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Arsenal's Laurent Koscielny celebrates scoring against Leicester City back in February. AP/Press Association Images
tough choices

Was Jamie Carragher right to pick Laurent Koscielny in his team of the season?

Arsenal’s defensive record with and without the Frenchman highlight just how important he is.

SKY SPORTS PUNDITS Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville picked their individual Premier League team of the season during the final Monday Night Football of the season last night.

The duo agreed on nine of their 11 players, with a difference of opinion on one defender and one striker. In the attacking role, Carragher chose Tottenham’s Harry Kane and Neville picked Chelsea’s Diego Costa.

“It was Kane or Costa, and I’ve gone for Harry Kane. I don’t think there’s too much difference in how many games they’ve played to how many goals they’ve scored, but I think if you look at the points won…for Tottenham, the impact he’s had on the team, he’s virtually carried them,” said Carragher.

But Neville feels that Diego Costa should be included alongside Sergio Aguero, with the striker scoring 19 times in the league despite suffering from a persistent hamstring injury in the second half of the season.

But the biggest debate of the night came over who should partner John Terry in defence. While both analysts agreed that the Chelsea captain was a no-brainer after leading the London club to their fourth Premier League title, they did disagree on Carragher’s decision to include Arsenal’s Laurent Koscielny.

“After the Christmas show, I picked [Southampton's] Jose Fonte and I think he’s very unlucky to miss out. I’m going to go for Koscielny,” the former Liverpool defender said.

Although some were quick to criticize Carragher’s choice, he backed it up with a graphic that highlighted just how important Koscielny is to the Arsenal defence.

The statistics show that Arsenal have conceded double the number of goals this season without Laurent Koscielny in the team and 10 of their 12 clean sheets have come from games where the French international has started the game.

“I think he’s a top centre-back, but we look at [the stats] and the difference he brings to that team and the influence he has, especially on Mertesacker next to him and the back four.

“They look like a completely different team when he’s in the side. I think that’s a big thing…it’s not just being good at your game, it’s can you influence people around you?,” he added.

But Gary Neville believes it should be Terry’s Chelsea teammate Gary Cahill who should be included in the side.

“I like Koscielny, and I had Fonte in the team I picked a couple of months ago, but I felt that Chelsea’s record this season means that overall that back four needs to be completed,” the former Manchester United right-back said.

“Gary Cahill has had a good season for Chelsea – he ranks first for most things apart from ‘shots on target faced’. They’ve been a brilliant back four, and I think that they deserve to stay together in my team of the season, so I’ve gone for Gary Cahill to join the rest of his team-mates.”

Gary Cahill Neville picked Cahill as part of an all-Chelsea back four. He picked eight Chelsea players in total.

Who do you think deserves a place beside John Terry in the PL team of the season? 


Poll Results:

Laurent Koscielny (875)
Jose Fonte (350)
Gary Cahill (313)

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