Laurent Koscielny says Arsene Wenger’s achievements at Arsenal will include turning a generation of players into ‘men’, as well as influencing the club’s football philosophy and its physical infrastructure.
Just days after committing his long-term future to the Gunners, the France international – who was signed by Wenger from Ligue side Lorient in 2010 after just one season of top-flight football – expanded on the important guidance the manager continues to provide his protégés on and off the pitch.
“You may say that we haven’t won the title for a long time, but he has not just built players, he’s built men too,” Koscielny told Arsenal Player.
“Every player who has played for Arsenal has grown here and has become a man. It’s a big number [of players]. For me and the others, it’s a good opportunity to be with him and learn from him.
“He’s passionate about football. He loves football and he loves to watch his team play well with the ball. That’s why he’s here again after 20 years.
“Along with a lot of people, he’s helped this club grow with a new stadium, a new training ground, and he built the platform for us to compete for the Premier League and Champions League every year.”
Nice words.
It’s pretty obvious that the respect Koscielny has for Wenger is mutual. A cursory perusal of the archives shows how the boss has repeatedly played up his compatriot’s qualities since his arrival…
7 July 2010 (Day Koscielny signed for Arsenal)
“He has shown he is mentally strong, he’s a fighter and a very strong competitor. Koscielny is a great addition to our squad.”
15 September 2011
“I believe he will be a great central defender.”
28 January 2012
“That makes him, I personally believe, one of the top-class central defenders in the Premier League.”
22 August 2013
“He’s just another example of the trust we have in players when we bring them in. It was not a spectacular signing at the start but who would deny it today?
3 December 2014
“Laurent Koscielny was absolutely outstanding today and he contributes to stabilise our defence. We missed him for nearly two months and it’s important.”
10 May 2015
“It’s really satisfying to see him fulfil his potential because he’s a player I bought from Lorient. When you listen to people, you always get names that everybody knows. Sometimes it’s rewarding to find people who have the quality to play for our club but are not necessarily the names that everybody else is after.”
21 August 2016
“We look a different team straight away and he gave us stability against a team that attacks very well.”
The Boss hails The Boss
I hope Arsenal wins a cup this season and Wenger and Kos stand there raising it.
It’ll be Two Bosses and a Cup
I see what you did there
Incredible how some people say that Wenger has lost it despite Kos and Ozil (and many others I’m sure) saying how good he is. And the new ground was a major factor in holding us back, it is amazing how well we did given that with players like Denilson, Eboue, Gallas, Almunia etc. If Eduardo hadn’t had his leg broken I reckon we would have won the league that season.
I’m sure he has weaknesses but you don’t keep a top club riding high for so long without being a top manager.
Until he is able to win one if the big jugs again there will be questions over whether or not he still has it. Mutual respect isn’t hard when you’ve been working alongside someone over a long period of time but looking at it from the outside, suggests there are still unanswered questions.
The only reason the FA Cup is no longer a ‘big jug’ I assume is because we won it back to back a few years back under Wenger and it fits your agenda.
Mutual respect is harder to give/earn when you’re working alongside someone – the reason it is a LONG period of time is due to the respect that is given/earned. Any mug on the outside, such as yourself, can have whatever level of respect based on jugs if that is what you choose to base it on.
I think by big jugs he means Champions League and Premier League… Though I do not think the FA Cup is a shitty trophy by any means, I wouldn’t mind substituting the 2 FA Cups we did win back to back for a Champions League or Premier League trophy.
Many PL teams would be happy to swap all the silverware they’ve ever won for a CL win, and many would do it for a PL win but they (and we)can’t. We are light on silverware in the last few years but the FA Cup is still a major trophy that 90 odd other teams would like to win.
We’ve also ‘won’ a stadium that most of them would like to have as well. 😀
Amazing how people are allowed to be disrespectful of others if they support Wenger. The other day I got censored just for endorsing that Jenks should be dispensed with, and that Ox should be next. Calling someone a mug for expressing his opinion should be discouraged.
Wenger is a quality/top manager but I think its debatable if he should get a new contract or not since it’s not clear if we are going to be able to mount a genuine title challenge this season (I really hope they do). This article sort of stuck with me, although i enjoy reading Arseblog and Arseblog News but this article is worth reading too http://onlinegooner.com/article.php?section=exclusive&id=3574#.WH5gUGeYpJY
Its no more or less clear than spuds, liverpool, man city or man utd. 2 of which we have finished above in the league for the last 3-4 seasons. One of which extends much further.
Chelsea have just set a really solid pace this season. They will drop points. We can take points from them as weve shown.
We are definitely still in it.
Realistically we are not in the race for title very much an outside chance
Also, this article has gaping holes, is badly quantified and biased to say the least.
For example.
He talks about how Pocchetino managed to mount a credible title challenge last season. Yet we finished above them. How is it laughable to finish 10 points behind the leaders, but 11 behind them equals a credible title challenge?
Guarantee ‘Fiendischnal’ wrote that article. Nice link placement though.
No no I didnt write it. I found it interesting reading from another site, ususally I just look at Arseblog to see whats up and to read after games. But yea. Sort of afriad to give my opinion actually because i’ll get shot down, but yoou can all live without that.
Gallas was a top player everywhere he had been: Marseille, Chelsea, Arsenal. Was always top XI.
This is the same Gallas who threatened to score own goals at Chelsea in order to get a transfer. In 2008 at Birmingham, our club captain threw a tantrum on the pitch after the game, instead of being with his traumatised team mates. I’m not saying for sure we could have recovered from the Eduardo incident better if he’d done his job as captain; in reality he made things worse. We dropped 9 points in the next 4 games, which almost certainly cost us the title. He might have been a top player when things were going well, in adversity,… Read more »
Why on earth will you blame the misfortune of an entire team on a single man. Yes, he was the captain, but he is also human. Gallas gave everything he had every time he played for us, and I personally rate him highly.
Sitting on the pitch after the Birmingham loss wasn’t right but that doesn’t mean dropping 9 points in the subsequent 4 matches should be blamed on that fact or the fact that Gallas didn’t do his job as a captain.
He should be building a bigger trophy cabinet for more trophies.
Wenger is a class act, a cut above most managers in my opinion.
Sure, there Mourinho and Guardiola have lifted more titles, but what have they built? What longevity is there with those two guys in charge.
It will be a truly sad day for us as Arsenal fans, but for football in general, the day Arsene calls it a day.
Let’s all hope that day is a long way off.
I completely agree. Not only have mourinho and guardiola never built anything, they always leave their clubs in a position where the club needs to do a lot of rebuilding. Look at the Bayern Munich Guardiola got (had just won the trebled, hailed as one of the most complete sides, they really had everything) then look what position they’re in now. Yes it’s no collapse, but when your wage bill is more than double the average wage bills of other clubs in your league, that’s poor. Look at Barcelona. They went through a two year faze where they made arsenal’s… Read more »
For anyone that wants to use Pique, Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta and messi to disprove my argument about Guardiola, look at who gave them their debuts and actually gave them the chance. Funny enough, it was actually Van Gaal who gave most of them their debuts. Wow it must have been so difficult to manage a team with Eto’o, Messi and Ronaldinho as your front three, with Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets has your midfield three with probably the greatest ever Spanish CB holding it all together behind (puyol). I saw a recent interview where Maradonna was talking about how the Barca… Read more »
Sorry for the long comments, you can tell how strongly I feel about this lol.
wow may be u should be the manager, its ok we dont play till sunday afternoon 215 no midweek game carry on if u must.
Guardiola himself has acknowledged both his enormous debt to both the Barcelona players (and Messi in particular, and especially to Cruyff.
Of course, Wenger has similarly been heavily influenced by Cruyff. Doesn’t mean he’s not an excellent manager in and of himself, though.
Yeah I actually think he’s a great manager also, just as players need time to adapt, so do managers. Honestly speaking, for whatever reason if he’s available at the end of next season, I’d take him as our next manager (can’t see Wenger staying past then, and we know by now he chooses when to leave, so technically speaking our opinions don’t have an impact on whether he stays or not). Guardiola isn’t stubborn, I think he knows he fucked up with Bravo and I’d be shocked if he didn’t address that, along with the defensive situation over the summer.… Read more »
I agree that Pep is a very good coach (not necessarily the best but he could become the best) but I don’t think he’d join us in the next few seasons as we still can’t give him the transfer budget that he’d want (he wouldn’t necessarily use it but he’s want it there as cover). Very few teams can give him that, so he’ll only go to big successful teams. As for MaureenO, the Tinkerman built most of his Chavski squad and he inherited more than decent teams everywhere else (possibly excluding Utd although they weren’t crap either). His style… Read more »
Yeah I think Pep is a luxury manager. As in, if you have a world class squad and are able to constantly buy the best players, he knows how to get the best out of them. But if you give him big Sams job, he’d fail and get relegated every time.
I think he’s a brilliant manager, just not s complete one. But you know what, I think the time of complete managers are gone, Wenger is pretty much the last one. Today the modern manager is simply a head coach, rather than a manager.
A bit off topic but did anyone else notice his cheeky wink to Ki (swansea player) when the ref booked him for diving? I think even Koscielny thought it was a pen! and then the ref turned round and Kos’ face changed immediately – priceless!!..or maybe im just reading too much into things
http://player.arsenal.com/matches/g855378/video/8888/swansea-city-a-1st-half
between 46:55 and 47:15..amazing 🙂 He even hides from the ref when he’s winking!
He knew it wasn’t a penalty but expected the ref to fall for it…
Legacy is the right word for what Arsene has built in the past 20 years. In this modern society it happens way too often that the longevity and repeatedly proven quality are underappreciated. Over and over again he managed to keep us at the highest tier of English and European football and yet his competence is questioned. The only real problem for us will be to find anybody who’ll be able to replace Wenger in so many roles he plays at Arsenal. There is no other manager in premiership with nearly the same level of involvement and responsibilities. My guess… Read more »
Love these two to bits. Really hope we win the Champions League in case Arsene does call it a day (which I really hope he doesn’t :,( at the end of the season) which would be the perfect send off to arguably the greatest man in football and without a doubt in Arsenal Football Club. We should definitely rename our stadium ‘The Home of Arsene’ after our deal with Emirates runs out.
I think they’ll name a stand after him – like united did with sir Alex. We gotta keep racking in the naming rights, innit?
oi nah Kos m8 he’s a has-been. can’t do tactics innit
is irony dead on the arseblog news comments?!?!
Not exactly, but text-speak suggests you have chosen………………………….Unwisely.
Quotes like these makes you see Wenger in a different perspective. I was sure I wanted this to be Wenger’s last season (I’m a wenger in fan) but right now I don’t know what I want!!!
In other news, and completely off topic, Mike Dean has been demoted to the Championship. About fucking time. Only seven or eight more levels to go to reach a calibre of football suited to his ability. Hope the demotion is permanent.
he’ll probably still award Spuds a penalty.
It’s only for a weekend, though
AWesome by name and awesome according to those who know him best!
His legacy as our greatest manager is not in doubt. However, this is Arsenal PR Machine in full swing without the handbrake: ozil interview, over the top new u23 player signing celebration, mustafi interview…. Brace yourself, it’s coming…news of Wenger’s 3 year extension. I want a new manager! Not sure if the board is making any succession planning smh
Just wait when we drop points … it will be the end of the world again I mean Wenger should have won 2 more league titles minimum. I think the period where Fergie won 3 in a trot 0607 to 0809 was obscene. We should have won at least one there. And last season was for the taking. That said, Wenger is more than just the trophies. He’s built the club up. Our ability to compete against debt financed clubs with enormous oil revenues is strictly down to his early success, financial prudence and acumen in market. To stay in… Read more »
his influence transcends coaching the team due to peculiar circumstances. However, the ultimate barometer to measure a manager would be the big trophies won! On that note, he has been subpar…
No, the ultimate barometer would be whether he’s achieved more with a squad than the squad would be expected to achieve and he’s usually exceeded that expectation.
It’s only very recently the squad has been anywhere near good enough to win silverware (although many never understood that).
Trophies won is the yardstick. The extras you guys focus on is for the board.
Only recently we’ve been good enough? Our title challenge erodes these days we have money same way it did in the broke days. Staring well, then falling off in crunch period 07 – 08 season …. he couldn’t win the champions league with players we regard as our greatest ever! Only made it to the final once…what has changed since we had more money? 2 fa cups? Remember LVG was sacked after winning it. It doesnt count as a major trophy.
Good to hear. Sometimes I feel like I’m the only one that supports him given how the media like to concentrate on those that want him gone. Yes he makes mistakes, who doesn’t? but I imagine he’s the first to admit it. Maybe not to the press, which means we don’t hear it, but to his players and back room staff Im sure he does. Yes we need to prepare for when he leaves (whenever that is), but he loves the club and I’m sure he’ll want the club to run smoothly from the moment he leaves so I’d put… Read more »
No doubt it is obvious that the respect and admiration is mutual between Wenger and Kols. It seems to me that something else obvious – an orchestrated pr campaign to get as many of the players as possible to endorse Wenger: Ozil, Mustafi, Kols…I wonder who next. It is a weak strategy for justifying extending Wenger’s contract because it is founded on blackmail, rather than actual performance. If we were topping the league or trailing Chelsea by just a point or two, extending that contract would be an easy sell.
Far too many ‘fans’ really don’t appreciate where we were in a PL and European football context before AW joined us. We were closer to Everton league-wise than Liverpoo! or Utd, but a good cup team with occasional cup winners cup exposure to Europe. We didn’t have the resources to make the push up constantly although the occasional run at a league win was there. We may not have had the success we craved (deserved even) in recent years but when we do next win it, we won’t then drop to playing like a mid-table team as we had done… Read more »
So are Chelsea and City. And they didn’t need to have a manager for 20 years to achieve it. Just structure, commitment and resources.
No, Chelsea had the ‘short route’ requirement of loads of money and City are not considered a major European team yet (although Pep joining them has raised their profile dramatically, so they could be soon).
We didn’t have that money and still don’t but we’re getting there…
No, they had oil money instead.