Laurent Koscielny talks up Arsene Wenger

Yesterday brought us comments from Olivier Giroud that amounted to him, speaking on behalf of the rest of the squad, proclaiming everyone wants to see Arsene Wenger sign a contract extension before the end of the season. Today, vice-captain Laurent Koscielny spoke up about how Wenger has made him and others into better players - and people in general:

"You may say that we haven’t won the title for a long time, but he has not just built players, he’s built men too," Koscielny told Arsenal Player.

"Every player who has played for Arsenal has grown here and has become a man. It’s a big number [of players]. For me and the others, it’s a good opportunity to be with him and learn from him.

"He’s passionate about football. He loves football and he loves to watch his team play well with the ball. That’s why he’s here again after 20 years.

"Along with a lot of people, he’s helped this club grow with a new stadium, a new training ground, and he built the platform for us to compete for the Premier League and Champions League every year."

We've heard these thoughts from many former players in the past regarding Wenger, and it's not shocking to hear Koscielny feel this way about him. It was Wenger who spent nearly £10 million to acquire his services, having only played a single season of top-flight football in his career, and who made his French international debut just months following his signing.

Of course you have people who will refute all of this talk from Koscielny about how Wenger turns boys into men and point to the indisputable fact that Wenger hasn't won a league title since 2004, and that's all well and fine. However it is also vitally important to have a manager in place who can grow the players under him and set them up for maximum success; results are never a guarantee.

In a perfect reality there would be both, but in the meantime it's reassuring that the things going in behind closed doors every day at Colney is helping to grow and mature the players we have. How this all plays out on whether or not Wenger signs an extension will be determined at a later (maybe soon?) point in time, but for now it's appearing that most of the players appreciate everything he's done for them.