“He says that he was disturbed in his preparation [in pre-season],” Arsène Wenger said. “In our final game in Cologne, he had a calf injury. It took him a long, long time to come back and after that he had many setbacks through the season. And every time he was close to coming back, he had another injury or sickness. He was sick a lot this year.”
That may have been the case, but he finished the campaign in rude health. With Arsenal’s top-four bid on the point of implosion in early March following defeat in the north London derby, Wenger made a major call and replaced his captain, Thomas Vermaelen, with Koscielny for the Champions League trip to Bayern Munich.
He was rewarded with an outstanding defensive performance and a late headed goal from the centre back that rocked the eventual winners. It was not enough to take the Gunners through, but the result proved to be the catalyst behind Arsenal’s outstanding end to the campaign. And at the heart of it was Koscielny’s partnership with Per Mertesacker.
"We talk a lot and communicate well, which is very important for centre backs,” the 27-year-old said. “In fact, that’s an aspect I think we have improved a lot in as a team this season - we’re all talking more and it’s working better for us.
“Yes [I shout more now]! My English is better so I talk more. We are defenders so we can see everything on the pitch. I think every player talks for their team-mates because it's important - just to move two or three metres, we can stop a counter-attack.”
The sight of Koscielny stepping out of defence to break up opposition attacks is something Arsenal fans have grown accustomed to since his arrival from Lorient in 2010. However, it has perhaps never been as important as during those agonising final steps towards a top-four place. As the tension ratcheted up week by week, Koscielny’s influence, authority and confidence seemed to grow exponentially.