Laurent Koscielny, who was involved in Arsenal’s game against Southampton, did not feature against Liverpool on the opening weekend of the season.
Former Tottenham Hotspur forward Garth Crooks has admitted on BBC Sport that he had doubted Laurent Koscielny’s commitment to Arsenal earlier in the season.
Koscielny did not feature for Arsenal in the Premier League game against Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium on the opening weekend of the 2016-17 campaign.
The France international defender was rested due to his involvement in the 2016 European Championship.
Per Mertesacker and Gabriel Paulista did not play in the match due to injuries, and Arsenal lost 4-3.
Former Tottenham and Stoke City forward Crooks has admitted that he questioned Koscielny’s commitment when he did not play against Liverpool.
The Englishman, though, has praised the 31-year-old centre-back for his performance against Southampton at the Emirates on Saturday afternoon and has included the former Lorient star in his Premier League Team of the Weekend.
“When I saw Laurent Koscielny sitting in the stands recovering from his European Championship exploits when his team-mates were in desperate need of defenders against Liverpool, it made me question his commitment to Arsenal’s cause,” Crooks wrote on BBC Sport.
“This is a player with enormous qualities and they were perfectly demonstrated against Southampton. You don’t often see a defender execute an overhead kick as well as Koscielny did to equalise against Southampton. If he is going to have a day off in future he should try to make sure it’s not a matchday.”
Arsenal got the better of Southampton 2-1 at the Emirates to make it back-to-back wins in the Premier League.
The Gunners are sixth in the league table at the moment with seven points from four matches, a point behind fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur.
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