Koscielny reveals his strengths and weaknesses + more
Laurent Koscielny has spoken for the first time to the French media since joining Arsenal and admits “everything has gone quickly for me”.
The 24-year-old, who made made 40 appearances for the Ligue 1 side last season, completed his £10 million + bonuses move from Lorient yesterday.
Speaking to RMC Radio, ‘Kos’ said:
“Everything has gone quite quickly for me, maybe a bit too quickly. I’ve had some bad times before so I’m enjoying what’s happening to me now.
“The contract is for 4 years. The transfer is worth 12 million euros + bonuses. I knew at the last game of the last season that Arsenal were interested. I wasn’t aware Gilles Grmandi was watching me during all those games.
“Lorient wanted the right price so there’s been long talks with Arsenal.”
Other than the small YouTube compilation below, there’s very little evidence of Koscielny’s defensive ability. The player himself admits that he does need to improve on some aspects of his game.
“My qualities are that I read the game very well. I’ve got a good heading ability, my passing is very good as we use to pass the ball well from the defence at Lorient.
“My weakness is my physical strength, but I’m confident that I’ll work on that at Arsenal.
“I have no guarantee to play, it’s up to me to fight for my place in the team. I know there’ll be 3-4 players fighting for the same position. There’s already 3 centre backs at pre-season training.”
Many thanks to Vince from ASCFR for translating this interview.
Is the 12 million euros the transfer fee or the amount he will earn over the 4 years of the contract? I would find it ridiculous that we would pay him almost 60 000 pounds a week!
@Matt: It’s the transfer fee mate.
Yessss Koscielny! tell all the premiership ur weaknesses to exploit, good lad!!
Who are the 3 centre-backs already at pre-season training? I don’t think he meant it to include himself. Djourou, Vermaelen and?
so he’s weak… Exactly what we needed cant wait to see him against fuller, kevin davies, drogba, carew, doyle and all the centre halves that come up for corners
@Hatta:
According to Young Guns, Ignasi Miquel is with the 1st team for pre-season.
I dont know….he looked like he could handle himself against a few imposing looking african players in that clip but for sure hel need to step up for the travels up to the northern monkies abodes.
Maybe hes talking about Djourou, Vermaelen and or Nordtveit/Bartley
@My Name Is Earl:
LOL!! I smell another stefanovs mate.
@Hatta: He is not talking about himself or vermaelen, vermaelen is a lock. He is refering to djourou, bartley and nordtveit.
Hatta, I think he is Nordtveit.
Sol Campbell is having a medical with Sunderland as we speak, by the way.
we better have someone special coming in if we are letting sol go!
the last CB could be song because he also plays in that position
When he speaks about his physical strength he means he could become more muscular. It doesn’t mean he gets bullied as soon as he’s up against a big center forward, he certainly knows how to deal with those.
He’s got great positional sense and he’s very strong, so even if he might get pushed about a bit at first in England, I reckon he’ll be a very good partner for Vermaelen.
@Hatta: Nordtveit?
@Gooner Chris:
I think we shoulda gave sol another yr chris.. He did well for us in the games he played last season & he’s leadership qualities can help alot in the dressing room.
Oh sol…
“Koscielny has everything you expect from a defender – except a massive frame,”
“He is a fighter and has a never-say-die attitude. He sticks to opposition strikers like glue and is an outstanding header of the ball, at both ends of the pitch.
“But most importantly, Koscielny is a footballer. He has a great feel for the game and will always look to play his first pass along the ground. Rarely does he go long.
“At Lorient, Koscielny played for coach Christian Gourcuff, Yoann’s father and a lover of Arrigo Sacchi’s great Milan side of the 1990s whose ideal was based on passing and never one-on-one situations.
“Despite a low budget, Gourcuff took his side to seventh place, playing a beautiful style of football with largely unknown, but intelligent and skilful players. Koscielny was one of them.
the lad hasn’t kicked a ball yet and you’re already on his back. we could do with another CB for sure, but we could also do with another set of supporters, those who actually have more than half a brain cell, who sing more and whinge less.
Kinda sad to see Sol off again. He came back and mended his reputation after the way he left ‘for foreign climes’ and ended up at Pompey. All the best to him though. Vermaelen really has to step up now to be the leader at the back. I have no worries about the Verminator on tha front
Arsene: “We identified him as a very strong centre half”
Koscielny: “My weakness is my physical strength”
The weakest part of his game is still ‘very strong’ – get in!
Or maybe we’ve signed a different player to the one Arsene thought we got.
Fingers crossed we bring in another top center half and blood Koscielny in slowly, since he hasn’t got a great deal of experience.
@abc: Song is a good tackler, header and physical strong, but he lacks positional sense. If he is to make our defence weak, who is supposed to play DM in his place. That would be to mistakes and zero points in those games.
@The Left Hand Of HENRY:
Doyle? He’s about 5 foot nothing….
ye but he’s a fucking pain in the arse and just batters centre halves for 90mins
To think we could have got Kjaer for 12 million euros
He had 256 tackles last year in the french leauge more than any other player.
If we can get another good defensive player we will have a very solid defence.
Arsenal 4 leauge 🙂
from the video he looks quite agile and fast…also kind of a player who gets stuck in…looks like he will be one who will develop as the season goes on..also can see some goals coming from him….typical Arsene signing…
@G4L:
Spot on I couldnt say it better.
We should be happy that Wenger has adressed the problem area which clearly was our defence brought in another player to improve our team. And he has indeed spent 10 mil on him that should prove that he must be highly rated. Plus Wenger has already stated that he is gonna get another defender.
Lastly…. The Guy has just joined our club from abroad, so for crying out loud give him a chance. He hasnt kicked a ball yet and SOME of you are already on his back. My Goodness some Arsenal fans today are so negative, I bet the scousers dont moan this much and that is a club on a downwards spiral.
what a shit signing
Noooo Sol … really gutted to see him leave 🙁 hes much better than gallas and i really wanted him to stay. i think we only need 3 signings: goalkeeper and 1-2 defenders (one of them needs to be expreinced)!!!
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/arsene-wenger-interview-a-clarification
wanted it to be true!!
He looks like John Terry did at his age. I think he could turn out to be a gem!
Yh hes got a bit of the John terry about him but with pace.
John terry isnt the tallest hes 187cm and doesnt look strong but hes 90kg.
Laurent koscielny is 186cm but hes 75kg he probably does need to pump up.
hope hez anotha vermaelen signin!
you’ve got it right @G4L/@Biscuit, not just this blog either.
I watched the ATVO he said he needs to improve his physical side for the premiership. He said its much more physically demanding than ligue 1 which is understandable.
Its not only the centre backs that can improve our defence but our full backs as well who lets be honest we terrible. Clichy was poor and so was sagna- i stil dont think he was the player he was in his first year his brothers death has disrupted him which is understandable.
We need our full backs to stop crosses coming in and to not leave gaps especially against the top teams.
Stop fucking whinging. He hasn’t played a game yet n people are moaning. Probs the same people that said Vermaelen was too short n couldn’t do it in the PL, now u all wanna pipe him off. If u used ur mouths for fat hairy cocks instead of moaning about signings then Arsenal would be much better off.
U are all as pathetic as the players that have been rolling n flopping around during this world cup. You’re an embarrassment..
i Think all so called arsenal fans that moan about a player having not seen him play should be shot, total disgrace you should be grateful the Professor has signed someone for once and has the intention of bringing more players in. The last season and the upcoming one Mr Wenger has spent 10mil per Defending that is saying something give him a chance im sure you all doubted The Verminater, saw him score a few goals then loved him. All Moaners should think carefully about who they support and trust in wenger if not go and join the scum yiddos with mr twitchy 🙂
I know this will be one of the disadvantage of dis guy becos someone like Drogba will be please to hear this, we really need that guy called Diakate
The least we can do is support the guy and give him a chance.A.Wenger was really determined to get him.I belive he will be a good signing for us but we still need another defender and a Gk.
Gooner Chris,any news on the GK department? I`m still nervous about this.I think Almunia might still be our no 1
BBk at it again,no one cares about you!!
@ mark gooner… Hes more depressed than me!
sky says we are after handanovic which means we will get schwarzer and him and sending out mannone + tech9 out on loan to gain experience!!!!!
Handanovic and Frey have been the best links of all the GK`s
But more importantly is there any truth in this rumour?
hopefully yes but the rumours directly out of italy so it could be true!!!!
Different Topic…DM….Annan is one who caught my eye during this World Cup.He would be great cover for Song I kept thinking..He is 23yrs plays for Rosenborg and African which is Wenger`s style signings..as i read some quotes of his now form Tribalfootball.com I learned that his contract is up next year so his price should be fair..
i thought annan looked quality too… Don’t u think he’s a bit too small… Apart from that his first touch was good, could spread the ball and tackle
@My Name Is Earl:
if opponents really wanted to know his weaknesses they could just watch film. same goes for any other player in the world lol.
Na, on a more serious note, If all four defenders & DM’s get stuck in then we should be well solid at the back & also ppl gotta remember that wengers gone with this 433 formation which has obviously left our fullbacks a bit more exposed (which then gives the cb’s a bit more of a hard time.)
If you ask me the start of a solid backline would be going back to a 442 formation like we have always known wenger to play with cesc & song in the middle of midfield & rvp & chamakh leading the line.. Then the back four is more protected & we can defend as a team & attack as a team!
I was going to point out, his physical strength doesnt seem that good looking at his upper body but thats his style I suppose. I cant believe Sol Campbell is deciding to leave though, especially when he swore to stay and thanking Arsenal for their reselection of him…and now hes off to sunderland…what is wrong with him?…unless Arsenal dont want him obviously but thats not the way it sounds.
It is true that the 4-3-3 did leave our fullbacks more exposed, but Clichy’s problems are two-fold. He has the lazy Arshavin not tracking back to help him and the injury really took him a long time for him to recover from, but if you look at the 2nd leg of the Barca matches on, Clich was one of Arsenal’s top performers; playing well while most of the others became injured or mediocre.
I don’t know if others noticed but in the last few matches of the season Sagna was cutting in more and more in the attacking third. We’d all like to see our fullbacks whipping in crosses, but that’s unfortunately Sagna’s only real weakpoint. Cutting in allows him to participate with his above-average passing instead of wasting possession on one of his many lofted and wayward crosses.
Thank u gunner4life and all, I’ve been avoiding certain arsenal blogs recently cause theres beeen a bunch of whiny fake bitches posting ignorant non-sense with no regard for reality or a smidgen of football knowledge, I’m actually extremely happy that we finally got him. C’mon guys if we’ve been negotiating for him all summer ignoring other more popular opportunities (cahill??? why do people rate him so highly??? I haven’t seen that much to prove the price) do u really think that he’s gonna be this shitty weakling???? I don’t know how stupid u think our scouts are but i can guarantee that they know a little more then all u rocket scientists out there talking shit. Anyway, the Handanovic signing would be my top pick, that and Akinfeev or Steklenberg, but if that happens there’s really no need for shwartzer other than for experience and competition for places i guess.
AmeriGoon good call on the wingbacks, I agree that clichy really stepped up after the few sloppy EPL games when he came back from injury and he was deffinitely one of our best performers in the barca games, also arshavin deffinitely defends very rarely but I’ll forgive him cause he was struggling with injury half of last season and still scored some nasty goals, plus nasri doesn’t play much d eaither on the other wing. They’re currently two of my favorite arsenal players, but they need to find some consistently and heart to really go for the next level
i really hope da melo clichy swap deal iz not true clichy iz 2 good 2 lose 4 melo! against barca he plyed wiv more freedom n got bak 2 da old clichy we all know n love i really hope dat wenger doesnt sell any of our top plyas!
Why not swap clichy for melo?? Dont get me wrong, im not saying i want clichy to go as i would like for him to stay & to bring in melo but we could really do with a good DM like melo who i believe is suited to the epl & the fact that we have keiran gibbs there who is good enough to be as good as any LB in the country if given the playing time so imo this swap wouldnt be so much of a bad idea when you think about it.
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11670_6255879,00.html
great no midfielders coming in !!!!!! he’ll just get a gk n think we’re sorted! no wonder cesc wants to go !!!
Hello i would just like to say i think Wenger is decieving you all. I have a feeling he will swap Clichy for Melo and buy Van Der Weil he is a fantastic LB.Dont get me wrong i really love Clichy he is great, but if he has it in him to do somthing like this then theres no stopping Le Professor hes a genius i think we will come out stronger nomatter what.
Paul
One problem. VdW is a RB not a LB. Bringing in a new LB for a young’n ahead of Gibbs is unlikely and irresponsible.