#44 Laurent Koscielny
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Maybe not the best, but certainly one of the most underrated Premier League defenders in recent years, Laurent Koscielny anchors down an Arsenal side prone to over-committing players to its attack and the reliability of the Frenchman sprouts from exceptional positional sense, good pace and phenomenal timing on tackles. While the majority of defenders rely on strength and physicality, Koscielny is willing to press forwards and contribute to his team’s midfield game, knowing he has all the attributes to hunt down any forward who squeezes past the back-line.
Arsenal’s fluctuating defensive fortunes last term are very telling of a player with nearly 200 caps to his name for the Gunners. Of the twelve clean sheets, the North London outfit kept last season, ten of them came when Koscielny was in the side, while there were some rather heavy defeats for his side during his absence, given that Arsenal lost six games by more than two goals without the former-Lorient man at the back.
Success has, again, been limited for Laurent, but he still has much mileage left and is very technically acute for a centre-half. Koscielny may not have the loudest voice on the pitch but nonetheless leads by example at the back, both at the heart of Didier Deschamps’ France side and in the Arsenal defensive set-up. If anyone is looking to mould themselves into the perfect modern defender, they should look no further than the 31-year-old renowned for his speed and excellent ability to read the game.
