Arsenal‘s Gabriel Paulista has hailed his teammate Laurent Koscielny and believes the Frenchman is one of the best defenders in the world.
Koscielny is Arsenal’s most important defender and it is no surprise that they have found themselves pushing high up the league table this season as the Frenchman seems to have finally got the better of his fitness and injury issues.
The Frenchman has made 26 appearances in the top flight for the Gunners this season, missing only five matches, while he’s also improved his threat in the attacking third as he has scored three goals in the top flight.
Koscielny has impressed Arsenal fans for several years now but it seems he’s already won over Gabriel Paulista, who believes the Frenchman is one of the best in his position in world football.
“I’m really happy to be compared with such a great player,” Gabriel told Arsenal Player. “He has been showing throughout the season that he can be one of the best, or is one of the best, defenders in the world.
“I feel very happy and want to train more and more every day to be better in every match to make sure I can get to his level. I want to become one of the best defenders.
“I have to change my style a little bit [depending on my defensive partner]. When I’m playing with Mertesacker, he’s much more experienced. He plays more in his position, talks to me a lot whereas Laurent is a faster player. Laurent is more similar to me. There are a few differences but the quality of their passing is something which gives me a lot of confidence.”
Koscielny has won 55% of his total duels in the top flight this season. Included in that is his 62% success rate when it comes to headed duels having won 68 out of 110 in total while he has also won 22 out of 60 tackles, which isn’t as great a figure.
He has, though, averaged 11 defensive actions per league game which is the most at Arsenal. Gabriel has the second-highest amount per game with 10 while Per Mertesacker is further down on just seven.
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