, yes i think he is good but i dont think he was the answer. someone like samba would be, big strong, scores as well. cahill doesnt really

We need to buy Chaill, Samba AND Jagielka. It's not just the one, we are three proper defenders short in the middle. Nobody is saying Cahill is the best thing since sliced politicians, but he's available, knows the basics of defending at least and has PL experience. That's a massive, massive step up for us. We have the worst defence in the league by a mile, previously disguised by our possession game but now hopelessly exposed.

[Joker]

Cahill doesnt score? Really? Really?

Cahill is a 100 times better than Squillaci, Koscielny and Djourou. Yes, Samba would have been a good signing as well, but as it turned out we didn't get either.

[Niall_Quinn]

Verms will be better with Merts but we need the depth and we just dont have it..........should have picked up another.......fuck Dann would have been a better option than Kos, now we have to wait till Jan and by then the season should be over for us

Kos's confidence is going to be shot to pieces.........and things are not going to be any easier come next week

Merts was also awful today, complete shit. I'm sick of giving players time to bed-in too. Cahill, Samba and Jags wouldn't have needed that time so why do others get a free pass?

[Japan Shaking All Over]

one for club and and another for country so far.........Cahill should have been bought because they would have sold.........OK try the cheeky 6 million bid but dont not follow it up.......we have got the fucking money, what is Wengers problem?does he want to get sacked.........because Jan is going to be aboy 3-4 months too late

Jags......even Samba would have been better.......fuck Dann would have been

[Ollie the Optimist]

Merts was also awful today, complete shit. I'm sick of giving players time to bed-in too. Cahill, Samba and Jags wouldn't have needed that time so why do others get a free pass?

players always need time to bed in, top players too, esp bought during the season, they need to learn each others game.

[Japan Shaking All Over]

We need to buy Chaill, Samba AND Jagielka. It's not just the one, we are three proper defenders short in the middle. Nobody is saying Cahill is the best thing since sliced politicians, but he's available, knows the basics of defending at least and has PL experience. That's a massive, massive step up for us. We have the worst defence in the league by a mile, previously disguised by our possession game but now hopelessly exposed.


We have the worst defence in the league by a mile

this.

add to that we have the least commited defence in the league.........combine poor defending with no desire, bottle and teams are going to be itching to play us........all of those players could have been ours if we stumped up

Verms and Sagna are the only two I believe in and Sagna is less for his defence but the fact that he seems to want to play for us........Merts will be better with Verms but I think he was the cheaper option, he found today what it is like to play against so called lower class teams but I dont think I have the right to term other teams as lower level anymore

Samba ended up as my last option when he went off the radar over the summer and it looked more likely we were in for Jags and then later again Cahill but he would have been a better option by a mile than Kos.......but would he want to come after we have walked away from him twice now.

Wenger has got till January to work with what he has because there aint no more buying but I would be surprised to still see him around if he continues to this system which he doesnt have the players to play in.

[Japan Shaking All Over]

just watched the highlights of Stoke Liverpool and can someone tell me why we cant defend like them?

I remember Samba last year for Blackburn keeping us out by himself.......there is no do or die......I dont doubt Kos wants to play well, you can see he wants to play well......he just is a liability.......fucking Johan cant play well fullstop whther he wants to or not.....neither are PL class and need to be sold or taken round the back and shot......and their disapperance covered up as a lovers tif or something......they both look like a couple of irons so it would be believable..........stick Song at the back and go to 442

chez
sag song Mert santos

ger atreta ramsey benny

walcot
Rvp

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Cahill is a 100 times better than Squillaci, Koscielny and Djourou. Yes, Samba would have been a good signing as well, but as it turned out we didn't get either.

Not sure why people go on about Samba he is terrible. Cahill was a must get though, now we have no chance.

The

[Cripps_orig]

Samba is quality and we should have got him in

[Gubby Allen]

We signed him off the back of 28 odd games in top level football - at 26 years old. You had to wonder why bar one season he hadn't played a minute in a top league.

Another in a long list of inspired decisions, as was shipping Bartley out on another pointless season long loan, when he looked better than 75% of our senior centre backs.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

We signed him off the back of 28 odd games in top level football - at 26 years old. You had to wonder why bar one season he hadn't played a minute in a top league.Another in a long list of inspired decisions, as was shipping Bartley out on another pointless season long loan, when he looked better than 75% of our senior centre backs.

TBF to the lad he was never bought to be 1st choice it was meant to be TV 5 and JD. his confidence must be shots to bits though.

[Gubby Allen]

TBF to the lad he was never bought to be 1st choice it was meant to be TV 5 and JD. his confidence must be shots to bits though.

Maybe. It actually wouldn't surprise me if Squillaci was bought to be the CB alongside Vermalaen,

Either way, with our track record of injuries signing a 1st choice of back-up is effectively signing them to be a first choice player as you can guarantee one of the two ahead of him, if not both will get crocked in training & out for 6 weeks after a nasty incident of a conker falling off a tree on the other side of the field.

[alexander]

this is just wenger building him up.

he is pretty shit tbh.

I can see the future, said yesterday he was a bit shit, and he proved me right. Thanks a bunch Kos

[Marc Overmars]

Dreadful performance today, on the back of a half decent one in mid week.

Sums him up really, no consistency at all. However he's not the only one that could be said for.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

I can see the future, said yesterday he was a bit shit, and he proved me right. Thanks a bunch Kos

Thing you mean thanks alot Arsene, he put all that pressure on him today it made the spotlight be on him when it need not be

[Sirjackofwilshere]

Koscielny has been mismanaged like Vermaelen before him like Wilshere..like, like, like...

[Özim]

Thing you mean thanks alot Arsene, he put all that pressure on him today it made the spotlight be on him when it need not be
At 26 a defender has to stand on his own two feet, people make excuses about him needing Vermaelen to play well and that it's not his fault, this isn't kindergarten, he shouldn't need a nanny FFS if he can't defend he shouldn't be at the club.

There's no excuses for this guy, even if he was 3rd choice he isn't good enough, who wants an error prone backup anyway, for some odd reason people reel out the excuses for him and yet since he arrived he's been a calamity, in truth not much between him and Squillaci, they cost us just as many goals.

This was predictable, a nobody when he arrived and it's been proven he's not up to football of this level, the amount of errors he makes is unacceptable for a CB playing in the Premier League, he's suited to lower level football nothing more.

It's AW fault he bought him, but the errors are down to Koscielny not being good enough end of.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

At 26 a defender has to stand on his own two feet, people make excuses about him needing Vermaelen to play well and that it's not his fault, this isn't kindergarten, he shouldn't need a nanny FFS if he can't defend he shouldn't be at the club.

There's no excuses for this guy, even if he was 3rd choice he isn't good enough, who wants an error prone backup anyway, for some odd reason people reel out the excuses for him and yet since he arrived he's been a calamity, in truth not much between him and Squillaci, they cost us just as many goals.

This was predictable, a nobody when he arrived and it's been proven he's not up to football of this level, the amount of errors he makes is unacceptable for a CB playing in the Premier League, he's suited to lower level football nothing more.

It's AW fault he bought him, but the errors are down to Koscielny not being good enough end of.

i was talking about the interview aw did about him being good, saying its aw's fault he is not good.

[Özim]

That own goal by Koscielny, absolutely criminal.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

That own goal by Koscielny, absolutely criminal.

Chesney must hate him with a passion lol

[Cripps_orig]

Watched MOTD. Felt sorry for him after the OG. Yes he's shit but you could see on his face that hurt to score an OG.Just fuck off Wenger

[Özim]

Watched MOTD. Felt sorry for him after the OG. Yes he's shit but you could see on his face that hurt to score an OG.Just fuck off Wenger
Yeah you can feel sorry for them, but these guys get at least 50-60k a week. My sympathy disappears pretty quickly when I think of that.

That own goal was just so casual and awful, if he was focussed he'd have never scored it.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Watched MOTD. Felt sorry for him after the OG. Yes he's shit but you could see on his face that hurt to score an OG.Just fuck off Wenger

Yep because Wenger told him to put it past Chesney must have missed that conversation. Feck feeling sorry for him he's a 26 year old man not a 18 year old kid on his debut.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Yeah you can feel sorry for them, but these guys get at least 50-60k a week. My sympathy disappears pretty quickly when I think of that.

That own goal was just so casual and awful, if he was focussed he'd have never scored it.

And thats your problem because, not sure why it bothers you how much they get paid its not like it comes out of your pocket, if arsenal want to wwaste money more fool them i say

[Özim]

And thats your problem because, not sure why it bothers you how much they get paid its not like it comes out of your pocket, if arsenal want to wwaste money more fool them i say
Well why should we feel sorry for them, they have a much better life than most people....I'll save my sympathy for people who deserve it thanks, those with little or nothing to live on or those with real problems, this chump isn't one of them.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Well why should we feel sorry for them, they have a much better life than most people....I'll save my sympathy for people who deserve it thanks, those with little or nothing to live on or those with real problems, this chump isn't one of them.

never asked that i asked why it bothers you how much they get paid, footabllers are overpaid over all anyway makes no diffrence who they play for. you act like the money comes out your pocket. Never said you should feel for them at all.

[Özim]

never asked that i asked why it bothers you how much they get paid, footabllers are overpaid over all anyway makes no diffrence who they play for. you act like the money comes out your pocket. Never said you should feel for them at all.
Doesn't bother me per say, just don't feel any sympathy for them.

You go on like we should treat them like kids who need a nanny and make excuses for them all the time, I don't. They're here to do a job and get paid handsomely for it, if they don't perform I'll come down on them like a tonne of bricks for not doing their job well enough.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Doesn't bother me per say, just don't feel any sympathy for them.

You go on like we should treat them like kids who need a nanny and make excuses for them all the time, I don't. They're here to do a job and get paid handsomely for it, if they don't perform I'll come down on them like a tonne of bricks for not doing their job well enough.

where have i said treat them like kids you fool, id never make excuses for something i though was wrong. i know they need to do a job but unlike some not bothered by how much they get paid.

as long as they put in the effort and show me they want to play ill be happy.

[Özim]

where have i said treat them like kids you fool, id never make excuses for something i though was wrong. i know they need to do a job but unlike some not bothered by how much they get paid.

as long as they put in the effort and show me they want to play ill be happy.
You do treat them like kids with all these excuses, it's just forgiving they're mistakes for one reason or another, if experienced players can't perform they take the blame end of.

Moreover effort is hardly something we see a lot of in our team.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

You do treat them like kids with all these excuses, it's just forgiving they're mistakes for one reason or another, if experienced players can't perform they take the blame end of.

Moreover effort is hardly something we see a lot of in our team.

Bollox why would i treat a 26 year old man like a kid i know my mind better then you thank you.

[Özim]

Bollox why would i treat a 26 year old man like a kid i know my mind better then you thank you.
Obviously not :lol:

[Cripps_orig]

It is not so long ago that Laurent Koscielny had the irrepressible Barcelona ace Lionel Messi in his pocket but now the Arsenal defender is not even up to keeping Blackburn Rovers' Junior Hoilett at bay.

The Frenchman excelled for the Gunners when Messi and his Barcelona colleagues headed to the Emirates in the Champions League last season and won rave reviews for a commanding performance at the heart of Arsene Wenger’s defence in a 2-1 victory over a side destined to be crowned European champions.

However, fast-forward just seven months and the central defender who stifled the likes of Messi and David Villa on that memorable night in London now looks like a player who would struggle to get into a mid-table Championship side rather than one competing in the Champions League.

He was hailed as Arsenal’s best defender when his team chalked up their first ever win over Barcelona, but in the 4-3 defeat at Blackburn on Saturday he not only scored the own-goal that ultimately decided the outcome of an error-strewn game but looked like a liability for a side who have won just three of their last 16 Premier League games.

In the final analysis he was at fault for three Blackburn goals and looked like a player who is brutally out of his depth – even when the hapless Johan Djourou entered the fray as a second-half substitute.

The official Arsenal website describes Koscielny, who joined Arsenal from French side Lorient last year in a deal reportedly worth £8.5m, “as a quick-thinking centre-back who reads the game exceptionally well” but that glowing assessment could not have been further from the truth if his personal performance in Lancashire was anything to go by.

For this observer, it was difficult not to feel sympathy for Koscielny because the 26-year-old is so short on confidence he played like someone who has been paralysed by fear. For some his goalmouth gaffes were the source of much mirth; for others they were a cause for consternation.

“They have got the worst goal difference in the Premier League, which doesn’t sound right, but when you see some of their defending it really was quite shocking at times,” Match of the Day pundit Alan Shearer said.

“For the whole of the back four and even the goalkeeper at times it was incredibly poor.”

For Wenger, though, this is an issue that he needs to treat as a priority when he gets into work on Monday morning because with Thomas Vermaelen currently out injured he needs Koscielny to regain focus and self-confidence because hesitation can be critical, especially at set-plays, and is undoing all the good work Arsenal accomplish as an attacking unit.

Both focus and self-assurance deserted Koscielny at Ewood Park where his lack of concentration proved so costly at set-pieces, and Wenger must address psychological issues by working on the practice ground on his nascent partnership with Per Mertesacker because the pair played like strangers against Blackburn.

It can’t have helped Koscielny that Wenger has had to keep chopping and changing his defence since he arrived at the Emirates, but now the lines of communication between the pair have to be improved by Wenger and his coaching staff, such as Pat Rice, as a matter of urgency. Otherwise everything his team do will be built on sand.
What could go wrong did go wrong. Still looks shaky and his own goal summed up a poor performance from a player who looks ill suited to the cut and thrust of English football. Rabbit in headlights.

There is hope, though, for Gooners because the endeavours of the Invincibles side that went through the 2003-04 season without being beaten with Sol Campbell and Kolo Toure in central defence showed that the French manager does know what he is doing when it comes to the fine art of defending. Now he needs to remember how he did it so Arsenal can recover from their worst start to a league campaign in 58 years.

As well as the mind games, Wenger also has to re-think his strategy, because their attacking formation at Blackburn left his defence vulnerable and now he must surely be looking to deploy Alex Song and Emmanuel Frimpong as a two-man midfield shield in front of his defence and sacrifice an element of flair because his team need to become hard to beat again rather than being pushovers.

At Ewood Park, Wenger acknowledged that a lack of confidence was undermining his team but Koscielny looks to be the worst affected.

“We made mistakes and especially on set-pieces you can not make the mistakes we made,” Wenger said. “It is very difficult to accept that you lose a game when you have so much domination and create so many chances. It is basically unbelievable.

“For the second, third and fourth goals we were guilty of making basic errors. What can you do about it? You have to focus on the next game. You could see that the confidence in our defenders has gone a bit and we need to find it again. I hope it is not a slow, long re-building process because we have the potential to do well. It is important we get our confidence back quickly.”

Former Arsenal and England defender Kenny Sansom believes Wenger should promote youth team coach and former Gunners centre-half Steve Bould to first-team duties.

“It is clear there is a problem defensively at Arsenal and that is going to cause more problems because opponents are going to try to expose that,” Sansom said. “You have to teach the defenders how to talk to each other. Communication is massive, especially for the back four and goalkeeper.

“For me Stevie Bould was as good as Tony Adams as a player. He was very under-rated but Stevie should go in there two days a week and work with that back four on positioning, shape, communication so you know exactly where you are for 90 minutes and then you will have done your job.

“It is going to be a long, long season. There is no problem attacking-wise, we just have to sort out the defence. You can’t score three goals away from home and lose on a regular basis otherwise the club will have a tough season.”

For now, though, Premier League clubs will be queuing up to have a go at Arsenal and especially at the fretful Koscielny who still looks like someone who has gone away on holiday and realised he left the front door open.

There is much to admire about the Wenger philosophy and the way he encourages his teams to go about their business but the way they defend is embarrassing. It is time to go back to the drawing board to give the brittle Arsenal side some much-needed backbone.


http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2011/09/18/2670732/what-do-you-do-about-a-problem-like-koscielny-how-arsenals

Spot on article

[Niall_Quinn]

Yes, but why are these "experts" only figuring out now that Kos and JD are shite? Trouble with these guys is they go from game to game, one minute a player is great, the next he's a joke. The media is not in the business of winning trophies, all they need to do is sell their rag from week to week so they don't need consistency, they don't need to pay attention to the long term. For an Arsenal manager though, spending £13mill quid on two average defenders to put in a team that is supposed to be challenging for major honours is only ever going to have one outcome. Failure. Anyone who cared to look could see Koscielny for what he is, a guy who genuinely gives it 100% but simply does not have the talent to play at this level. This was true last year just as it is today and the odd game where he excelled nowhere near compensates for the longer term damage the guy does to the team. Not damage done intentionally of course, but as a result of the fact he's just not good enough. In fact half our players shouldn't be anywhere near this league. 3 wins in 16 is not just about a lack of confidence. It's also about a lack of quality. The board has swapped quality on the pitch for profits on the books. Wenger has gone along with this, or maybe even driven it. We have Koscielny playing in our losing team because a few men want to be as rich as they possibly can be. The media should be saying more about this rather than torturing a player who probably knows himself he is out of his depth. Koscielny would not play badly for us on purpose and you can see he tries to give it his best all the time. However the board would certainly fuck us on purpose and that's exctaly what they have done. Too busy fighting with each other over cash and power to even notice we were going down the shitter. That's the real scandal and it's a disgrace the real villains hide in the shadows while an outgunned and investment starved team gets slaughtered on the pitch. At least Kos is not a coward.

[Power n Glory]

You can't say we're investment starved when we went on a late night spending spree on deadline day. How much did we spend that night? £30m? How much have we spent in total?

Wenger had full confidence in Kosienly and I'd Vermaelen wasn't injured we'd have never bought Merts. That's Wener's decision. He brought in Kosienly when had an opportunity to buy a Prem proven player.

[Niall_Quinn]

You can't say we're investment starved when we went on a late night spending spree on deadline day. How much did we spend that night? £30m? How much have we spent in total?

Wenger had full confidence in Kosienly and I'd Vermaelen wasn't injured we'd have never bought Merts. That's Wener's decision. He brought in Kosienly when had an opportunity to buy a Prem proven player.

How much did we bank over the window? How much quality went out compared to what came in? If there's only one thing you can say with any confidence as an Arsenal fan these days, it's we are investment starved on the pitch. I agree about Merts, I don't think he'd be here if TV wasn't injured. Certainly Wenger is 100% to blame for the awful, awful decisions he's made with the defence. Whether he's to blame for not paying that extra few million for quality, we don't know.

[Özim]

This is my opinion on our summer spending spree:

Gervinho - Decent enough (not the best around obviously just good value), but lacks end product

Oxo - Lots of potential here, will be a very good player but I question spending the money we did on a player who won't be ready for a while....in a sense happy he signed, in another think we should have invested the money on top quality elsewhere

Arteta - Very good player, very talented, the only issue is his age ideally we'd have been looking at players in their mid 20's who are ready but will have quite a few years ahead of them so that we can build a team with them (bit of a panic buy IMO)

Mertersacker - Total panic buy, couldn't get who we wanted due to our incompetence so settled for this guy on the cheap, IMO nowhere near good enough

Benayoun - Another panic signing, hasn't done anything for a long time (was never that good anyway), was out with long term injury a joke of a signing IMO

Jenkinson - A kid with no experience, Wenger brought him into the team thinking he was good enough, but clearly at this stage he's nowhere near the right level (and who would expect him to be)

In short considering the quality we lost, a terrible transfer window once again...anyone competent would have never let this happen.

[Power n Glory]

How much did we bank over the window? How much quality went out compared to what came in? If there's only one thing you can say with any confidence as an Arsenal fan these days, it's we are investment starved on the pitch. I agree about Merts, I don't think he'd be here if TV wasn't injured. Certainly Wenger is 100% to blame for the awful, awful decisions he's made with the defence. Whether he's to blame for not paying that extra few million for quality, we don't know.

We shot ourselves in the foot. Wenger was content to go into the season with that weak squad but after that drumming and the injuries he was probably told to buck up his ideas or he'd be in serious trouble for the season. We couldn't bring in quality players because we left so late and nobody wants to sell their best player on deadline day. We played it wrong which is why we've ended up with the players we have now. If we'd have acted earlier, we could have bought Samba, Cahill or whoever else we should have bought. It just makes no sense to wrap up deals for young player like Oxo and Jenkinson so early and leave first team signing so late. I saw this coming from a mile off. As soon as Wenger benched Nasri, Clichy and Cesc towards the end of last season and lied to us by saying they were injured, I knew he had his eye on a Wilshere and Ramsey combo in the middle and Gibbs for left back. He was testing the waters as he always does.

If he spend £13m on Oxo, another £10m on Arteta and still manage to pay Benayoun's wages, why couldn't we have found a younger central mid player that is better than these guys? It makes no sense to me. I've got problem with the signings and they could turn out to be gems, but one kid isn't ready, the other is injury prone and won't get many games and Arteta is approaching 30. He signed these players because he doesn't want them hogging the first team spot for long because he believes in Wilshere and Ramsey and that has always been the way he thinks when it comes to transfers.

[gunnerrrrr]

I hope PHW the cheap cunt and Wenger are happy with turing us into a non competing selling club...look at the quality of players we have sold for various reasons in the last few season:

Cesc
Nasri
Ade
Hleb
Flamini
Diarra
Toure
Gallas
Clichy
Eduardo
Gilberto
Henry

Look what we have replaced these players with and ask yourself what these cunts care about...profit...fuck trophies and success.

We had no need to become a selling club, all that greedy cunt PHW had to do was allow that Russian billionaire and Dein to come back...so no i dont want to fucking hear about balancing the books when i have to pay £60 to watch a game of football with the shit we have.

Wenger - Out and take the board with you.

PS not to mention the fact that a so called great manager cannot fix a defence after 4 years....unbelievable

[Xhaka Can’t]

Look on the bright side.

After we've shifted Van Persie, we won't be a selling club anymore.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Look on the bright side.

After we've shifted Van Persie, we won't be a selling club anymore.

Of course we will Wilshere will be going to city for 60 mill well i say that, we say we ant 60 but sell him for 40 mill. With Aw claimin i had to let him go.

[Alpha]

It could be a frustration because we lost yesterday for all these reactions . But my opinion is we were very unlucky to lose . Coming to our poor defending the problem is not the players but the system . We attack as a team and it works but we don't defend as a team and we got caught up in counter-attact with 2 or 3 players only willing to defend and others watch like spectators . Thats our main problem .You could Arteta was gutted because he is used to defend like a team .

[Marc Overmars]

Yeah, these reactions are only born out of what happened yesterday.

[Özim]

It could be a frustration because we lost yesterday for all these reactions . But my opinion is we were very unlucky to lose . Coming to our poor defending the problem is not the players but the system . We attack as a team and it works but we don't defend as a team and we got caught up in counter-attact with 2 or 3 players only willing to defend and others watch like spectators . Thats our main problem .You could Arteta was gutted because he is used to defend like a team .
Unlucky you say ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

There was no bad lack involved sorry, just bad defending.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

It could be a frustration because we lost yesterday for all these reactions . But my opinion is we were very unlucky to lose . Coming to our poor defending the problem is not the players but the system . We attack as a team and it works but we don't defend as a team and we got caught up in counter-attact with 2 or 3 players only willing to defend and others watch like spectators . Thats our main problem .You could Arteta was gutted because he is used to defend like a team .

Yep this is the Problem, So even if we bought in Cahill, Samab, or Phil Jags. The problems will still be there. Someone needs to tell song to stay the fuck back the silly idiot likes to go foward to much and then he makes a mistake and were caught at the back.

problem with us were using that best form of defence is attack too much. Too may problems not fixed at this club and until they are nothing will change no matter who comes in.

[Alpha]

Unlucky you say ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

There was no bad lack involved sorry, just bad defending.

Unlucky because we started very well no one could have predicted our defeat .One of their goal was off-side . Two own goals due to misfurtune because they didn't mean .Walcott should have had a penalty. RVP, Chamack ant Per were unfortunate not to score .

[Xhaka Can’t]

Unlucky because we started very well no one could have predicted our defeat .One of their goal was off-side . Two own goals due to misfurtune because they didn't mean .Walcott should have had a penalty. RVP, Chamack ant Per were unfortunate not to score .

Not to mention, the moon was in Capricorn.

It was never going to be our day.

[Justhandguns]

Unlucky you say ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

There was no bad lack involved sorry, just bad defending.

Some bad luck, but twice? No way.

Chelsea conceded two offside goals to ManU today, but not two own goals. Why the fuck
did our defenders not head the ball away in every dead ball situation.

With the skill level of the current team, one cannot pass the ball to safety from
the back. Koscielny did well against Dortmund was because he clear the ball away
every time, high and long. For premiership games, he should do the same........

[Coney]

Not to mention, the moon was in Capricorn.

It was never going to be our day.

Sign of the goat. I guess that is why Adebayor got a couple.

[Ashburton2006]

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/wenger-koscielny-can-get-better-and-better:lol:Has either Wenger or Arsenal website ever seen Koscielny play? Immense v Dortmund would suggest no This clown will be the reason that we will finish in the bottom 6! Mind you, not forgetting the clueless Wenger!

[Olivier's xmas twist]

This clown will be the reason that we will finish in the bottom 6! Mind you, not forgetting the clueless cunt they call Wenger!

Why are Spurs signing Kos and Getting Wenger as Manager

[Ollie the Optimist]

just thought i would bump this. been by far our best defender since the spurs game. keeps growing and growing and is looking better and better. him and tv5 will be great together imo.

[selassie]

just thought i would bump this. been by far our best defender since the spurs game. keeps growing and growing and is looking better and better. him and tv5 will be great together imo.

Yep he's been outstanding over the past month or so. He seems to be getting stronger & quicker too.

[Marc Overmars]

Most improved player this season I reckon.

He'd follow a good game with a couple bad ones, but now he's adding some consistency and it's a nice headache for Wenger to have, in deciding whether to keep him in the team or not.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Most improved player this season I reckon.

He'd follow a good game with a couple bad ones, but now he's adding some consistency and it's a nice headache for Wenger to have, in deciding whether to keep him in the team or not.

Could not agree more tbh, its been a while since wenger had a headache of who to pick in CB, I think that TV 5 will be left back though tbh with Kos and Merts CB.

No point breaking up a partnership.

[GP]

I've been impressed with him. It shouldn't be forgotten how little experience he has at the highest level. The more he plays, the better he gets. Can't argue with that really.

[Syn]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IWDZQnzrok

[GP]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IWDZQnzrok

Amazing he did all that with £50m in his back pocket...

[Ernesto]

I think this guy is a really good defender. He's put in some sterling performances that, had he been anybody else, the entire footballing world would have been creaming over him (the first leg against Barcelona last season comes to mind, Borussia Dortmund this season, Chelsea yesterday)

The same applies for Szcezney. Exceptional goalkeeper, but he isn't going to get many plaudits .

Maybe there is a case for NOT getting any plaudits. Whilst we're shipping a stupid amount of goals (did you know that in the 98/99 season, we'd conceded fewer goals in the ENTIRE season than we have ALREADY this term!) this defence aren't going to get any credit.

Hence, we've gotta change the discipline, the philosophy and, quite simply, just reinstate the bare basics of defending. THAT buck stops with Wenger.

[Japan Shaking All Over]

I think that the most important thing is that finally Kos has got a steady partner, they are putting a run of games together and gaining an understanding with each.
This is always what Kos has needed in my opinion, sure he has a runs with Johan or Squid but they lack quality thus things were difficulty. Sadly he never got to play so much with TV5 but when he did I always thought he looked a different player as Verms offered leadership which gave Kos renewed confidence.
Now though, with Merts, it really does look like Kos has taken it upon himself to teach the German the ropes of the PL because its like if he doesnt, he knoes things could get messy.

This I believe is the sign of a true professional, I dont doubt there wont be a few moments in the future but Kos is a good player, will form a good partnership with Merts, TV5 should go to RB till Sagna comes back then move to LB. Santos had a good second half but tge first was awful and he looks veru prone to brainfarting.
I would still look at the market in Jan but we may not have to pay the silly money Bolton and Everton want. . . .maybe that 6mil bid was in fact a very shrewd move by Wenger, as those two are not goibg to be worth what was it 17 mil come Jan.

It still go for Vertognen

[Boss]

Great performance by him against Chelsea. Must be first choice alongside Vermaelen from now on as Mertesacker is garbage.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Koscielny > Vidic tbh

[Cripps_orig]

Has played well recently.

Needs to keep doing so when he comes in whenever Mertesacker or Vermaelen arent available

[IBK]

Shall we give a little credit to our manager? Kossy; Gervinho, even Jenkinson (promise) look like good business...

[Cripps_orig]

No cos Kos was awful last season for the majority and was even worse at the start of this. Fair play to him for having a decent run of games but he needs to keep doing so. Unfortunately with Vermy nearing fitness and a shoe in to come back in, i fear Kos will go back to how he was.

Juries out on Gervinho atm

Jenkinson needs to be sold

[Olivier's xmas twist]

No cos Kos was awful last season for the majority and was even worse at the start of this. Fair play to him for having a decent run of games but he needs to keep doing so. Unfortunately with Vermy nearing fitness and a shoe in to come back in, i fear Kos will go back to how he was.

Juries out on Gervinho atm

Jenkinson needs to be sold

did well yesterday tbh,

[Cripps_orig]

Did he even play? :blink:

Ive only seen the highlights

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Did he even play? :blink:

Ive only seen the highlights

Yep well for about 15 mins in the 2nd half, came on for Johan D

[Japan Shaking All Over]

No cos Kos was awful last season for the majority and was even worse at the start of this. Fair play to him for having a decent run of games but he needs to keep doing so. Unfortunately with Vermy nearing fitness and a shoe in to come back in, i fear Kos will go back to how he was.

Juries out on Gervinho atm

Jenkinson needs to be sold

Come on. . . .juries out on The Gerve?

Although he may still not be the finished article, he peovides is with the most direct running we have had for a good few years.
Theo and Arshavin may try but fail more often than not, admittedly playing out of position doesnt help because for every Saturday like Theo moment, there are a bag full of fails and Arshavin gets caught up in his own feet - both not wingers

But Gervs is not only not scared of running at defenders, he actiallys beats them and even turns that into an assist. We havent had that happening for yonks!

Still run for improvement, decision making the like, but if the jury is still out, I will bet a lot of dosh that when
they come back they will be singing this guys praises. . .looking like a good biy by Wenger or the board or whoever we blame for such decisions

[Master Splinter]

Anyone questioning Gervinho's usefulness at the moment is mental.

Even forgetting his dribbling and assists, his movement allows RVP to do what he is doing.

[gunsofashburtongrove]

He made some errors in few matches last season particularly at the beginning, has been slated since. For me, the best defender we have and one of the best in PL. The one problem he has is he does not shout/talk and organize the back line. The type of game we play requires the defense to be dynamic, moving up and down- the offside traps are crucial. Kos is brilliant at reading and positioning as he is with other attributes, how ever since Cole left we have not too many left backs who are that great, many a time its has been the left side which has played the players on as has Squid and DJ. In Per he has finally found some one who is not a liability in terms of movement and positioning but as seen against Chelsea in the first half Santos and DJ held him out to dry more than a few times. Per is a decent defender who made two poor judgments against Chelsea but then i have seen Vidic making them too. In Kos, Vermaelen and Per we have 3 top CH's, in Sagna and Jenko we have very capable right backs its is left back which looks the problem, that said i don't think Santos has completely gelled and he looks like a real good one.

[Flavs]

Best defender in the premiership on current form, also...how fuckin fast is he??? Stick him at right back now the Verminator is back(ish)

[gunsofashburtongrove]

Best defender in the premiership on current form, also...how fuckin fast is he??? Stick him at right back now the Verminator is back(ish)
Jenko is back as well, rather play him at right back and stick to Kos and Verm at CB. The CBs will need rotation particularly as Verm is coming back after a surgery

[Japan Shaking All Over]

Jenko is back as well, rather play him at right back and stick to Kos and Verm at CB. The CBs will need rotation particularly as Verm is coming back after a surgery

Jenko is back and I think maybe able to cope with the next few games. . .however would like to see KosMertVerm show together even if it was Santos who stepped aside.

Santos's second half display really saved hos bacon. . .the guy needs to realise that the PL os not the bloody Mickey Mouse league he came from, the players are fit and mistakes get punished, there is a case he was fouled just before Mata's goal bit he needs to stand up and be strong. . .looks good going forward though and loves the showboating, obviously enjoys playing.

[gunsofashburtongrove]

Jenko is back and I think maybe able to cope with the next few games. . .however would like to see KosMertVerm show together even if it was Santos who stepped aside.

Santos's second half display really saved hos bacon. . .the guy needs to realise that the PL os not the bloody Mickey Mouse league he came from, the players are fit and mistakes get punished, there is a case he was fouled just before Mata's goal bit he needs to stand up and be strong. . .looks good going forward though and loves the showboating, obviously enjoys playing.
Agree that he needs to get used to intensity of league as much as he needs to gel with the way we play

[Flavs]

Agree that he needs to get used to intensity of league as much as he needs to gel with the way we play

Still twice the player that Gibbs is though

[gunsofashburtongrove]

Still twice the player that Gibbs is though
Agreed. Santos has shown enough to suggest that he will improve as well. Gibbs might play further forward and we could buy another young LB.

[Flavs]

Agreed. Santos has shown enough to suggest that he will improve as well. Gibbs might play further forward and we could buy another young LB.

Gareth Bale will leave Spurs at the end of the season, might be worth a tenner

[gunsofashburtongrove]

Gareth Bale will leave Spurs at the end of the season, might be worth a tenner
:d more like Abdenour who at 22, playing in a mid table french team and is 6'3" ticks a lot of boxes

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Best defender in the premiership on current form, also...how fuckin fast is he??? Stick him at right back now the Verminator is back(ish)

Who Kos or Jenko

[Fist of Lehmann]

there is a case he was fouled just before Mata's goal bit he needs to stand up and be strong.

Have you seen the size of Lukaku?

[milla]

:d more like Abdenour who at 22, playing in a mid table french team and is 6'3" ticks a lot of boxes

Botelho already has 2 goals in La Liga, pretty good for an attacking FB. He is 20-21, 6' plus and decent at set piece. Feck mid table French pub players. :coffee:

[milla]

Have you seen the size of Lukaku?

About the size of whale penis. :coffee:

[gunsofashburtongrove]

Botelho already has 2 goals in La Liga, pretty good for an attacking FB. He is 20-21, 6' plus and decent at set piece. Feck mid table French pub players. :coffee:
Botelho is a good option as well. Like any other player will need teething period

[Master Splinter]

Santos is better than Gibbs in terms of attacking play. But then he's a left-winger really.

Gibbs is better in every other way.

Eboue was better than Sagna going forward too.

[Xhaka Can’t]

I hate Communists.

[Niall_Quinn]

I hate Communists.

RvP will stick 'em in a camp. No worries,.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Santos is better than Gibbs in terms of attacking play. But then he's a left-winger really.

Gibbs is better in every other way.

Eboue was better than Sagna going forward too.

This, he's not a defender at all. Just play TV 5 at LB tbh

[Olivier's xmas twist]

RvP will stick 'em in a camp. No worries,.

Their's enough cunts at Barca as it is

[Master Splinter]

Their's enough cunts at Barca as it is

:lol:

After recovering from his difficult Mental Month, Charlie is almost rivalling NQ at the one-liners now.

I know the month is not yet over.

[gunsofashburtongrove]

This, he's not a defender at all. Just play TV 5 at LB tbh
I think defensively in terms of positioning and in one on ones Santos is better. I attribute the first half at Chelsea to getting used to the intensity of PL and getting used to our game as well. He was able to improve in the II half. Gibbs has more legs in him and willing to work more than Santos, who can look lazy at times. Not sure Santos has shown enough to be considered a winger. Hasn't shown his crossing ability, neither is he taking the opposing players with running, but has loads of trickery & skill, passing and ability to make late runs and is not afraid to shoot. I have a feeling with time he will gel in well.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

He has been spending too much time around RVP.

http://p.twimg.com/AdCSPF6CEAAmNGE.jpg

[Master Splinter]

Don't forget Wenger is German too.

[LDG]

:haha:

[Master Splinter]

You can't compete at the top level when you have players like Koscielny in the team. Simple as.

In fact turns out you can't compete at a lower level either when he's in the team.

Solution? Make sure he's not in the team.

NQ :haha:.

(You're not the only one to write off players, but you have admitted you were wrong tbf).

Koscielny has been superb after a few patchy performances early in the season. But then again, the whole team was crap. When he's played with Vermaelen, Mertesacker or Good Djourou, he's always looked good. When he's played with Squillaci or Drunk Djourou, he's looked not so good.

As many said, he's got better and better as he got more used to the League as well. Looked composed at RB too.

A Must Start in every game.

[Flavs]

He is going to get a back injury sooner or later though from carrying a 6'6'' german every game...

[selassie]

This boy is turning into one of our most consistent performers. I thought he had another good game on Saturday, strong on the ground & in the air & he covered the CB's.

He's our most improved player this season IMHO.

[Flavs]

He has been spending too much time around RVP.

http://p.twimg.com/AdCSPF6CEAAmNGE.jpg

:haha:

Heil!!

[Niall_Quinn]

NQ :haha:.

(You're not the only one to write off players, but you have admitted you were wrong tbf).

Koscielny has been superb after a few patchy performances early in the season. But then again, the whole team was crap. When he's played with Vermaelen, Mertesacker or Good Djourou, he's always looked good. When he's played with Squillaci or Drunk Djourou, he's looked not so good.

As many said, he's got better and better as he got more used to the League as well. Looked composed at RB too.

A Must Start in every game.

MS :pal:

That was the OTHER Niall Quinn - idiot! I've always said Kos was a decent player and all he needed was time to settle down! You can apologise any time.

Meanwhile Merts is turning out to be a bit shit. We're not going to be able to compete at the top level if he's in the team. Simple as. Solution is - don't put him in the team!

[Cripps_orig]

NQ :haha:.

(You're not the only one to write off players, but you have admitted you were wrong tbf).

Koscielny has been superb after a few patchy performances early in the season. But then again, the whole team was crap. When he's played with Vermaelen, Mertesacker or Good Djourou, he's always looked good. When he's played with Squillaci or Drunk Djourou, he's looked not so good.

As many said, he's got better and better as he got more used to the League as well. Looked composed at RB too.

A Must Start in every game.

So you've done a Dixon then?

[Olivier's xmas twist]

He is going to get a back injury sooner or later though from carrying a 6'6'' german every game...

Merts :pal:

[Power n Glory]

I'll hold off the praise until the season is over. The signs look good but I remember Djourou looking solid at one point last season and then he just fell apart.

[Marc Overmars]

We're always quick to praise and quick to condemn.

Arsenal fans. :lol:

[Syn]

This thread is a quality read.

Anyway, he has been disgustingly good recently and shows no signs of losing his form. You could always see he was an intelligent defender with the number of interceptions he makes but there were doubts as to whether he would cope with the physical side of it but has shown he has the strength to deal with Crouchy and the other non-footballers that pollute the pitch. After Vermaelen - who I think is, by some distance, Arsene's best signing in the last 10 years - this guy has shown he can be a very solid defender.

Things are looking good. When we get our best player back at Christmas, things should move up another level.

[Cripps_orig]

I'll hold off the praise until the season is over. The signs look good but I remember Djourou looking solid at one point last season and then he just fell apart.Best post on here other than my own

[Cripps_orig]

This thread is a quality read.

Anyway, he has been disgustingly good recently and shows no signs of losing his form. You could always see he was an intelligent defender with the number of interceptions he makes but there were doubts as to whether he would cope with the physical side of it but has shown he has the strength to deal with Crouchy and the other non-footballers that pollute the pitch. After Vermaelen - who I think is, by some distance, Arsene's best signing in the last 10 years - this guy has shown he can be a very solid defender.

Things are looking good. When we get our best player back at Christmas, things should move up another level.RVP injured?

[Dog Toffee]

DoJo was never solid. Koscielny just needed a good partner (Verms), now when Sagna gets fit we can drop Mertesacker and have a solid defense again. Im also lovng Santos atm, he's the new Eboue in terms of character, but a much better player.

[Cripps_orig]

Mertesacker is a far better defender :rolleyes:

Kos has had a good couple of games after 14 months of total shitness and hes gone from being widely regarded by all true Arsenal fans as the worst CB in our history to being being than Djourou which isnt much of a jump but its a start.

Long may it continue

[Marc Overmars]

Djourou was awesome for about 10 games after last Christmas.

Then went mental.

Rightly bottom of the pecking order.

[Cripps_orig]

Need Sagna back asap

Him with Mert and Verm gives us a solid defence.

As for LB, both Gibbs and Santos have their talents. Santos is good attacking wise, Gibbs is good getting injured wise but defensively both are suspect. If only there was a top quality LB going in the summer with PL experience and for around £6m. Oh wait....

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Mertesacker is a far better defender :rolleyes:

Kos has had a good couple of games after 14 months of total shitness and hes gone from being widely regarded by all true Arsenal fans as the worst CB in our history to being being than Djourou which isnt much of a jump but its a start.

Long may it continue

The Norwich game says otherwise

[Cripps_orig]

The Norwich game says otherwiseThe 14 previous months says otherwise to that otherwise

[Olivier's xmas twist]

The 14 previous months says otherwise to that otherwise

Never watched him before that tbh so can't judge. i can only go on how he has been for us, and he has not got the pace for the epl yet tbh.

[Cripps_orig]

Never watched him before that tbh so can't judge. i can only go on how he has been for us, and he has not got the pace for the epl yet tbh.But you watched Kos during that time and hes been awful.

A couple of good games doesnt not make a player good. Mert has done more in 2 months than Kos has in his Arsenal career

[Olivier's xmas twist]

But you watched Kos during that time and hes been awful.

A couple of good games doesnt not make a player good. Mert has done more in 2 months than Kos has in his Arsenal career

He's been better then merts though. id rather him and tv5 tbh.

[Cripps_orig]

Arsène Wenger believes Per Mertesacker can follow the trail of Laurent Koscielny and adapt to the demands of English football.

The German international has been forced to settle quickly to life in the Premier League since his arrival from Werder Bremen, starting in seven Premier League matches so far following his summer switch.

Team-mate Koscielny has impressed supporters and media alike this year with his performances this season, and, given time, Wenger says Mertesacker can emulate his French counterpart.

“He had not completely recovered [from the internationals],” said Wenger. “It is a different game in England, a very demanding game for the defender.

“In every second of the game you are really tested with full commitment, and it takes some time to adapt.

“We have seen that with [Laurent] Koscielny, who played at right-back and was exceptional.

“Last year he would not have delivered this kind of performance because you learn that from fighting in every game. That is why it is so difficult to buy defenders from abroad.”

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/wenger-per-can-follow-koscielny-s-example

I really hope not

Also Arsenal.com :lol:

Have they ever said a player has been poor during a game?

[IBK]

I don't think there's much doubt that Merts and one of Kos and Verms looks the better balanced CB pairing...

[Xhaka Can’t]

Mertesacker is a far better defender :rolleyes:

Kos has had a good couple of games after 14 months of total shitness and hes gone from being widely regarded by all true Arsenal fans as the worst CB in our history to being being than Djourou which isnt much of a jump but its a start.

Long may it continue

I'm a true Arsenal fan and I know others that never thought that of Kos. The guy has shown promise from day 1 but was prone to frustrating brain farts. I can only presume that Clichy's brainfarts were contagious.

[Boss]

Mertesacker has been fairly woeful so far imo, needs more time to bed in.

Koscielny and Vermaelen look a far better fit. We need Sagna back ASAP.

[Flavs]

Said it in the middle of last season and will say it again, Kos is by far better than Cahill.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Said it in the middle of last season and will say it again, Kos is by far better than Cahill.

The latter is massively overrated thats why.

[Grebbo]

I don't think there's much doubt that Merts and one of Kos and Verms looks the better balanced CB pairing...

I think there's quite a bit of doubt.

Be interesting to see who Wenger picks when (if) all of our defenders are fit.

[Cripps_orig]

Mert and Verm hopefully

They've looked good

[Master Splinter]

Meanwhile Merts is turning out to be a bit shit. We're not going to be able to compete at the top level if he's in the team. Simple as. Solution is - don't put him in the team!

I like this.

Just do one for Vermaelen and we'll have the best defence ever in a few months.

NQ Voodoo :bow:.

[GP]

Said it in the middle of last season and will say it again, Kos is by far better than Cahill.

Yep.

[Master Splinter]

Well Cahill is shit, so that's not much of a compliment.

[Flavs]

From Twatter
"Koscielny has only lost 4 tackles all season. 93% success rate, making him best tackler in PL."


Bart :bow:

[GP]

Superb player.

[Fats]

Has really turned his season around.

At the start he was fecking terrible.

Full credit to the lad.

[selassie]

He's been playing at a very high level this season, he had a poor game on Sunday tho.

[Kano]

He's been playing at a very high level this season, he had a poor game on Sunday tho.

thats what happens when you are covering a full back.

[Marc Overmars]

Good player, probably won't get the recognition outside Arsenal he deserves because of the amount of goals we concede.

[Master Splinter]

He had a 100% record for a while at the beginning of last season too.

Our player of the season by a few miles. The only one who has stayed consistent while the team has gone mental and others (Szczesny, RVP, Song) have dropped off in recent games.

[Ollie the Optimist]

From Twatter


Bart :bow:

yeah but stats prove nohting. do you not remember the begining of last season :ach:

[Cripps_orig]

Beginning of last season? :unsure:

Dont you mean beginning of this and mostly all of last season where he had a shocker?

Fair play to him though, hes looked quality recently

[selassie]

He had a 100% record for a while at the beginning of last season too.

Our player of the season by a few miles. The only one who has stayed consistent while the team has gone mental and others (Szczesny, RVP, Song) have dropped off in recent games.

Yep I agree. Fair play to Wenger, I admit I was skeptical about the signing of Kos last season and had pretty much given up on him halfway through last season but he's a player I really like now.

On current form he's in the top 5 CB's in PL this season IMHO.

[Cripps_orig]

Arsene Wenger feels that Laurent Koscielny has developed into one of the best centre-halves in the Premier League this season.

The Frenchman was heavily criticised last season as Arsenal's season crumbled, culminating in a terrible error between himself and goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny in the League Cup final.

The 26-year-old failed to deal with what should have been a routine clearance, allowing Obafemi Martins to prod home late on for Birmingham to win against all odds.

This year has been a different story altogether for Koscielny though, who has been a mainstay in the Gunners' defence.

Wenger told Arsenal.com that the first time he saw him, he knew that his fellow countryman had all the necessary attributes to make it in England.

“We found him in France of course, from a smaller team. But you could see that there was something special there,” Wenger said.

“He played at Lorient but first he played with a friend of mine in Tours, who talked to me about him when he played in the second division. Then of course we monitored him with our scouts."

Wenger admits that at times last year Koscielny may have struggled with the physical side of the game in this country but now feels that is part of his overall game.

“I believe that last year you could already see the potential but he did not have that dominance in the duels that he has found this season.

“That makes him, I personally believe, one of the top-class central defenders in the Premier League.”

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2012/01/28/2871089/laurent-koscielny-is-one-of-the-best-says-arsenal-boss

Wenger has to go

[Young Guns 11]

Great defender, no question.

[Cripps_orig]

Hes been great recently, no question of that but is a month of greatness after 15 months of being shite enough to merit the best CB in the country tag?

[GunnerFan4Life]

When i saw him play against Milan in the emirates cup, his first game, you could see he reads the game very well and had potential to do well, his first season in the most toughest league in the world would always be difficult for him, yet he kept messi quite in the 1st leg, he had the attributes to be a great defender and its SHOWING now, he can only continue, its no fluke or just a random patch of form.

[Cripps_orig]

When i saw him play against Milan in the emirates cup, his first game, you could see he reads the game very well and had potential to do well, his first season in the most toughest league in the world would always be difficult for him, yet he kept messi quite in the 1st leg, he had the attributes to be a great defender and its SHOWING now, he can only continue, its no fluke or just a random patch of form.The same Messi who had fuck knows how many chances in that game and fortunately missed them all?

Wouldnt call that being quiet

[GunnerFan4Life]

If we had Squilacci in that position messi deffo would of scored.

[Cripps_orig]

Im not in the business of critisising one player to praise another

[GunnerFan4Life]

But Squillaci is shit.

[Cripps_orig]

This thread isnt about him

[GunnerFan4Life]

He is quite shit though aint he?

[Cripps_orig]

I am not in the business of critisising one player to praise another

[selassie]

:d

[Olivier's xmas twist]

I am not in the business of critisising one player to praise another

:haha: needed a good laugh today

[Cripps_orig]

Glad i could help

[Alpha]

I think some folks need to swallow their pride and admit they were wrong on Koscielny . They didn't give hime time to adapt before making judgment . Koscielny has proved people wrong ,fans as well as the media . With the little we have seen for a defender coming from a low league it's amazing .Let's put credit where it deserves : Koscielny has become a top defender and if he keeps up working hard he will become a world class defender in the near future .I'm sure if he was playing for another team we could have seen how good he is . He is the only Pl defender to have made mighty Messi look ordinary and clueless while other famous defenders we know and praise got intimidated by the argentinian genius .

[Marc Overmars]

Even on a bad day Messi doesn't look "ordinary and clueless". :lol:

[Alpha]

Even on a bad day Messi doesn't look "ordinary and clueless". :lol:

But vs Koscielny he was not the really Messi we all know and fear .

[Özim]

But vs Koscielny he was not the really Messi we all know and fear .
He had quite a few chances he missed so it was a poor game for him, those misses had nothing to do with Koscielny though and other than the missed chances he was still very effective against us in terms of the positions he got into.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Messi did provide the assist for David Villa (the ball went past Koscielny).

[Cripps_orig]

I think some folks need to swallow their pride and admit they were wrong on Koscielny . They didn't give hime time to adapt before making judgment . Koscielny has proved people wrong ,fans as well as the media . With the little we have seen for a defender coming from a low league it's amazing .Let's put credit where it deserves : Koscielny has become a top defender and if he keeps up working hard he will become a world class defender in the near future .I'm sure if he was playing for another team we could have seen how good he is . He is the only Pl defender to have made mighty Messi look ordinary and clueless while other famous defenders we know and praise got intimidated by the argentinian genius .No they werent. They were spot on with him as he was shit last season and we said he was. We'd be wrong now if we said he hadnt improved but he has. Not quite as much as Wenger seems to think but Wenger knows as much about football these days as a monkey so we can ignore him

[Marc Overmars]

Messi did provide the assist for David Villa (the ball went past Koscielny).

Didn't he take out Messi for the penalty in the 2nd leg as well?

[Cripps_orig]

Didn't he take out Messi for the penalty in the 2nd leg as well?Yup

[WilshereourGHEL]

Kos has been a animal all season and if it wasn't for Birmingham last he would of had a half decent one last his performance vs Barcelona should give everyone belief that he has what it takes ive only seen one other player play like that thiago silva.

Today vs villa our defence could be as strong as any in the lge depending on verms performance at lb.

[Özim]

Yup
He definitely did, though some argued it wasn't a mistake at the time.

[Cripps_orig]

LAURENT KOSCIELNY has sensationally admitted that Arsenal’s players doubted Arsene Wenger at the start of the season.

The France ace gave a startling insight to the Gunners turmoil following the 8-2 loss at Manchester United after selling Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri late in the summer.

Boss Wenger and chief executive Ivan Gazidis came under fire for going into a panic-buying spree of five players in the last four days of the transfer window.

By mid-September Arsenal were still in 17th place but they have staged a remarkable turnaround and will finish third if they win at West Brom on Sunday.

Koscielny told today’s France Football: “The start of the season was catastrophic. We lost key players from our system. There was late recruitment of new players and the mayonnaise needed time to ‘take’.

“There was the thrashing at Old Trafford. The whole world buried us.

“But you don’t lose your football like that.

“It can happen that a small grain of sand jams the engine and after that you start to doubt your own qualities, the club, the coach and everything else. We needed to sort that out. Everyone got down to doing just that, the coach, the club.”

Koscielny admitted that the players were not giving their all and rallied after a series of tense team meetings.

He added: “The group was not giving enough for the club and we realised that.

“We got down to work and we said the things we needed to say. After that, one win, two wins, confidence returns and things follow on from that. The new players were immersed in the group and so on.”

He also credited 37-goal Robin van Persie — the double Footballer of the Year — for saving Arsenal’s season.

The centre-half added: “For sure we also had Robin van Persie. It is his season.

“I’m really happy for him. It’s the first time that injuries left him alone and we saw the difference.

“I try not to kick him a lot in training, I go soft with him. We try to be reasonable when you have such a long season.”

Koscielny singled out the North London derby with Tottenham as the key match of the season. The Gunners came back from 2-0 down to thrash their arch-rivals 5-2 and gain momentum in the race for a top-four finish.

He added: “I don’t want to have regrets.

“If we have a nightmarish start to the season it’s because we deserved it. Frankly I want to come out of this season having matured. The season I went through was tough but full of emotions. Tottenham at our place...

“We had pressure, we were five points behind Chelsea and everyone was saying ‘the Champions League is finished, Tottenham will win’.

“But we beat them 5-2 and we put together seven wins. Maybe we didn’t dominate all our matches but mentally we had something more.

“At Liverpool for example we always believed and Robin gave us the win at the end of the match.”

The one regret that still haunts Koscielny is the 4-0 humiliation at Milan which ended Arsenal’s Champions League campaign — despite a remarkable 3-0 win in the second leg.

Koscielny concluded: “The big regret is maybe the match at Milan that passed us by. A goal would have helped us.

“A club like Arsenal — its place is in the top four. The players realised that. Not a lot of people were with us in this comeback but we did it.”

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/4309468/Laurent-Koscielny-It-was-so-grim-we-even-doubted-Arsene-Wenger.html

Mayonnaise?

Wtf is he on about?

Also going easy on RVP in training? No wonder he goes easy on opposition players during a match

[Injury Time]

Kos for captain tbh :respect:

[Unai Tea]

'the mayonnaise needs time to take'

Brilliant. You understand what it means intuitively from the context, but other than that, it's nonsensical. It's like magic.

[Marc Overmars]

Small grains of sand. :bow:

Mayonnaise. :bow:

Wenger has taught him well.

[LDG]

Kozza :bow:

Love this dude.

[GP]

Said it before but he's been outstanding.

And not just in comparison to last season, just oustanding.

[Niall_Quinn]

Definitely better than Silvestre.

[Master Splinter]

His WUMgerisms are indeed impressive.

As is his football. Our player of the season.

[LDG]

Said it before but he's been outstanding.

And not just in comparison to last season, just oustanding.

:gp:

He may not even make the French final squad :lol:

Good for us, tbf.

The lad has been our best player this year aside from RVP.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

:gp:

He may not even make the French final squad :lol:

Good for us, tbf.

The lad has been our best player this year aside from RVP.

Yep he won us the game against that team on his own tbh.

Kos :bow:

Wumger :pal:

[Marc Overmars]

Againt. :bow:

[Özim]

Done well this season so credit where credit is due, but some people go way over the top about him tbh.

[Cripps_orig]

Done well this season so credit where credit is due, but some people go way over the top about him tbh.Are you new here?

[cricketsi]

Are you new here?:gp: People tend to be far too over the top with criticism and understate the praise. You're right, Koscielny deserves a lot more credit and less over the top accusations he's not the greatest defender in the league.

[Japan Shaking All Over]

Is our most improved player from last season and over the course of this. . .would still love us to go for Vertonghen and give AW a headache about the quality he has to choose from rather than the dross he has when one of the first teamers go down!

[Joker]

Yeah he's been very good but he's not our player of the season (perhaps most improved player of the season). He has been part of a defence that has conceded 47 goals, and while he can't be individually blamed for most of them, he's still got to take some collective responsibility.

Clearly RVP's been our player of the season. People do tend to go to extremes tbh, at the start of the season he's better than Messi, now because he had an indifferent April people are not even listing him as their best player of the season, maybe to try and prove we're not a one man team. While it's true we're not a one man team, without his goals and assists we'd be languishing in 10th most probably.

[Niall_Quinn]

Kos, Kos, Kos is a super star,
He can kick the ball far,
He is a wicked play-ar,
He was signed by Weng-ar,
He is better than Cygan
And Chamakh is shit...

[Japan Shaking All Over]

Kos, Kos, Kos is a super star,
He can kick the ball far,
He is a wicked play-ar,
He was signed by Weng-ar,
He is better than Cygan
And Chamakh is shit...

Tim Rice has a rival. . .:bow:

[cricketsi]

Tim Westwood has a rival. . .:bow:
True dat.

[Ollie the Optimist]

Yeah he's been very good but he's not our player of the season (perhaps most improved player of the season). He has been part of a defence that has conceded 47 goals, and while he can't be individually blamed for most of them, he's still got to take some collective responsibility.

Clearly RVP's been our player of the season. People do tend to go to extremes tbh, at the start of the season he's better than Messi, now because he had an indifferent April people are not even listing him as their best player of the season, maybe to try and prove we're not a one man team. While it's true we're not a one man team, without his goals and assists we'd be languishing in 10th most probably.

i really dont buy this argument at all. without some of chesneys saves, we would be tenth because the goal would have cancelled out rvps. without song or theos assists, rvp wouldnt score. yes his goals have been vital, but they are hardly goals where he saves it on his own goal and runs the pitch and scores.

[Japan Shaking All Over]

i really dont buy this argument at all. without some of chesneys saves, we would be tenth because the goal would have cancelled out rvps. without song or theos assists, rvp wouldnt score. yes his goals have been vital, but they are hardly goals where he saves it on his own goal and runs the pitch and scores.

I see where youre coming from. . .there is no doubt that RvP has been phenomenal this season and his goals have been vital but I get you, this is a team game and even though almost every one of the players has been wanting at some point this year, but if we lose as a team then we must win as one too, right?

I mean for every goal he has scored, there has to be a pass, a possession winning tackle. . .ok sometimes a mistake by the opposition!

Sorry Ollie :goodposting:

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Yeah he's been very good but he's not our player of the season (perhaps most improved player of the season). He has been part of a team that has conceded 47 goals, and while he can't be individually blamed for most of them, he's still got to take some collective responsibility.

.

Fixed it for you.

We win as a team, we loose as a team, we defend as a team, we attack as a team. its not just the defenders at fault for us conceeding. everyone in the team has to take responsibility for that even RVP.

[Joker]

Fixed it for you.

We win as a team, we loose as a team, we defend as a team, we attack as a team. its not just the defenders at fault for us conceeding. everyone in the team has to take responsibility for that even RVP.

Okay but when you look at the fact that he's been involved in 42 of our 71 goals (close to 60%) you realise that without him we really would be a shit position. None of our other strikers could have scored most of the goals because they require not just technique but intelligent movement, which neither Chamakh nor Park possess.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Okay but when you look at the fact that he's been involved in 42 of our 71 goals (close to 60%) you realise that without him we really would be a shit position. None of our other strikers could have scored most of the goals because they require not just technique but intelligent movement, which neither Chamakh nor Park possess.

Yes RVP has been a major help to us winning the league but if you swapped him with Auguero, would he too not have scored these goals, or a Benzema or Higuain.

So like Ollie said you have to give the team credit to for creating these goals its noto as it RVP scored them out of thin Air.

[BOBN]

Is our most improved player from last season and over the course of this. . .would still love us to go for Vertonghen and give AW a headache about the quality he has to choose from rather than the dross he has when one of the first teamers go down!
what headache? vertonghen would replace vermalean who has proven to be pretty crap.

[GP]

what headache? vertonghen would replace vermalean who has proven to be pretty crap.

Not as crap as your face.

[Newguy]

Koscienly

[mastermind84]

he deserves a new, bigger contract.

Whatever Vermaelen is getting paid, Kos deserves more.


One of the best CBs in the premiership

[Cripps_orig]

Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny believes that he has finally got used to Premier League football thanks to extra work and dedication in the gym this year.

The France international struggled during his first season at the Emirates Stadium and was in and out of the team, but feels more settled after an impressive second year.

Speaking to Arsenal Player, the former Lorient man said of his improvement: "I was in the gym more, that is the first reason.

"I feel better than last year. I know the league, my team and the club. I think I am better on and off the pitch so for a player, when you feel good with your team-mates, the club and his family, it is better.

"I feel very good to help my team and to qualify for the Champions League. I just wanted that for the end of this season.

"I know this league more than last year. In all my body I am better, not just physically, psychologically as well.

"It's great for me, I work hard in training to be strong and the results have been in my game. I try to be strong and be the best defender I can in my team."

The defender also spoke about his favourite moments in an Arsenal shirt, but one match stands out the most for the 26-year-old.

"I have a lot of best moments but maybe against Tottenham [on February 26 was the best] because we were losing 2-0 after 25 minutes and came back to win," he opined.

"It was the derby so the atmosphere was amazing. The fans were amazing and it was a very good game for every player and everybody who watched this game."

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2012/05/29/3135442/koscielny-extra-work-in-the-gym-is-main-reason-for-my

Kos :bow:

[Cripps_orig]

Laurent Koscielny is in talks with Arsenal over committing his long-term future to the club, according to L'Equipe.

The France international still has two years left on his current contract with the Gunners but manager Arsene Wenger is said to be keen to tie the defender down to a new deal amidst interest from a number of top sides around Europe, including Inter.

The north London side are said to have offered Koscielny an extension that would bind him to the Emirates until June 2017.

The 26-year-old centre-back, who has been capped four times by les Bleus, joined the side from Lorient in 2010.

Koscielny made just one appearance at Euro 2012 but drew plenty of praise from the French press for his performance in the 2-0 quarter-final defeat to eventual champions Spain.

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2012/07/09/3230681/koscielny-in-talks-with-arsenal-over-new-deal-report

Great news

[Ollie the Optimist]

we're learning :bow:

[Japan Shaking All Over]

Give contracts to those that deserve them and take away feom those that dont

[-Xs-]

The France international still has two years left on his current contract with the Gunners but manager Arsene Wenger is said to be keen to tie the defender down to a new deal amidst interest from a number of top sides around Europe, including Inter.

Read "Koscielny to delay signing to end of next season" at which point, he will only have a year left, then will say we are not matching his ambition, and sods off to city.

[Unai Tea]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/jul/20/robin-van-persie-arsenal-manchester-united-city

Article about RVP and tour etc, last paragraph though:


The injured Jack Wilshere, Bacary Sagna and Tomas Rosicky will not travel while the unwanted Nicklas Bendtner will remain in London. Laurent Koscielny, meanwhile, has agreed a new five-year contract.

If true, very good news.

I think 'the injured' should be Wilshere's permanent sobriquet. Suits him well.

More confirmation on Koscielny?

http://www.sportsmole.co.uk/football/arsenal/news/koscielny-agrees-new-arsenal-deal_35395.html

[Cripps_orig]

If he continues on his form from the last couple of months of last season then its a good move.

[LDG]

Best signing of the summev so far.

:wokhoo:

Love this dude.

[GP]

http://www.world-guides.com/images/kos/kos_map.jpg
http://nickshell1983.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/shell-de.jpg
http://cdn.thekneepainguru.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/main-aching-knees.jpg

:bow:

[Master Splinter]

Best signing of the summer so far.



Best signing of the decade tbf.

To think, he was a genuine pub-teamer a few years ago.

Koscielny :bow:.

[LDG]

http://www.world-guides.com/images/kos/kos_map.jpg
http://nickshell1983.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/shell-de.jpg
http://cdn.thekneepainguru.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/main-aching-knees.jpg

:bow:

:lol:

[Japan Shaking All Over]

http://www.world-guides.com/images/kos/kos_map.jpg
http://nickshell1983.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/shell-de.jpg
http://cdn.thekneepainguru.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/main-aching-knees.jpg

:bow:

hahaha!
time to get some fresh air GP, me thinks

Kos - Legend in the Making :bow:

[Cripps_orig]

yay

[Globalgunner]

Best signing of the decade tbf.

To think, he was a genuine pub-teamer a few years ago.

Koscielny :bow:.
I guess there is hope for Jenkinson after all then

[McNamara That Ghost...]

They just brought up a group of stats about our individual defenders last season on SSN.

Kos made the most tackles, interceptions and clearances by a long way. Shame they didn't bring up a comparison with players from other clubs.

[Marc Overmars]

Good news.

[Özil's Panoramic View]

Best news of the summer thus far..... A DM needed now to make this one of the better summers we've had in a while.

[Cripps_orig]

Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen has expressed his delight at learning that defensive partner Laurent Koscielny had signed a long-term contract at the club.

Since the Belgium international's return from injury in October, the pair have formed an impressive partnership at the heart of the Gunners' defence.

Speaking ahead of Arsenal's pre-season friendly versus Premier League champions Manchester City on Friday in Beijing, Vermaelen spoke positively of the club's decision to move swiftly in securing the former Lorient man's services for the foreseeable future.

"I heard the news that Laurent extended his contract and I'm really happy," Vermaelen told a press conference in the Chinese capital on Wednesday.

"From the start when he came to Arsenal he has shown he is a great player and he is developing really well. I think he has done everything for the club already and I hope he will stay a few more years.

"Of course he is not here at the moment because he is not fit - he had a holiday because he played in the Euros. But he is a great player and I'm happy that he signed for the club."

Vermaelen featured in the north London side's 2-1 friendly win over Malaysia XI on Tuesday, with Thomas Eisfeld and Chuks Aneke grabbing late strikes to secure victory.

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2012/07/25/3264557/vermaelen-delighted-as-defensive-partner-koscielny-signs-new

:lol:

Someone should tell Verm that being pretty good for the last 2 months of last season isnt being great from the start

[Ollie the Optimist]

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2012/07/25/3264557/vermaelen-delighted-as-defensive-partner-koscielny-signs-new

:lol:

Someone should tell Verm that being pretty good for the last 2 months of last season isnt being great from the start

Fuck off moron

[Xhaka Can’t]

:haha:

[GP]

:haha:

It's funny cos it's true

[Cripps_orig]

Fuck off moron

:lol:

[V-Pig]

Fuck off moron


:haha:

It's funny cos it's true

:haha:

[Cripps_orig]

Homos back :bow:

[V-Pig]

Eh? Crude and repetitive homophobia isn't the way to get a rise out of me. People who challenge me with coherency but incorrect views get a rise out of me. Otherwise, you're just embarrassing yourself with unoriginality and low-IQ playground taunts.

[V-Pig]

Should I report myself for challenging you or do you want to do it again?