Laurent Koscielny’s achilles injury ‘could extend his career’

Arsenal medical doctor Gary O’Driscoll has today opened up on the recent injury struggles of Laurent Koscielny, revealing his surprising opinion that the Frenchman’s achilles problem may in fact prolong his career at the top level.

Koscielny returns

Koscielny made his long-awaited return to first-team action on Thursday night, starting alongside Sokratis Papastathopoulos at the heart of Arsenal’s back-4 for the club’s Europa League group-stage clash with Qarabag.

The Gunners came away with a comfortable 1-0 win to extend their unbeaten streak across all competitions to 22 games, with Koscielny having managed 72 minutes before being replaced by Nacho Monreal.

“Hello everyone – thank you very much for your support tonight. For me it was an important day and I’m happy to share it with you.”

And we were happy to share it with you too, Lolo 😁

❤️ @6_LKOSCIELNY pic.twitter.com/IlqHWCftsv

— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) December 13, 2018

‘In certain areas he’s looking stronger’

Thursday’s clash came as the French stopper’s first Arsenal appearance since a Europa League semi-final meeting with Atletico Madrid back in May, when Koscielny ruptured the achilles tendon in his ankle.

As such, with the Guingamp youth product now 33, question marks have inevitably been raised regarding whether Koscielny will ever be capable of returning to his best following such a detrimental injury.

One individual who is of the opinion that the veteran’s spell on the sidelines could in fact remarkably prove to be of benefit regarding his career moving forward, however, is Arsenal medical doctor Gary O’Driscoll.

Speaking in an interview with the Gunners’ official website, O’Driscoll explained:

‘It’s not very easy to say this. But actually an enforced period of rehabilitation and recuperation can actually help a player extend his career. And help a player to concentrate on areas of his career that potentially could have been improved.’

‘His speed, his pace, his agility, his endurance.’

‘So, while we can’t say for certain that he’ll come back, with all our markers at the moment there is no deficit there whatsoever at this stage.’

‘And in fact, in certain areas he’s looking stronger.’

‘His attitude is so positive. We’re all so positive and there’s no reason to believe whatsoever that he can’t become the player he was, if not better.’

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