Much to Arsenal’s fans relief over the summer, Arsene Wenger brought in two centre backs in the hope of strengthening what has been a problematic position for the Gunners in recent seasons. The first signing was Laurent Koscielny, a little known French defender who played for unfashionable Ligue One outfit Lorient. Understandably Arsenal fans were not entirely sure what to make of the transfer, but most trusted Wenger’s judgement and in the early stages of the season, it looked like that trust was well founded.
Sebastien Squillaci, another Frenchman, is a far more experienced player than Koscielny, and with the departure of William Gallas, Sol Campbell and Mikael Silvestre in the summer, Wenger obviously deemed it necessary to bring in a centre back with experience in an otherwise youthful backline. Again the early signs were good, but it was this new pairing in central defence that was torn apart by unfancied West Brom at the weekend, so will Gunners fans be reviewing the wisdom of these signings? And will it turn out to be money well spent?
If you’d asked Premier League supporters who Laurent Koscielny was before he came to England, none but the most avid of Football Manager fans would have been able to give you an answer. But when he was brought to the club, the familiar mantra of ‘Arsene Knows’, was seen in full effect as the transfer was largely welcomed by the club’s fans. Indeed early signs were good; Koscielny looked calm and composed after being thrown in at the deep end at Anfield, and had the pace needed to deal with Fernando Torres. His career at Arsenal is still in its infancy, but in the game against West Brom he did look suspect. This match could well prove to be an aberration for the squad however, and I think that the £8.5 million spent on Koscielny will prove to be a good deal in the long run.
Koscielny’s defensive partner in the game against West Brom was Sebastien Squillaci, and like his compatriot he looked shaky in the match. I am hesitant to judge the duo too harshly in this game though, because it was a bad day at the office for the whole team and it might well just be a one off this season. At 30 years of age Squillaci is an experienced head in what is a young backline, and his maturity could prove crucial for the club this season. Squillaci cost around £3.5 million, and the majority of his performances so far have suggested it will be another good deal by Wenger. Like Koscielny, I am predicting that Squillaci will have a successful season and will certainly be money well spent.
In an attacking team such as Arsenal, the defence is always going to come under pressure and therefore it is no surprise when the odd goal creeps in. In the modern game it is up to virtually the whole team to defend, and instead of blaming Arsenal’s centre-backs, I would be looking at Wenger’s tactics and the set-up of the team rather than individual players. After all, many centre-backs have suffered the same fate of leaking goals at Arsenal in recent years.
Their performances over the weekend may not have been the greatest of their careers, but Laurent Koscielny and Sebastien Squillaci have already looked strong in Arsenal’s backline. The game was an aberration by the whole squad, and as a result the defenders came under the spotlight, fairly or unfairly. Arsene Wenger rarely gets things wrong in the transfer market, and in my opinion, Koscielny and Squillaci will not buck this trend.
If you liked this article please follow me on Twitter. Subscribe to my RSS feed.