Bon Voyage?
by Omkar Rege
Always felt that an athlete's want for change is justified. As ultimately, they are humans and if a person is not happy in a certain environment, he would long for a turnover. Yet there's something that feels awfully wrong about Laurent Koscielny's behavior yesterday. The Arsenal captain's refusal to join the club's pre-season tour to the US raised many eyebrows and hit all gooners 'in the feels'. Which in itself says a lot of Koscielny as a man. Someone who is always smiling and in a lot of ways represented the values of Arsenal football club. Him going rogue like that is really shocking and embarrassing for Arsenal.
Plucked from obscurity by former manager Arsene Wenger way back in 2010, Koscielny was an integral member of Arsenal's FA cup winning spells in 2014, 2015 and 2017 and was also a solid backbone of the 2015-2016 season when he formed a formidable defensive partnership with former Arsenal captain Per Mertesacker as the gunners came close to winning the league title.
It is widely reported that Koscielny has rejected top European clubs in the past, notably the likes of Barcelona who were monitoring him for a number of years. Yet somehow the prospect of joining Bordeaux, Rennes or Lyon is seemingly appealing to Kos as he's looking to push his way out of Arsenal despite being on a healthy pay package and the club's attempts to keep him.
So how did it come down to this?
Well, just like every sportsman, Kos has had ups and downs in his career. In spite of the trophies, the Frenchman has also been a part of some of Arsenal's worst performances and a deteriorating defence in the last few years.
His season long battle with his Achilles tendon in the 2017-2018 campaign ended on a sad note with it being ruptured and it kept Kos on the sidelines for eight months, leading to him missing out on the World Cup as well last year which France won in the end.
However, his determination and fighting spirit paved the way for a healthy return and he immediately became a part of Unai Emery's plans for the future.
But as they say, "With great power comes great responsibility", it seems like Koscielny
doesn't want that responsibility anymore. Since his return, Kos played and captained almost every game for Arsenal last season and while he did do well for the most of it, him considering his age(33) and wanting to prolong his career by another year or two by playing at a smaller club in a less competitive league is not wrong.
I am not trying to absolve Koscielny of any blame, he could and should have handled the situation a lot better. As a professional and more importantly as club captain, he is supposed to set a better example.
What he did yesterday is something, when he looks back on his career, he most certainly would want to forget as it does in a way tarnish his legacy. It is sad how it might end for him in North London.
On the other hand, Arsenal's stance on not wanting to sell him and their dependence on this 33 year old, soon to be 34 is largely alarming. Being in a position where the entire backline still rests on the shoulders of a guy way past his prime is not a good look on the club.
Despite the completion of the William Saliba deal by Arsenal as per multiple reports, he's going to stay on loan at his former club for a season which means that Arsenal by the looks of it will be juggling with the same set of defenders who fizzled last season.
In my opinion Arsenal should move on from Koscielny as trying to mend things with a player of that age profile and chronic injury problems and moreover one who doesn't wanna stay at the club anymore is not wise.
Always felt that an athlete's want for change is justified. As ultimately, they are humans and if a person is not happy in a certain environment, he would long for a turnover. Yet there's something that feels awfully wrong about Laurent Koscielny's behavior yesterday. The Arsenal captain's refusal to join the club's pre-season tour to the US raised many eyebrows and hit all gooners 'in the feels'. Which in itself says a lot of Koscielny as a man. Someone who is always smiling and in a lot of ways represented the values of Arsenal football club. Him going rogue like that is really shocking and embarrassing for Arsenal.
Plucked from obscurity by former manager Arsene Wenger way back in 2010, Koscielny was an integral member of Arsenal's FA cup winning spells in 2014, 2015 and 2017 and was also a solid backbone of the 2015-2016 season when he formed a formidable defensive partnership with former Arsenal captain Per Mertesacker as the gunners came close to winning the league title.
It is widely reported that Koscielny has rejected top European clubs in the past, notably the likes of Barcelona who were monitoring him for a number of years. Yet somehow the prospect of joining Bordeaux, Rennes or Lyon is seemingly appealing to Kos as he's looking to push his way out of Arsenal despite being on a healthy pay package and the club's attempts to keep him.
So how did it come down to this?
Well, just like every sportsman, Kos has had ups and downs in his career. In spite of the trophies, the Frenchman has also been a part of some of Arsenal's worst performances and a deteriorating defence in the last few years.
His season long battle with his Achilles tendon in the 2017-2018 campaign ended on a sad note with it being ruptured and it kept Kos on the sidelines for eight months, leading to him missing out on the World Cup as well last year which France won in the end.
However, his determination and fighting spirit paved the way for a healthy return and he immediately became a part of Unai Emery's plans for the future.
But as they say, "With great power comes great responsibility", it seems like Koscielny
doesn't want that responsibility anymore. Since his return, Kos played and captained almost every game for Arsenal last season and while he did do well for the most of it, him considering his age(33) and wanting to prolong his career by another year or two by playing at a smaller club in a less competitive league is not wrong.
I am not trying to absolve Koscielny of any blame, he could and should have handled the situation a lot better. As a professional and more importantly as club captain, he is supposed to set a better example.
What he did yesterday is something, when he looks back on his career, he most certainly would want to forget as it does in a way tarnish his legacy. It is sad how it might end for him in North London.
On the other hand, Arsenal's stance on not wanting to sell him and their dependence on this 33 year old, soon to be 34 is largely alarming. Being in a position where the entire backline still rests on the shoulders of a guy way past his prime is not a good look on the club.
Despite the completion of the William Saliba deal by Arsenal as per multiple reports, he's going to stay on loan at his former club for a season which means that Arsenal by the looks of it will be juggling with the same set of defenders who fizzled last season.
In my opinion Arsenal should move on from Koscielny as trying to mend things with a player of that age profile and chronic injury problems and moreover one who doesn't wanna stay at the club anymore is not wise.
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