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Winning the Premier League requires a strong defence. Liverpool may have won the league in 2013/2014 had their defence been stronger – they conceded 13 more goals than Manchester City, who went on to become champions. We saw the importance of a solid defence back in the golden years, most notably the Invincibles season where we conceded just 26 goals thanks to the centreback pairing of Martin Keown and Sol Campbell.
Laurent Koscielny will play a significant role if Arsenal are to replicate that kind of success next season. Often unsung by non-Arsenal fans, his development from a Ligue 2 player into one of the most effective Premier League’s centre backs has been pivotal in maintaining Arsenal’s status as a top four team. Now with the stadium debt paid off, Koscielny will be able to propel Arsenal towards Premier League glory once more.
Adopting an aggressive style of play coupled with blistering pace, Koscielny gets very close to his man, giving him no space to turn and run. This works to great effect against teams who like to knock the ball about and play a mobile striker.
A sign of a great footballer is adaptability, which Koscielny displays through aerial dominance – an example being him winning 75% of aerial duels contested with Andy Carroll away to West Ham. This versatility will be pivotal in dealing with all kinds of tactics adopted in the Premier League over the season, from Manchester City’s patient build up play to Stoke’s aerial game.
Not only does he contribute defensively, he is very much an attacking threat at set pieces and has scored some extremely significant goals for Arsenal – such as the equaliser in the FA Cup final in 2014 and a goal against Newcastle to secure yet another top four finish.
Having this kind of quality will only do Arsenal good in winning the league next season. His aerial dominance gives potency to set pieces, facilitating another attacking dimension for Arsenal to use when the typical passing game isn’t clicking.
From August 2013 up until January 2015, Arsenal’s win percentage in the Premier League without Koscielny (based on 21 games) was 33%; conceding 1.9 goals per game with just 14% of them being clean sheets. With Koscielny (based on 37 games), the win percentage is greatly boosted to 70%; conceding 0.7 goals per game and keeping a clean sheet for 51% of those games.
He is the kind of player, like Ozil, who is only recognised by pundits when he makes an error.
Despite emphasising the importance of having a quality player, Koscielny is one piece of the puzzle. Winning the league requires the whole team to be just as effective and to share a strong winning mentality.
Koscielny’s reserved personality may be a reason he isn’t as appreciated by the general footballing fan-base as someone like Vincent Kompany, but we can appreciate just how important he will be to this Arsenal side in providing defensive stability and assurance to the backline next season.
