Arsenal: Growing Laurent Koscielny Problem Must Be Addressed

Arsenal are a pretty poor team without their fearless captain Laurent Koscielny on the pitch, but this isn’t a good thing, and it needs to be addressed.

Everyone by now has heard the rather unflattering stat that for the 103 minutes that Laurent Koscielny was on the pitch against Bayern Munich, Arsenal won 2-1. For the rest of the time they lost 9-0.

That’s some pretty compelling numerical evidence and it’s incredibly troubling. Koscielny has long been a huge part of this team and a big part of whatever successes they have found, but what we see here is a pretty clear indication of gross dependency.

Koscielny will be 32 come next season, which is about the time when players who haven’t already gone downhill start to deteriorate. And no matter what Koscielny tells us about getting better with age, we have to be wary.

What we could run into is a situation where Koscielny is suddenly losing his usefulness in age and we have nobody there to fill the massive void.

Shkodran Mustafi and Gabriel Paulista are both showing positive signs, but they each have their flaws. Mustafi is prone to make rash decisions and Gabriel’s communication just isn’t there yet. These two things have been obvious problems in their brief North London careers.

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If Koscielny is the glue that holds this club in contention against other big time clubs, then having someone who makes rash decisions or someone who doesn’t communicate effectively take over for him doesn’t necessarily work.

There are other options within the club. Both Calum Chambers and Rob Holding look like they have what it takes to be top-tier defenders and they might well be the link to patch the gap when Koscielny does inevitably start to falter. But it is again, a very dicey situation and one that needs to be addressed.

Just like the Santi Cazorla situation, it’s a matter of being proactive and not reactive. Arsenal is a terrible club when they they have to be reactive. But planning ahead can spare us of that problem. Relying on young defenders to step into a huge role is beyond dicey. And yet reports keep pouring in that the Gunners are still trying for Daniel Rugani, who would fit into that same category.

Clearly this defense needs experience to patch the gap that Koscielny brings about when he is off the pitch. And despite the diverse array of options already in the club, no one fits that billing.

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So we are back at that familiar place of wondering if an external option is the best. If nothing else, perhaps the summer will provide a good window as to where Holding and Chambers are in their progression.

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