As Arsenal won the FA Cup and ended their nine year trophy drought, it marked a considerable turnaround for one player, Laurent Koscielny.
Aaron Ramsey himself may have taken the headlines and capped a brilliant season for himself but it was Koscielny who got Arsenal back on level terms and was finally able to make amends for his error in the 2011 Capital One Cup final.
It was the Frenchman’s mix up in communication with Wojciech Szczesny that allowed Obafemi Martins to tap in and give Birmingham the trophy that day.
After that mistake many saw Koscielny in the same light as the likes of Sebastian Squillaci and Johan Djourou, however he has gone from strength to strength, showing great mental fortitude to become one of the best defenders in the Premier League.
In fact, in each of Koscielny’s four seasons at the Emirates since arriving from Lorient for £9.7m in the summer of 2010, the Frenchman has posted stronger and stronger stats as well as helping the team’s win rate improve.
Having arrived after just one season in Ligue 1 with Lorient many were sceptical as to whether Koscielny was the sort of player should have been buying, something that was not exactly eased when he was sent-off on debut against Liverpool at Anfield.
Things did improve in his first season, with him notably scoring on his home debut against Bolton in a 4-1, as well as playing a key role in Arsenal’s outstanding 2-1 win over Barcelona in the Champions League.
After a mixed first season in North London the Frenchman began to improve during his second season in which he didn’t pick up a single red card as well as scoring the winning goal in Arsenal’s 3-2 victory over West Brom on the final day of the season to ensure Arsenal qualified for the Champions League.
More importantly though, it was the season in which Per Mertesacker joined the club, a player with whom he would form a formidable partnership.
The partnership that was forged between Koscielny and Mertesacker was an unlikely one, but one that Arsene Wenger came across in the Allianz Arena against Bayern Munich.
Trailing 3-1 from the home leg of the last 16 tie in the Champions League in the 2012-13 season, Wenger decided to play what seemed as a weakened side away in Munich with the tie all but gone.
With club captain Thomas Vermaelen benched in order for Mertesacker and Koscielny to partner each other in defence, as well as sub goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski starting ahead of Szczesny, it was expected Arsenal could be on the end of a thrashing.
However, that could not be further from the truth. Arsenal put in a memorable display winning 2-0, being the only team to beat Bayern on home soil in Europe that season, and so the Koscielny-Mertesacker partnership was formed.
Having suffered a humbling 2-1 defeat to Tottenham in the North London derby prior to the Bayern win, Arsenal were seven points behind their great rivals with just ten games remaining. After the 2-0 in the Allianz, in which Koscielny scored, Koscielny and Mertesacker were ever present for the remainder of the season as Arsenal surpassed Tottenham.
In the final ten games, Arsenal won eight and drew two, keeping five clean sheets and Koscielny, for a second season running, confirmed Arsenal qualification for the Champions League scoring the only goal in the 1-0 win over Newcastle at St. James’ Park.
As the new season approached, for the first time arguably since moving to the Emirates, there no longer seem to be question marks over Arsenal’s central defensive partnership.
A 3-1 opening day defeat to Aston Villa though seemed to re-open the debate, a game in which Koscielny was sent-off for receiving two yellow cards, which rather than breaking Arsenal newly found defensive partnership only made it more resilient.
What followed was a 12-match unbeaten run, in which Koscienly and Mertesacker played together nine times as Arsenal rose to the top of the Premier League and their Champions League group which included the previous season’s runners-up Borussia Dortmund, Napoli and Marseille.
During that time as well the club set a record of 12 consecutive away wins stretching back to the win in the Allianz.
This was just the beginning though, as Arsenal sat at the top of the Premier League for longer than any other club last season, spending 128 days at the summit of the league table.
For Koscielny, personally though, he had to wait until the following May for his chance to come the full circle from his error in the 2011 League Cup final.
After going 2-0 down to Hull in the FA Cup final, it seemed as though Arsenal’s agony at the new Wembley was set to continue, especially after suffering heavy away drubbings in the league during the 2013/14 campaign.
With Santi Cazorla having halved Hull’s 2-0 lead prior to half-time the Gunners then pushed on for an equaliser which eventually arrived 19 minutes from time as Kosicelny was able to poke the ball past Allan McGregor in the Hull goal to equalise, before Aaron Ramsey sealed the cup with his extra time winner.
Having confirmed his hero status in the FA Cup and affirmed himself as a fans’ favourite, the future is beginning to look bright for Arsenal with Koscielny seemingly being a key part of that.