How highly do you rate Laurent Koscielny?

[ThaReaper01]

He's alright. What hurts him, I think, is the constant chopping and changing around him. He's never had a settled partner, he's had like 6-7 goalkeepers behind him and the fullbacks are seemingly chosen by a coin flip.

He's getting to the point now where he needs to be the guy for them. He should be captain. He should be yelling at the team to wake the feck up, rallying the troops. Just don't see that from him.

 

[Celestiale]

He's too prone to brain farts.

Boateng and Pique as well, and yet they are supposedly "world class"

 

[Loublaze]

Never rated this joker. If he's one of the best in the league then standards have really dropped.

 

[Celestiale]

If he's one of the best in the league then standards have really dropped.

Not only of the league, there are not too many outside that are better either..standards definitely have "dropped", but this is due to the refereeing, more then anything. You can't defend nowadays like you did it 10 or 15 years ago. Defenders have to be way more cautious, that makes their job harder, and make them look bad more often...football also getting faster and faster

 

[oneniltothearsenal]

Not only of the league, there are not too many outside that are better either..standards definitely have "dropped", but this is due to the refereeing, more then anything. You can't defend nowadays like you did it 10 or 15 years ago. Defenders have to be way more cautious, that makes their job harder, and make them look bad more often...football also getting faster and faster

This is a great point that often gets missed when talking about overall defending dropping in quality. Refs have definitely been giving attackers more and more protection over the last 10 years and that has to have an impact.

 

[giorno]

It's also a general shift towards playing more from the back. That means CBs nowadays have to be good on the ball, which means there's less focus on teaching them the defensive aspects of their position, such as man marking

I mean, boateng, pique, ramos, are solid CBs, but as defenders they're just not in the same league as the Nesta, Cannavaro, Rio, etc. But overall, as players, they're comparable because of their quality in possession

 

[Sammyjunn]

Im not sure if it was a penalty, seemed a bit light but once again so stupid. The fact remains that he gives away stupid red cards/pens/poor defending in big games. He is a good player but he needs someone even better next to him imo.

 

[giorno]

It was a penalty and it was stupid of him. He had absolutely no chance of gaining position over lewa are getting to the ball in that situation, what he has to do is to avoid hip-cheking him, and to make it worse, he even lead with his arm first(again, you can only do that when you're protecting your position, not to gain the position)

 

[roonster09]

Im not sure if it was a penalty, seemed a bit light but once again so stupid. The fact remains that he gives away stupid red cards/pens/poor defending in big games. He is a good player but he needs someone even better next to him imo.

I don't think there is any CB who concedes so many penalties.

 

[Enigma_87]

I don't think there is any CB who concedes so many penalties.

Ramos?

 

[rollingstoned1]

The man can read the game like an 80s Italian defender at times and be an utter liability at other times with his rashness. A little too much for a supposedly world class defender. For what it's worth, despite how people mention more strict refereeing and absence of tackling the pool of top CBs now is extremely poor compared to what it used to be even a little over a half a decade ago let alone what it was like in early to mid 00's. Personally for me the push-out, high line ball playing CBs do their job but aren't as good as their counterparts of 2 decades ago at their principal task of defending.

 

[hellohello]

I'd put Alderweireld over him this season, even though there are question marks about Toby coping with life without Vertonghen.

First time I heard that.

Anyway, have to agree with many posters here, - among the best in the league, but he got the occasional mistake in him (like against Liverpool last week).

 

[Skills]

Just saw that he managed to get himself sent off after 14 minutes in a top 4 decider

 

[Robbie Boy]

Answer to the OP: Not very. Shockingly overrated player.

 

[jungledrums]

Just saw that he managed to get himself sent off after 14 minutes in a top 4 decider

And misses the FA cup final in the process...

 

[Loke]

Has a few brainfarts every season but still in top 3/5 CB in league in an era of poor defenders tbh. Obviously not one who would be walking amongst the those who played in the 90s and 00s.

The difference with him on the pitch and without is quite clear. Of course didn't help himself today though.

 

[Amar__]

The difference with him on the pitch and without is quite clear.

That's because Arsenal has shocking defenders.

 

[The Boy]

Thought this deserved the bump.

What is going on at Arsenal, would love to know the real story as I never thought Koscielny was the sort to go on strike, ffs even Bale’s gone on tour with RM, you’d have thought if anyone was going to bale on preseason he would have better reason than Koscielny.

It’s fun to watch as I always enjoy other clubs in turmoil!

 

[Nick7]

He's a twat. He has a contract, ask to leave sure. But fulfil your duties until the time you leave.

Now as a United fan: Arsenal

 

[Web of Bissaka]

He's suppose to be Arsenal captain right?
So professional, exemplary leadership

Back to thread, he's past his best long ago. Time for Arsenal to rebuild their defense.

 

[kouroux]

Thought this deserved the bump.

What is going on at Arsenal, would love to know the real story as I never thought Koscielny was the sort to go on strike, ffs even Bale’s gone on tour with RM, you’d have thought if anyone was going to bale on preseason he would have better reason than Koscielny.

It’s fun to watch as I always enjoy other clubs in turmoil!

It's not like he's crying to join big clubs playing in Europe either

 

[Chipper]

No proof of this as I wasn't on the caf at the time, I remember reading another thread on him on here a long time ago as a lurker on the caf discussing him and thinking that no team could ever win the Premier League with him as their best central defender. Thought he was good, but just not good enough to do that. Upper 2nd tier defender.

Could easily just blame his partners/teammates of course, and to be fair to him it was going back a good while when Rio, Vidic, Terry were still just about around as well as a younger Kompany. Was used to a higher standard of defender back then. The level of the top defenders did drop for a while after that.

Might have been this thread - http://www.redcafe.net/threads/laurent-koscielny-is-the-best-defender-in-the-league.382847/

 

[JazzG]

Thought this deserved the bump.

What is going on at Arsenal, would love to know the real story as I never thought Koscielny was the sort to go on strike, ffs even Bale’s gone on tour with RM, you’d have thought if anyone was going to bale on preseason he would have better reason than Koscielny.

It’s fun to watch as I always enjoy other clubs in turmoil!

Nobody is sure what the truth is but he seems to be under the impression the option we had in his contract would not be activated this summer thus making him a free agent. The club however seem to feel differently.

I think the player has been poorly advised by his agent here, he's been a great servant to the club and the club should look to sort this out as amicably as possible. However unlike under Wenger we can't afford to always be so charitable and let these players go for next to nothing. I think there is probably blame on both sides but him refusing to go to America was completely out of character but also bang out of order.

 

[RochaRoja]

Bang average player whose reputation has benefited from being the only vaguely competent defender to play for Arsenal in the past decade.

 

[Canuckred64]

He's the best defender Arsenal has had for a few years. However I not sure if that is such a great compliment.

 

[lysglimt]

3-4 years ago, I rated him highly...now I don't rate him at all.

 

[VJ1762]

I always think of how he let Rashford score a free header in 2016. Rashford never challenges or wins a header, yet he scored then.

He was a good CB, but never top tier.

 

[VJ1762]

3-4 years ago, I rated him highly...now I don't rate him at all.

I think he, like the rest of Arsenal's squad during the later years of Arsene, almost always spent some part of the season on the treatment table. He has also become considerably slow, which is a big red flag in today's premier league.

 

[Karel Podolsky]

Carragher level.

Agger, Gallas, G. Cahill, Lescott, Otamendi, Smalling, Kolo Toure, Jagielka, all in similar level.

 

[bp19992]

Carragher level.

Agger, Gallas, G. Cahill, Lescott, Otamendi, Smalling, Kolo Toure, Jagielka, all in similar level.

Carragher, Agger and Gallas were better defenders than the rest you mentioned here imo

 

[TwoSheds]

Carragher, Agger and Gallas were better defenders than the rest you mentioned here imo

No, Carragher and Gallas were quality defenders. Agger was just another average hyped up Liverpool player. Best tattoo artist left footed Danish central defender of all time la.

 

[Karel Podolsky]

Carragher, Agger and Gallas were better defenders than the rest you mentioned here imo

Okay, Koscielny is in the same bracket as Carragher and Gallas.

I was just generalising that Kos' level is below top i.e Ferdinand, Vidic, Stam, Terry, Carvalho, Campbell, Adams, Kompany.

Btw, I'd pick Toure ahead of Gallas (at least mentality wise). Ehm...

 

[diarm]

This thread is an eye opener for me! I never considered him anything but a very mediocre defender.

I'm surprised to read how highly rated he was by some and to see people compare him to players like Carragher, Gallas, Vertonghen, Alderweireld and Dunne is astonishing.

I'd have him on the same shelf as guys like Lescott, Jagielka and Upson. A long term premier league stalwart who I'll have forgotten about 3 years after he retires.

 

[SilentWitness]

For one season he was fantastic. Aside from that he circles from very average to very good. Don't know why Arsenal aren't just cutting immediate ties with him after this debacle.

 

[Guy Incognito]

Gallas was better than Koscielny. Even that season when Arsenal thought they'd win the quadruple Djourou was the one who stood out.

 

[TwoSheds]

This thread is an eye opener for me! I never considered him anything but a very mediocre defender.

I'm surprised to read how highly rated he was by some and to see people compare him to players like Carragher, Gallas, Vertonghen, Alderweireld and Dunne is astonishing.

I'd have him on the same shelf as guys like Lescott, Jagielka and Upson. A long term premier league stalwart who I'll have forgotten about 3 years after he retires.

You think Dunne was better than Jagielka?

 

[diarm]

You think Dunne was better than Jagielka?

Yeah, massively. Dunne was a bit underrated I thought. Did very well for Villa and then City in those early years when their transfer policy was more miss than hit.

 

[TwoSheds]

Yeah, massively. Dunne was a bit underrated I thought. Did very well for Villa and then City in those early years when their transfer policy was more miss than hit.

Don't get me wrong he was great on his day but he was incredibly gaffe prone and by all accounts a borderline alcoholic. I think Jagielka also had a pretty good top level at his peak but was a lot more professional.

 

[11101]

I always saw him as a good defender who would reliably let you down when you needed him to stand up and be counted. Arsenal player through and through.

 

[diarm]

Don't get me wrong he was great on his day but he was incredibly gaffe prone and by all accounts a borderline alcoholic. I think Jagielka also had a pretty good top level at his peak but was a lot more professional.

Maybe I'm just misremembering Jagielka but I struggle to picture him at all to be honest. He's just one of that mush of hundreds of completely average, harmless and forgettable centre backs who've played over the years. Occupies the same part of my brain that Koscielny will in 12 months time.