Laurent Koscielny will have to wait for his Arsenal return as Unai Emery takes cautious approach
Laurent Koscielny will have to wait until December before he can make his playing return following an Achilles injury as his head coach Unai Emery is not prepared to take any chances.
The Arsenal captain has been missing since defeat in the Europa League semi-finals to Atletico Madrid back in May but is now eager for action as soon as possible.
That injury saw the defender denied a place with France’s World Cup squad and he has also yet to feature under new boss Emery so far, having ruptured his Achilles tendon in May.
Koscielny has returned to full training but Emery has dampened enthusiasm by warning him he will not be rushed back into the fold despite initial indications suggesting he would be ready for November.
“We need to be calm with him,” said the Spaniard. “Calm because we need [to wait] more than a month. He needs to feel [well] first, if he is doing some things, then he is doing well.
“Then when he can play and available for games in the training, [then] we can think he is OK to play.
“He is very important for us because he is our captain. He is starting this week to do some training with us together and it is very, very good news for us.
“I think we need also to give confidence to him, to be close with us, because it was a big injury. But now he is getting better, he is training with us in some things and this is very positive.”
Koscielny, 33, is vastly experienced making over 300 appearances for the North Londoners since moving from Lorient in 2010.
Arsenal have conceded 10 goals in their eight league matches, more than any other side in the top five, although they have now won their last nine matches in all competitions.
They now have a bizarre schedule, having to wait until Monday to take on Leicester City in the Premier League and then a rapid turnaround when they travel to Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League on Thursday night.
Yet Emery is refusing to criticise the fixture list, content that the finances from television outweigh anything else. However he did hint that he would play two different sides in matches this week as a result of two matches in less than 72 hours.
“The TV is very important,” he said. “The TV is the target to choose the matches Friday, Sunday, Monday. If they decided we are going to play Monday we don’t stop to think if it is better or not to play Monday.
“In Spain it is the same. We are one team with very high level and very high demand for us.
“If I decide to play with the same players Monday, Thursday, Sunday, these players can’t do that.
“We want to play a lot of matches. We want to continue doing our way with different possibilities tactically and with the players, but if we need a lot of matches with the players, we can’t do that.”
