Laurent Koscielny praised Arsenal’s back four after our 2-0 win away against Bournemouth in the league on Sunday.

We kept another clean sheet, which is good going, although at times I do think that was mainly down to Petr Cech being The Man and making some massive saves, particularly in the second half.

Speaking after the match, Koscielny highlighted Gabriel’s performance.

“You know Gabby, he is a very good player,” the Frenchman said to Arsenal Player.

“He likes his duels and he can play with the ball and passes.

“He played very well but the whole back four played well because we stayed together. Sometimes in your game you have a difficult situation but we stayed focus on our job.” 

Although I understand that Kos has to stand by his men, I have to disagree that Gabriel played particularly well. I’m not sure why Per Mertesacker has been dropped to the bench as what he lacks in pace, he makes for in decision making and reading the game. My only guess is that we’re looking to use the back four of Hector Bellerin, Gabriel, Kos and Nacho Monreal against Barcelona and therefore, we’re giving them some game time together.

508910304 joshua king of bournemouth tussles with gettyimages
BOURNEMOUTH, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 07: Joshua King of Bournemouth tussles with Laurent Koscielny of Arsenal during the Barclays Premier League match between A.F.C. Bournemouth and Arsenal at the Vitality Stadium on February 7, 2016 in Bournemouth, England. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)

Saying this, Gabriel is far from the worst centre back we’ve had at the club and although Bellerin had to bail him out of trouble a couple of times, we did manage to keep a clean sheet.