Arsenal: So is Laurent Koscielny healthy or isn’t he?

Arsenal keep having to drop Granit Xhaka into the defense while Laurent Koscielny continues his absence. So is the Frenchman healthy or not?

There is one major priority that Arsenal should have right now, as the tight fixture list continues, and that is getting Granit Xhaka back into the midfield. He is the key to winning the battle of the midfield in any given match because of his ability to actually control the field of play, and without him, the problems have been pretty apparent.

Instead, he has been forced to play in the defense, in the wake of what has truly become a bit of a crisis, to which I just have to ask – is Laurent Koscielny actually ready? Or is he somehow hurt all over again? Cause that wouldn’t be very cool.

The thing is that with Xhaka continuously shoved into the defense, we then struggle to keep up in the midfield. The solution is to plug someone else in on defense, which would presumably be easy, if Koscielny were actually ready.

After starting against Southampton, it made sense to let him sit out Southampton, but to see him sit out again against Burnley makes me wonder.

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I do think that some degree of the decision making over the month is made with Liverpool in mind, as that is a rather crucial meeting that needs all hands on deck, in the best shape possible, and that clouds things.

That said, if Koscielny is anywhere near ready, it’s time to get him out there. Shkodran Mustafi is supposed to return to training early this week, but his fitness will be a major question mark prior to Brighton, especially with Liverpool looming at the weekend.

Then there is the matter of Nacho Monreal injuring himself against Burnley, which leaves the situation that’s at hand.

Which has two and a half options. Either Sokratis and Koscielny get rolled out there together, or Xhaka falls back into the back line yet again and we lose out on that midfield presence that is always, always lacking when Xhaka is out of position.

The half option is Lichtsteiner plays in centerback, but with Bellerin out, it might fall on the Swiss rightback to fill in, depending on Ainsley Maitland-Niles’s availability.

Sticky situations get avoided if Koscielny can play. If he can play, he and Sokratis are a reliable enough back line until Mustafi comes back and opens up more options. I want the back three more than anything, but not if it takes Xhaka out of the midfield.