Laurent Koscielny has urged his Arsenal to prove they hate losing as the look to get their season back on track following recent humblings at the hands of Chelsea and Bayern Munich.
Admitting that the Gunners appear to have a mental problem when it comes to playing big teams, the France international called on his teammates to stay united following a difficult two months at the Emirates
“We have had up and down results, it’s a mental problem,” he told RMC.
“We have the technical and physical qualities but we must put in the effort for a whole match.
“Against the big teams, it takes more than talent [to win]. It takes more commitment and helping your teammates defend. We must dig deeper.
“We are in a complicated situation, we must remain united. We must have a hatred of losing.”
Koscielny also made clear that Arsene Wenger continues to command the respect of his players and admits he’d like to see the man who signed him pen a new deal at the Emirates.
“I think the squad is always receptive to Arsene Wenger’s message. The coach is there to prepare the players physically and tactically and to organise us on the training ground. After that, it’s up to the players to do what is necessary on the pitch to win the matches.
“I’d like to see him extend [his contract]. I’ve been working under him for seven years and I have huge respect for him. He gave me a chance to come here, to improve me as a player and a man. I owe him a lot in my career.”
Koscielny, who signed a contract extension in January, also made clear that he has no plans to return to France.
“I’ve had no contact with French clubs and even if there had been, I wouldn’t leave now because I don’t see myself returning to France for a while.
“I’m happy with my life on and off the pitch. My family and I are happy here and that’s the most important thing.”
Ain’t nobody like Lolo
Arsene is clearly a great manager, but he needs to be more ruthless and be quick to send a strong message to underperforming players. The way Pep dropped Aguero and was only able to get back in with Jesus getting injured, you tell me he wont shape up when he has the chance to come in. Wenger should let the players know that HE is in charge and ABSOLUTELY NO-ONE is indispensable and watch them give their all every single time they play. You get the feeling Wenger is too soft on his players and maybe it comes from his… Read more »
Alexs i think Wenger has no future that why he is so soft on the pitch example on the big gam
Great guy, hope for many more years of his leadership. It wouldn’t have been 5-1 v Bayern if he had stayed on the pitch.
my ONLY complaint about Kos is that he turns away from shots too often. I’d love to see him throw himself in front of shots a lot more. It’s just a ball of air…
Baseball and ice hockey fans/players know what I’m talking about 🙂
I’m hoping Mustafi can learn a lot more from Kos. Kos used to dive around too much when he first joined us, but has been way better the last few years.
I did not notice Kos moving away from shots than normal. Would you like to expose your balls to Podolski shots, for example ? In ice hockey, they have lot of protection, so much that their goal keepers look like astronauts.
“It takes more commitment and helping your teammates defend.”
I think this is telling. The midfield and inside forwards just don’t offer enough protection to the back four, and seem to decide at random whether to press, sit back, or maybe just have a pleasant jog around. A luxury number 10 complicates this.
It’s no coincidence that we’ve made a few good-to-decent centre halves look like clowns in recent years.
Exactly what i saw!
Ah Özil… the most guilty of all. Imagine what we could win without him!
Playing with a classic number 10 means that your two midfielders have to be disciplined and defensively strong. I’m not sure that’s blaming Ozil.
Yeah, you don’t need Ozil in that Bayern game for that reason. It would have been better to play with an additional midfielder who would have put in the defensive shift, knowing Aresenal would have less of the ball. That would have been a more successful game plan to not concede 5 goals. Playing Ozil for 90 minutes was playing 1 man short.
So what? Ozil must defend, period. When Fabregas was in his position with us, he was doing it. Walcott and Ox should be replaced immidiately if they do not defend.
Fabregas? Like fuck he was. Near the biggest passenger in defence I’ve seen in almost 40 years of watching the Arsenal. Ozil does actually do a fair bit, in his own way mind.
But yes, the outside forwards, on the other hand, are often found wanting EVEN when they are in the box.
At any rate, everyone can up their defensive game, Ozil included but not alone.
Think kos is our most important player, we’re a shadow of the side without him.
At the other end of the pitch it just looks ridiculous Sanchez pressing on his own. A one man press is just pointless. Personally I’d love to see an energetic front three of Sanchez, Perez and Welbeck, all pressing together. Think it could be really effective and might shake us out of this lethargy we seem to sink into.
You can’t turn Ozil into Kante. Fault lies with those who are expected to help link play between Kos and Ozil. The midfield has been pretty bad so far this year. Can’t hold the ball, can’t win it back. Add to that our marauding welterweight full backs… everyone is out of sync. I wonder what drills do Bould and Co run the players through. When time and time again our CBs get isolated.
If you want to win, you defend because you don’t want opposition to score. It comes naturally with the winning mentality. Wenger punished Poldi for this but allow it for all others.
I hope you looked at the stats against Bayern. Kos doesn’t make goals. Goals win matches. Does Kos doesn’t have a winning mentality!? BTW have you counted the trophies Ozil has won? As for Boss’s favoritism, every manager makes decisions regarding who fits and who doesn’t. Pep, Jose, Klopp, Conte – all of them. I liked Poldi but I can safely say we haven’t missed him. Alexis can’t smash it in like he did, but he does a whole lot more.
I agree. This is not about Ozil, and often not about the two deeper lying midfielders. I really think our wide forwards let the team down so often. Watch Iwobi for example – i love what he brings offensively, but he is very poor at tracking back, struggles to defend, and rarely supports the full back in defending crosses. When Kos went flying out to prevent the cross against Chelski and Hector was left alone in middle to defend Costa and then their left wing back, it was Iwobi who was AWOL in helping out Monreal. Other wide players are… Read more »
Unfortunately mid-season we have a few players who are out of form.
Then this team must be doing a whole lotta hatin’
Hate losing! I agree a 100%! Hope they listen and get the point! Some players tend to look more at themselves than the team! They all should hate losing as a team first, that’s a good foundation to build on. Kos the Cappo! Nice one Cappo!
Hate this mental problem that shows up for the big games and slowly drips through the whole team, which drives us all crazy, No more,,Vote Mental problems out!
Cocquelin has had his game altered by Wenger. He now charges up the pitch to press when he should be covering the back four, winning tackles and passing immediately to a more talented team mate like he used to do when he played next to Cazorla. Watch the Hazard goal against us and see how far out of position he was. Fucking appalling defending.
Get a grip Arsene and sort it out.
Maybe that has something to do with cazorla not playing alongside him and we all know that coq- cazorla is best partnership mainly of the big talent of cazorla playing for the deep and getting out with both of his fit in tight spaces when players are pressing him, the issue with our midfield is there and always was there not having a talented ball winner powerhouse only the quality of cazorla made look like there is not a problem in the midfield. And when he is out everything falls apart especially against the big team when they are pressing… Read more »
Coq’s game depends on charging and winning tackles. You are right with him going up field way more this season but THAT Hazard tackle was his mistake not Wenger’s. If as an enforcer you get bumped by Hazard while you are trying desperately to foul him, shame is on you. Coq also charged down Vidal against Bayern and bounced off like he was made of rubber. He tried same with Robben for the first goal and went the wrong way. Hate to say this because I love the guy but Coq has been very poor lately. No coach’s instructions can… Read more »
There is a solution in the team for the problem but looks like every time there was some stability creeping in injuries or suspensions happened. Each one of the following for me should be able to handle any of our games.
Xhaka-Ramsey/Wilshere can be our most dynamic attacking partnership.
Xhaka-Coq should be the most balanced once Coq sorts himself out.
Elneny-Coq is the most defensive.
Cazorla-Coq is unfortunately from our past now.
It looks in more recent matches like they’re trying to make use of the fact that Coquelin is one of the few players at effectively applies a high press. Now, not so sure that’s the right use of him against Bayern of course, if nobody else is and the way they zipped the ball around us. It’s really hard to figure out how he works with Xhaka – are they trying to use the dreaded Double Pivot? Elneny seems more box-to-box but still presses well, which is probably why they seem to be effective from the few times we’ve seen… Read more »
Of course, the reason he has to charge out like that is because, erm, there’s a player in front of him there who won’t press. And of course, with our unusually deep backline, this leaves huge gaps in the middle of the pitch for decent teams to exploit. Having said that, that doesn’t excuse letting Hazard turn him into a fucking meme! And it also doesn’t excuse zero tackles against Bayern Munich, nor the shear lack of concentration (and mental strength) for Robben’s goal
I think Cocquelin has lost form. I don’t think Wenger has anything to do with it. I’ll be surprised if indeed he does.
Hope he recovers quickly and bosses that Liverpool attack.
Absolutely agree with him, the team has to defend as a whole.And Mustafi, for fuck’s sake, stop playing like Stones and Otamendi. Show us the Mustafi of the 1st half of the season.
Wondering how the Wenger-outs are going to react, considering The Bossceiny and most of the other players want Wenger to stay.
Nothing can change their mind. That ship has sailed my friend. Arsenal’s fan base has fractured and neither side will budge from their stance anytime soon. Even if we do the unthinkable and win the league, they will say go out while going is good.
I should ask…why is that so?
There is a problem if Kos implies some don’t mind losing…
I think what he is saying is that some give up when the going get’s tough. Like at Bayern, how the team surrendered. It’s not the same as not minding losing or not caring but it still is very bad.
losing? Thats a padlin’
World class centre back, but who is his partner? I think I’d start Holding against Liverpool. All his performances have been good, while Gabriel has been shaky, and Mustafi has had several shockers over the last couple months. We need to shake things up, and reward good play.
I hate name calling. But Gibs can do much better than that performance at the Allianz really!
Great. Problem is Arsenal will start well in late summer till mid autumn/early spring.
Then the disappointing times start to repeat every year from2006 to now.
The problem is Arsenal like to attack all the time and this must be Wenger’s fault.
Leading against Chelsea and MC and to lose is really,really bad. Of course there are other games
where the gunners dominate in goals and stats but lose
This has been going on for far too long and aint acceptable at a big club.
Kos should ask Coq and Xhaka how Özil can make 6 tackles and them only 3 against Bayern…
I love this…I always think of it as having a fear of losing but hatred works as well.
When you’re down 1-0 in the 80th minute, this is what triggers the “by any means necessary” mentality –flying into challenges, winning every aerial duel, making a gut-busting run to get on the end of something when you’re already gassed physically. We need this from 11 players, not just 1 or 2.
After Barca, Arsenal to me has been greater attacking side. At some point d players boxed Wenger into believing in parking d bus system to sustain a slim lead they usually possess n eventually Lost like two seasons ago…. Well it paid off at times but now u guess they r stuck with that mentality against big teams instead of standing up to them fighting by attacking.. Arsenal needs to go back to that… Parking d bus against big teams is not our game… We have Lost matches parking d bus system n my question now is what do we… Read more »
You have either a short term memory or just started supporting Arsenal recently.
Sometime ago Wenger condescendingly dismissed the need for a defence mentor when asked. He arrogantly said he had 30 years coaching and did not see the need for it. Then how come Arsenal lost 8-2,6-0,6-3,etc. You don’t find top teams conceding buckets of goals. And that’s why Arsenal cant challenge for the epl. As for the MU scenario happening if he were to go,it’s better to get another one who might not win every game but could at least bring a bout of fresh air.With Wenger you will know that the same thing will happen every year ie heartbreak and… Read more »
If you’re happy Arsenal lose, then what’s the point of even watching?
Sadist
I’m just so happy that this guy remains faithful and optimistic about our club. I just couldn’t bear losing him. Real hero to me.
Too little too late…Same shit different season
These guys always know what to say but on the pitch….
Well said captain. But action speak louder than voice.
I disagree with the convenient scapegoating of Mustafi. He has been for the most part solid for us this season. Lets remember this is his first season and he has come straight in. Koscielny’s first season was littered with red cards, Own Goals and Penalties conceded. Whilst we are on Koscielny, he made several mistake against Chelsea and then Hull. On two occasions, he was passed by rather too easily being caught flat footed. So it wasn’t just Mustafi making errors (most of his were attempts to pass out the ball in absence of Granit) Yes Mustafi was out jumped… Read more »
But you know Mustafi was a disaster against Bayern, right? Agree he has been solid in lot of games though.
If there’s one thing I’d challenge this team to do is to win every single league game from here on.
So sad a defender of Koscielny’s quality don’t have major titles to his name and it’s not like he has a lot of time left or arsenal is capable of competing for major honors with Wenger in charge. His loyalty to Wenger is understandable though.
I still play Sunday lge at 43 and it’s non vets and I always have had a hatred of losing. Ruins my Sunday still if my team lose. My team mates are all in their early to mid 20s and it would be fair to say some of them dislike me immensely. But it’s a maturity thing, I’m on them all game but never in a personal way and encourage as often as I bollock. But we’re in our cup semi final and heading for promotion into the prem division so my hatred of losing is having some kind of… Read more »
Koscielny talking about mental fragility. Oh the irony.
Not related…..
Media on bout Rooney coming to Arse……..Bolloxology
He’s on 300k where he is, for fucks sake.
Plus he’s 31
Plus plus , he’s been exposed to that twat so his brain is all fried forever.
lol bro, a couple of redtops reported that Harry Redknapp said we should sign him. Nobody is seriously speculating that it might happen
Mental twitch
More likely he’ll go to China for a million quid a week.
Sure we are a team in crisis. I mean, finishing inside top 4 every season for two decades. Winning the FA cup back to back within last 3 seasons and finishing higher than 4th over those seasons. Meanwhile, the strong mentality that Spurds have have brought them through the (ahem…exit) door again in the prestigious Europa cup. Look at them, that’s how to run a modern progressive footy club. Keep changing the managers since 1961, never mind they haven’t won the title since black and white, according to respected pundit and ex spurs manager Harry Twitch Redknapp, they’ll do it… Read more »
…relive all the beautiful moments on the BBC. I’m sure they’ll have all their mediocre punditry waxing lyrical about how this is a midget team without ambition…time for more change…who knows they may make the title in another quarter of a century…oh wait…Liverpool.
I also hope we show class like Leicester City.
😀
At least we didn’t go out of Europe to Gent!!! hahahahahahahahahahahaha
Kos is the Boss. Wish he was more vocal but it’s not in his DNA and he leads more by example.
He was a big loss when he went off injured in Munich, but that’s no excuse for our capitulation.
For those who want Wenger out, be careful what you wish for as the likes of Kos, Ozil, Hector, and maybe even Alexis could agitate for a move if Arsene leaves.
Ha ha Spuds!