Arsenal Fans STOP, DON’T PANIC – Koscielny Injury Is Precautionary

Arsenal’s dependable defender and Per Mertersacker’s defence partner, Laurent Koscielny, has reportedly been sent back to Arsenal from the French national team camp because of an Achilles problem. The 28-year-old player has had to battle through all the games this season with the recurring problem of the injury but contrary to reports in the media that he would be out on the long term, the act of releasing the player by the Didier Deschamps led French team, indeed is a precautionary one. While it really would be a disaster if Koscielny were to be sidelined on the long term, it would even be worse trying to replace him in the team. In the Arsenal squad, the only reasonable way to work around Koscielny’s injury is to play Nacho Monreal in the heart of the defence, pairing up with Per Mertesacker, but even at that, the fitness level of Nacho Monreal is very doubtful. This should cause some worries and headache for Arsene Wenger after losing Mathieu Debuchy on the long term and Nacho Monreal for the past few weeks now.

Koscielny had played with a chronic tendinitis of both Achilles tendons over the past few weeks and sending him back to London is just a precautionary move to help his healing process. One would recall that Koscielny missed playing for France in the last international week due to the same problem. It is no news that Arsene Wenger has close association with the French football FA and an agreement on Laurent Koscielny’s injury problem may have been reached. Therefore, though it is a minor setback for Arsenal until Koscielny is totally healed of the nagging injury, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Koscielny play against Hull City on the 18^th of October, when the English Premier League resumes after the international break.

The 28-year-old Frenchman, Koscielny, represented his country in 2014 FIFA World Cup which took place in Brazil between June and July. He served as a quality back up to the Raphael Varane and Mamadou Sakho partnership and continued to impress in pre-season and the few matches played this season so far, before this injury scare. No comprehensive update has been given on this development as many supporters of the club wait to learn more on the state of this injury. This only would increase the pressure on Arsene Wenger to either take the free agent option, whereby quality experienced defenders who are out of contract are signed or continue to shift players around till his defenders are ready and match fit again.

Laurent Koscielny, who moved to Arsenal from Lorient in France, had gradually won the heart of the manager with good tackles, interceptions and grabs goals for the North London side. He pulled strings of performances that made Thomas Vermaelen lose his place and eventually sought a move away to Barcelona. How important Laurent Koscielny is to Arsenal can be likened to how Vincent Kompany is to Manchester City. He defends, makes tackles, intercepts and to add to all of those qualities, he scores. Amongst some of his important goals for the club is the equalizer in the game against Hull City in the 3-2 FA Cup victory in May, 2014.