Arsenal: Laurent Koscielny injury limbo has no winner

Arsenal certainly have a lot of questions to address in the build up to Vicarage Road, but Laurent Koscielny’s situation is the toughest to solve.

Arsenal losing Shkodran Mustafi couldn’t have come at a worse time. When the German defender came up limping from no contact against Azerbaijan, everything was thrown into disarray. The Gunners were already walking a thin line with just six defenders on staff and a back three that needed filling.

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Now, that six has become three. Well, three and a half. Per Mertesacker, Rob Holding and Nacho Monreal are the only defenders that are at 100%, with Laurent Koscielny hovering somewhere in the gray area that makes him weight in as that ‘half’ that I spoke of.

The problem with Koscielny’s situation is that it’s so tough to decide. The defense is incredibly short-staffed, and going into stretch where they will be playing five matches in a whole fourteen days, those three healthy defenders are going to need breaks.

Koscielny’s Achilles has been a nagging injury for some weeks now, but as he has not returned to full health, it’s a question of risk.

The Gunners have a long way to go this season, so on the one hand, risking Koscielny may not be worth it. It make make more long-term sense to risk other, healthy defenders by stretching them too thin rather than throwing a gimpy Koscielny out there and risking him being out for months at a time.

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On the other hand, no game can be taken lightly. Not with the always unpredictable form of the Gunners. We are in the best form we’ve had all season and coming out of international break is dicey. We need our best players out there, of which Koscielny is certainly one.

I don’t know about you, but this is a tough decision, and one that I do not envy Wenger for having to make. No matter what decision is made, he will be held hugely responsible for the consequences.

I think it comes down to how healthy Calum Chambers is. If he can return to health and be ready to go, let him be the rotational option and let Koscielny rest, assuming he isn’t healthy enough to play.

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These are obviously some crucial match-ups, but Koscielny is a crucial piece to our prolonged success, just like Shkodran Mustafi is. It simply would not do to lose out on both of them if it can be avoided.