Premier League - Koscielny: 'I'll work like a dog'

Eurosport - Tue, 13 Jul 10:29:00 2010

Laurent Koscielny has said he must "work like a dog" to become fit enough to play for Arsenal.

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The centre-back, a £10m signing for the Gunners, delivered a self-effacing assessment of his prospects in North London.

"Everything is going so fast... I don't have much experience, clearly, but you can't refuse Arsenal," the 24-year-old told France Football.

"It could be the last opportunity in my life. I'll have to work like a dog to be at the right level physically, but I'm not that scared about the big gap it represents.

"If I don't make it, it just means that the step was too high".

Koscielny said he thought Arsenal's style suited him, as a ball-playing defender.

"In Tours and Lorient, I always played in teams who used to have the ball. It's important for me to be the one who restarts the game from the back.

"Moreover, at Arsenal, you have a lot of French people: players and coaches. This fact was as important as playing a leading role in the Premiership and Champions League.

"I have the goal (of playing for France) in the back of my mind. But first of all, I have to settle in at Arsenal. Playing for such a big club will give me exposure, anyway. When you play in a team where 75 per cent of the players have caps, it helps."

Eurosport

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  1. I really dont know how anyone can slag or question AW,­ what he has done for Arsenal is nothing short of­ amazing. In the time he has been here he has won many­ trophies playing in a style that no Arsenal fan would­ have seen, I think people also forget how close we have­ come to winning the league more recently, we was­ looking more than comfortable the year Eduardo­ horrificly broke his at Birmingham, we had so much bad­ luck in that game I think it was Bendtner should have­ scored the 2nd to kill the game and then they got a­ penalty that wasn't but for me what lost us the­ title was Gallas with his childish sulk, we lost our­ team spirit somewhat with his actions, that day we­ needed Tony Adams putting his arm round Clichey and­ rally the troops, we was well worthy that year to win­ the league. All this and were paying for our­ magnificent new stadium without getting in debt, also­ look at the talent we have coming through, good times­ ahead, take your blinkers off and appreciate what us as­ Arsenal fans have.

    From youngyjue, on Wed 14 Jul 23:36
  2. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    So Arsenal have bought a dog.....

    From rage, on Wed 14 Jul 22:34

  3. half a brain your such a dud mate. im guessing the club­ you support is only because they win trophies. i guess­ once they start losing you will back another team. im­ pretty wenger knows what he is doing, if you didnt know­ we buy our players young and let them grow not old rust­ buckets who have a yr or so left

    From raymondsmith_2168, on Wed 14 Jul 22:29

  4. shut up your mouth half a brain or whatever you call­ yourself. it is unreasonable fanatics like you that­ push your clubs to bankruptcy which is the order of the­ day these days. leave arsenal and arsene alone. healthy­ finances is a trophy 4 a club. having a new world class­ stadium is a trophy. having your players in both teams­ in a WC final is a trophy (not even barca, madrid, ac­ milan and so on can boast of that. don't even get­ me started with man u and co). arsenal fans love the­ football philosophy, they don't need your respect­ or opinion, they have nothing else to prove to you or­ whoever, they already have major trophies and are the­ only team to win the EPL with an unbeaten run so until­ any team beats that b4 they reply with another record.­ if the EPL returns to or start playing football as it­ should be (total, proper football not long balls, kick­ and rush and bull fighting) then i guarantee you the­ remaining clubs can as well 4get winning any trophy in­ england. there is time 4 everything

    From ik, on Wed 14 Jul 15:33
  5. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    bgrt6243, the ''lack of trophies'' is a­ problem for every supporter, die-hard of glory hunters­ alike. People want their kids to be successful and­ their car to be fast and their bank account to be fat­ and their football team to win trophies. This is a­ player who was bought expansively yet he is talking­ like a kid coming from youth ranks. So he has YET to­ work hard to be able to play for Arsenal? 10 million­ pounds for a chance to work hard?? Such money should­ have brought someone who is ALREADY good, not someone­ who needs to prove himself. Wenger is spending the­ club's money in rubbish buys and the odd good buys­ make him look like he knows what he is doing.

    From Half A Brain, on Wed 14 Jul 14:08

  6. Ask yourself this, are you an Arsenal supporter or a­ glory supporter? Everyone on here is so driven by the­ "lack of trophies" @#$% and still calls­ themselves Arsenal fans. We get to see Arsenal play­ some great football even without winning anything and­ okay, we haven't won a trophy in a while and it­ would be nice to win one but what matters is enjoying­ the football (and finishing above Tottenham). And if­ you don't enjoy the football then @#$% off and­ support another team. And as for the talk of getting­ rid of Arsene Wenger, that just sickens me as to how­ stupid you people are.

    From bgrt6243, on Wed 14 Jul 13:23

  7. AW dream was to turn arsenal into a power house he­ knows that you can't just put players into a team­ he learnt his lession with reyes jeffers and co back­ then they was big money .

    From Darren, on Wed 14 Jul 11:26
  8. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Hmm the french are REALLY known for their AMAZING­ workrate....especially after what we saw at the world­ cup..

    From Victor Meldew, on Wed 14 Jul 11:21

  9. By JOE, I meant Jealous One Envy

    From Dale, on Wed 14 Jul 10:52

  10. Here we go, here are the J.O.E. s of Arsenal all over­ this page. No, who da feck are ya? Kick rocks mate. And­ Rafas, isn't it time to change your name, or­ medications? I recall Wenger tried to buy Chris­ Smalling, but the little fecker wanted to go to Man U,­ so it isn't that Arsene doesn't want to sign­ English, it's that a lot of them think they are­ better than even the Spanish players who just won the­ World Cup. They are arrogant like most on here and­ selfish, they ask for too much and return little when­ it matters most. Yes Wenger can still look at some­ non-French speaking players for the future of Arsenal,­ that's why he will invest his time on Wilshere,­ Ramsey, Lansbury, Eastmond, Gibbs, Walcott, and others,­ when they prove they are not overrated, then you will­ start to see them, untill then, Man U and Chelsea­ rarley buy English these days..so go feck up their own­ pages k unts

    From Dale, on Wed 14 Jul 10:51
  11. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    @NO; i cudnt agree with u more..Arsenal used to be a­ North London Club and an English Club and not its­ becoming more like a French National Football Team­ Reserves and those non-french are just fringes players.­ I really think its about time for the whole club to­ have a shake up starting from the smallest staff to the­ biggest (manager). lets bring in One English Manager­ and Non-money-driven English players. @Dave: i agree­ with wat u have mentioned but the #1 i dont agree,­ Arsenal is bigger than Everton. Everton is a mid-table­ club unlike us. We're expecting more from Arsenal­ FC than Everton.

    From enteng_santiago, on Wed 14 Jul 9:57

  12. "If I don't make it, it just means that the­ step was too high"... that's winning attitute,­ push him a little bit and he will crumble under­ pressure...

    ...this looks a bad to awful singing.

    From Thoughts from Jaime Sabines, on Wed 14 Jul 9:55
  13. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    75% of the Arsenal's squad have caps for France

    From Adam, on Wed 14 Jul 9:21

  14. hy is everyone having a go at Wenger for not buying the­ best players in the world. Who have all the other­ premier League clubs brought as of yet. It's OK­ going to the press stating you want this player and­ that player. Any club can make their fans happy by­ statng they are after the top players but in the end­ all that matters are the players you sign and the squad­ you already have.

    From JULIAN B, on Wed 14 Jul 8:51

  15. #20 - the new limits have already been around for a­ while - they only apply to CL squads, and players under­ 21 don't have to be included in the 25 to be­ elligible.
    And because of AW buying players very­ young, people like Fabregas, Clichy, Walcott, Song,­ Djourou all count as home-grown too.

    From Dave, on Wed 14 Jul 8:00

  16. #12 - Ask yourself these questions:
    1. When was the­ last time Everton won anything? Have all their fans­ turned against the manager?
    2. How many of the goals­ we conceded were down to the defence, and how many were­ because we didn't have a decent goallie?
    3. If the­ premiership is now the Big Two, how come Liverpool­ finished 2nd in 2009? And why were we still in the­ title race until a month before the end of last­ season?
    4. How many titles did we win in the 10 years­ before Arsene Wenger arrived? How many times were we in­ the champions league in that time?
    5. How many of the­ top teams have built a brand new stadium in the past­ decade and are still showing a profit?
    7. Which­ premiership manager has the best record for finding­ 'unknown' players and turning them into­ superstars (eg. Cole, Henry, RVP, Fabregas)?
    I for one­ am looking forward to the next season, with no Gallas­ upsetting everyone, hopefully with a new goallie, and­ with Chamakh and Koscielny both good players, both­ excited about joining us. This is a great time to be a­ Gunner!

    From Dave, on Wed 14 Jul 7:46

  17. OH NO! not another Cygan,Wenger why didnt you just buy­ Jags from Everton? kin el! enough with the French­ already & @ comment 2 Vermaelen was NOT a no name­ signing I guess your football knowledge is not that­ extensive he was Captain at Ajax m8 and a decent player­ long b4 Arsenal signed him

    From masamba, on Wed 14 Jul 7:38

  18. Id like to see another centre back at the club as well­ as a goalkeeper, but looking at the squad already there­ are more than 25 players there, the new limits mean­ players missing out until january

    From nathan t, on Wed 14 Jul 7:30
  19. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    I am a arsenal fan but why the hell does he not buy­ world class players and now he splashes 10 million on­ this unknown defender arsenal fans in general do you­ like the site of the defender at arsenal

    From vmanghoon, on Wed 14 Jul 7:19

  20. Arsene Wenger is building Arsenal to be THE TEAM of the­ future.
    Step one was to bring the cost of building THE­ NEW STADIUM under control.
    Step two was to have a­ POSITIVE CASH FLOW and at the same time make the­ CHAMPIONS league. Wenger was also WAITING to see if­ there was a TAKEOVER of ARSENAL F C.
    Step three will be­ to bring bonefied players to ARSENAL, once the­ financial picture brightens up. Thats when we will see­ silverware.

    From Showkatali, on Wed 14 Jul 6:30
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