SOUTHAMPTON ARSENAL KO 1.30PM KOSCIELNY: WE’RE UNITED WITH UNAI

also bad ones. Some days you can’t progress in the way you wish. This is difficult but you have friends and family around to keep your head up.”

Asked if being injured felt even worse with the side in such fabulous form, Koscielny responded: “No because I am the number one fan of this club. It was important after those first two defeats to win. And now the team know the tactics and ideas of the coach well, we can see the results. This is the club’s best run without a defeat since 2007.”

A stand-out feature of Emery’s regime is his flexibility with tactics, formations and selections. And he has clearly been making the right calls most of the time.

Take Lucas Torreira – the £26.4million summer signing from Sampdoria was a sub early in the campaign, yet that was to ensure the Uruguayan would be ready, physically and mentally, for the rigours of English football.

Koscielny added: “Lucas started on the bench but now you can see his confidence.

He’s had the chance to grow up slowly with the team, in a new country which is very different to Italy.

Now we start to have Lucas at

100 per cent.”