Arsenal: Laurent Koscielny a figurehead of Wenger-era flaws

Arsenal captain Laurent Koscielny became a diva overnight, and now we see yet another flaw behind the Arsene Wenger era and what was left behind.

Two of the most well-respected names in recent Arsenal history are Laurent Koscielny and Arsene Wenger. Wenger uncovered Koscielny and gave him his big shot and Koscielny was there to repay that faith and establish himself as one of the best centerbacks in the world.

Now, just a year after Wenger left the club, Koscielny has gone rogue, refusing to join the club’s preseason trip to America, such that the Gunners released an official statement, sounding like a disappointed parent in the process.

It’s truly baffling, to see Koscielny fall from grace like this, so quickly, and rumors/news is emerging that he doesn’t like the way the club is going.

And that is where I have to scratch my head and look back at Wenger. Part of the problem Unai Emery is running into is that some players were here because of Wenger. That was what won them first, and by extension, the club itself.

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But you hear it all the time, the players that say they came here for Arsene Wenger. So Arsene Wenger leaves, they change the regime, and all of a sudden these guys that were so ingrained in the Wenger culture find themselves in a new footing, where nothing is guaranteed.

Some adjust. Granit Xhaka adjusted. Alexandre Lacazette adjusted. But it’s looking like Laurent Koscielny either didn’t adjust, or just doesn’t want to.

There’s a sense of entitlement that I now feel oozing from Koscielny, perhaps believing that he knows better than Unai Emery, and that is what I find really disturbing, because it never seemed like he was that kind of person.

Yet here he is, with rumors that he’s trying to buy his own contract out just to get out of the club.

This is our captain. Desperate to leave and holding out like an NFL diva. And it all has roots in the Wenger era. I don’t necessarily blame Wenger for that, but there’s no secret that Wenger chose favorites, and that can give players a sense of importance that goes beyond the club.

I hate to talk this way about Laurent Koscielny, but it’s hard to see it any other way. The tendrils of the Wenger-era still exist, and I’d never have thought that the captain would be at the center of it.