Laurent Koscielny

[celestis]

Agree John Terry is only as good as his protection .

 

[albakos]

And then some crap pundits were claiming, "Wenger never signs good defenders. he inherited a great back four ( Dixon, Adams, Bould, Winterburn ) and he never recovered from that". These same idiots forgot that none of the inherited back four were part of Invincibles.

 

[bingobob]

He is a one man army and that's his downfall. He has to do too much so makes mistakes as a result. Of my head I can think of three goals where crosses have came in from our right where he should have done better, trying to do too much or poor defending. One of them was against Lecister where he shouldn't have been on the pitch dye to a head injury.

 

[Dokaka]

Perfect defender for the way you play. Terry would look lost, as he showed when he played under Villas Boas with a high line.

Probably the most underrated player in world football right now. Never mentioned anywhere, never rated by non-Arsenal fans, never on any lists of top defender. I mean ffs many people still rate Mertesacker above him.

 

[Yousif Arsenal]

I really like him even when he struggles in his first season at Arsenal i kept the faith on him to become one of our key players in future and he proved that to be honest.

 

[stiiphunn]

He's a key player and has been for the last 3 years or so. Absolutely fantastic defender. He's starting to get the recognition he deserves in the EPL. Too bad he doesn't get it in France... yet.

 

[amirkat]

Unsung hero.

 

[Gooner Zig]

He's a key player and has been for the last 3 years or so. Absolutely fantastic defender. He's starting to get the recognition he deserves in the EPL. Too bad he doesn't get it in France... yet.

How on earth doesn't he get recognition in France? Can't believe that ...I thought Arsenal were one of the most watched teams in France, surely they would be seeing him dominate?

 

[Furious]

Ramos, Silva, Godin, who else is above him in the world? None imo.

World class player, you could already sense he'd become awesome in his debut against Milan, where he owned Pato. Have the same feeling with Gabriel.

 

[Tir Na Nog]

Best centre back on the planet, the world will never admit it because he plays for us though.

 

[blaze_of_glory]

Best centre back on the planet, the world will never admit it because he plays for us though.

He's up there for sure. He'd be regularly be considered for it if he were playing for say Madrid (he'd be even more dominant in the spanish league also), but gets totally overlooked playing for us. We still have a rep for not being good defensively, so he gets rolled into that in people's minds I think.

 

[Taylor Gang Gunners]

As well as his defending he pops up with the odd vital goal too! WBA away a few seasons ago, Newcastle away 2 seasons ago, FA Cup final equaliser, even Palace at the start of this season!

 

[VancouverCanuck]

I really like him even when he struggles in his first season at Arsenal i kept the faith on him to become one of our key players in future and he proved that to be honest.

I feel the same way.

TBF to Terry, he does get key goals for the team. I believe he is top goalscorer for a defender in the PL? So in terms of offensive contribution, he is far superior to Kos. That said, I wouldn't trade Kos for any one else, Terry included.

 

[HollandGooner]

Terry would look like Mertesacker in our defence, Koscielny would like like Maldini in Chelsea's.

AVB give us a glimpse of Terry in an attacking team and it weren't kind to JT.

Spot on

 

[Gooner_Stu]

Unsung hero.

Probably not amongst 99% of us Gooners, but to the other club fans, then yes. Definitely under rated.

His knack of scoring important goals shouldn't be underestimated either, he sure can pick the right moments to get them.

 

[goonerwarsh]

Koscielny is just a brilliant brilliant player, it's a shame because if you had someone like Terry or a Sol Campbell next to him it would create a formidable defence. Mertesacker will always be a weak link for us but I'm excited to see more of Gabby.

I would still have Terry as the best defender in the league. I hate the man but he's the closest thing there's been to Tony Adams for me. Players like that are so special because they embody the club. You can talk all day about technique, pace and everything else but players like Terry, Keane, Adams etc. you can't teach what those men have. It's just natural born leadership. They are the heart of the team. It's like when Henry, Fabregas or Gallas were our captains. I just never felt that they had that authority or steelness about them regardless of how brilliant they were as players, well the former two anyway.

Koscielny isn't that kind of player or man, but he's definitely become invaluable to us and the way we play.

 

[stiiphunn]

How on earth doesn't he get recognition in France? Can't believe that ...I thought Arsenal were one of the most watched teams in France, surely they would be seeing him dominate?

He has this reputation of being reckless and of conceding penalties. It's totally undeserved but it's triggered by the fact that he ****ed up a bit with the French NT in the past. It's also because people tend to watch highlights of the EPL and in those they have seen him conceding penalties - especially during the previous seasons.

 

[florentp]

Yep, that's exactly the reason. I personally rate him very high, but It's like I'm the only one here ahah!!

 

[GDeep™]

He should look to move if a big Spanish club ever show interest, or even Bayern or PSG. His career would deserve that elevated status you get by playing for super club.

No point being great for a club that doesn't win anything, it's a waste of a career if you look at it from a players viewpoint, a player performing at elite levels.

 

[Hunta]

Just realised I was at his first game at the Emirates, in the Emirates cup. He looked shet then.