The centre-back wasn't his usual self against England, according to his Arsenal coach, who won't force him to play against West Brom if he's not in the right state of mind
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger says it will be up to Laurent Koscielny to decide if he is in the right frame of mind to play against West Brom this weekend.
The French defender has been "deeply affected" by last Friday’s terrorist attacks in Paris - one of which took place at the Stade de France, where he was taking part in a friendly against Germany.
He did represent his country in the defeat to England on Tuesday, just four days after the attacks, but Wenger says there is no pressure on him to play when the Premier League returns this weekend.
"I will not play him, you have to trust the player,” Wenger told a press conference on Friday when asked if Koscielny would feature if he wasn’t 100 percent focused.
“[Against England] you could see he was not himself and it affected him deeply."
The 30-year-old was visibly moved during the national anthems at Wembley as English fans joined in with La Marseillaise as the football world came together.
Wenger was present at the stadium to watch the game and he has praised the way the world has responded to last week’s horrific events in the French capital.
"I would like to thank the English community who showed great solidarity - it was a huge shock for our country,” he added.
"I was not far from the events (…) To discover how much your own citizens hate you is a big shock.
"We have to get on with life and respond in a positive way. We have to get people to focus on something else."
Tuesday's international friendly between Germany and Netherlands was called off over security fears, but Wenger feels German police might have over-reacted and has urged people to get on with life.
"The danger in this situation is to over-react a little bit and I think that is what happened," he added.
"The way for us is to get on with life and respond in a positive way to the situation.
"You cannot just stop everything.
"You have to trust politicians to make the right decisions. France is a tolerant society."
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