Arsenal have revealed that captain Laurent Koscielny is training with a ball again as he steps up his rehabilitation following the ruptured Achilles he suffered at the end of last season.
The club’s official Twitter account shared a video of the Frenchman, who missed the World Cup due to the injury, planting shots into a teeny-tiny goal at London Colney.
Look who's been continuing his rehab at London Colney ?
Good to see you back on the ball, @6_LKOSCIELNY ? pic.twitter.com/dJWRBg3vvj
— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) September 11, 2018
Koscielny, who celebrated his 33rd birthday yesterday, had said at the end of May that he’d hope to be working with a ball within five months.
This latest update suggests he’s ahead of that schedule, although the medical team continue to state that he’s not expected to join full first team training until November.
In other news, it looks as though the calf problem that led to Lucas Torreira being substituted as a precaution by Uruguay in their 4-1 win over Mexico on Saturday is not as bad as first feared.
Focused on our improvement, @Arsenal focused on @NUFC pic.twitter.com/3HyereC7fc
— Unai Emery (@UnaiEmery_) September 11, 2018
Unai Emery shared a picture on social media of today’s training session and the diminutive midfielder was part of the session. It looks as though he should be fit enough for Saturday’s trip to Newcastle.
Good news.
Since nothing interesting is happening, does anyone think the second goal, in our 2-0 win against wolves in 2010-2011 season by van persie, is one of the most underrated goals we have scored?
Emery wants these player to make that kind of goal from the back.
End to end. Theo was the key to the move though
Great goal. For sure.
Happy Birthday Kos. And a speedy return!
robin van who?
robin van pussy
With Xhaka having played two international matches in the interlull, I really hope Emery will rest him and start Torreira and Guendouzi at Newcastle. I’ve been waiting to see that partnership since the first match of the season.
I think that game will be the most physical we’ve played this season. I expect Benitez to go up a notch from Warnock.
That is the only way they can get anything from the game.
I hope Torreira and Guendouzi will be up to the task.
If you saw how Xhaka played against England you would certainly not want him rested. He played in his true role as a deep lying midfielder and controlled the midfield. TTorreira and Xhaka will make a great partnership
He has always been a different deal with his national side.
But yes, would like to see him freed up of the defensive commitment a little, with Torreira behind him.
There’s some real talent in that pic that were not playing in the interlull!! Hector and Nacho. Ozil. Mustafi (ok, stretching it ?) and Lacazette. Hopefully they’ll be fresh for the weekend.
Here’s to seeing Granit finally get his Mascherano in Torreira, because he has all the qualities to be as good as Xabi Alonso was for Liverpool.
Totally agree. He was MOTM playing in his true role for Switzerland tonight. I’ve been waiting to see him play in his true role as a deep lying midfielder
Those that thumb down have decided their bias before watching. Granit has been improving since last 10 or so games of the last season. He has been better defensively and his range of passing moves us forward better. Its again a case of people wanting to find fault and not doing the necessary work to watch the player and his contribution through the rest of the game. If I wanted to find fault in Guendouzi, I could easily find similar instances when he has been slack or for the matter the inexplicably popular Monreal who was at fault against Cardiff… Read more »
It is actually quite explicable. He has been a consistent and stable performer in the 6 years he has been with us. Committed, and does not hide whilst the rest of the team flaps around him. Yes he can also make mistakes. But not giving him his dues is just as lazy as the people you are pointing fingers at. Hypocricy at its most blatant.
Kos the boss.. I miss you so much.
Yay Koscielny. We need his speed. That said, probably won’t see him for a while yet. As for midfield, I don’t understand Andrew Allen. Why do we need to settle on a preferred midfield pair? Its not a ZERO sum game. It shouldn’t be. With the way Emery wants to SUSTAIN a press through the game, he will need 3 midfielders to do the job rotating into a pair. That would be any combination between Torreira, Granit AND young Guendouzi (with possibly AMN and Elneny also involved in periphery in lesser cup games or injury permitting) Each of our midfielders… Read more »
Although Kos may be of a similar type of defender as Mustafi and Sokratis but he’s the most composed amongst them on the ball, at least that’s what I’ve seen and felt since playing for us. Would be best to play in Emery’s game plan of building up from the back.
Glad to hear that, we need all the gunns on Saturday to blast those toons out of their ground ?
So kos is 34 now?
That’s not how it works.
Was this the lesser spotted Torreira?