Tag Archives: Francis Coquelin

Francis Coquelin Apology

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An apology is needed. I am sure I am not the only one who needs to issue one.

Francis Coquelin, I am sorry.

Back in November, when it was announced that Coquelin was to join Charlton on loan, I blogged that “The only logical reason for such a short term loan as that it is to get him match fit for January, when he will be sold.” I have been proved wrong.

Others went a lot further:

http://twitter.com/JackWilsh10/status/550695692164165633
http://twitter.com/iDaywa/status/546722632130105344

Since he got his opportunity in the middle of December, he has gone from strength to strength and is now arguably one of the first names on the teamsheet.

Luck plays a big part in footballers getting their breakthrough.

Ashley Cole was due to be sold to Crystal Palace when Silvinho ‘lost’ his passport. Gareth Bale (+£15m) was on its way to Middlesbrough in exchange for Stewart Downing, until Boro rejected the offer. Harry Kane was getting pimped around English football 18 months ago, there were no takers. Football is littered with these stories of players getting a little bit of luck helping them with their breakthrough.

Coquelin is certainly another to add to this list. When he was recalled, Arsenal were without Koscielny, Monreal & Chambers, Arsenal were short at the back. The original suggestion was the Debuchy would move to centre back and Coquelin would cover full back. But at the same time, Arsenal were also without Wilshere, Ramsey & Arteta, meaning we had gaps to fill in midfield. Recalling Coquelin, in the short term, was the only option. It gave him his chance.

What was not luck was how Coquelin then applied himself after getting recalled. He showed passion, has worked hard and been disciplined.

His heart, desire and positional sense was highlighted the best in the recent  Cup match against Manchester United.  Despite giving away 6 inches to Marouane Fellaini, he won 10 of their 12 aerial duels. He wanted it more and read the ball better.

The stats speak for themselves. Since the turn of the year, no Premier League player has made more tackles (4) or more interceptions (43) than Francis Coquelin. His statistics compare favourably to other defensive minded Premier League midfielders:untitled

What has impressed me most recently is his discipline. After 4 yellow cards in his 1st four starts, he has since only got 2 yellows in his last 14 appearances, and none in his last 6.

He is clearly a player who understands his role in the team.

Coquelin influence is also a frustration. We all knew we needed a top defensive midfielder at the beginning of the season. We failed to buy one. You have to think had we bought what we needed, we would be closer than the 7 points (having played a game more) to Chelsea. We would be in the title race.

Some stuck with Coquelin. One of the lads I travel with always backed him. “You can not comment until he plays” and “If he breaks through you will realise” he repeated to me on numerous occasions. I disregarded his opinion – he has also been speaking about Kondogbia for a few years – and have been proved wrong.

So Francis Coquelin, I apologise. You do have a future at Arsenal.

Keenos

 

Francis Coquelin’s new contract and how it changes the midfield conundrum

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This mornings Arsenal transfer / contract news surrounds Star of the Moment Francis Coquelin and his new contract, with reports that he has signed a new contract with the club.

If the reports are true, firstly well played to the lad. He is now 23 years old and, since the age of 19, has been shunted out on loan throughout European, with spells at Lorient in France, Frieburg in Germany, and Charlton in South-East London. Between loan deals, he has also had a false start to his Arsenal career – making 39 appearances for the club in 2011/12 – 2012/13.

Throughout his time at Arsenal, he has kept his head down, never complained, been played out of position, and shown a good professional attitude.

He was part of the all conquering 2008/09 Youth Cup winning team, which contained the likes of Craig Eastmond, Henri Lasnbury, Emmanuel Frimpong, Jay Emmanuel- Thomas and, of course, Jack Wilshere.

Coquelin did not stand out in this team. He was often playing full back, rarely in the middle of the park. It perhaps highlights the problem with English football, and young English footballers mentality, that Coquelin got his head down and is starting to forge a career at Arsenal, whilst the young English lads fell away, despite having more talent.

It looked like when he was loaned to Charlton, his Arsenal career was over. But luck and a good professional attitude got him an opportunity, which he has since taken.

With new  contracts for Coquelin and Mikel Arteta, and young Krystian Bielik joining the first team, what does this mean for Arsenal’s central midfield?

Previously, we have discussed how the emergence of Coquelin has partially solves the problems Arsenal have in the middle of the park, and my view has on him has not changed.

Coquelin’s future at Arsenal is still, in my opinion, as 2nd choice. He will provide good back up, and has the ability to come in when we need extra cover in the middle when playing the better teams. His contract does not mean we should stop looking for a top midfielder, with reports that a £15million deal for Morgan Schneiderlin was agreed with Southampton last summer but delayed for a year.

So if we buy, and Coquelin becomes 2nd choice, what does this mean for the rest?

Mathieu Flamini’s contract has another season to run after this year. He has shown he is no longer Arsenal class, a bit of a liability. I would be surprised if he see’s much more game team this season, or much more throughout his Arsenal career.

In a Football Manager world, you would ‘Offer to Clubs’ for nothing and get him off the wage bill for 2015/16. In the real world, this is unlikely. He will be 31 in March, so I doubt there will be too many clubs on the continent willing to take on his £75,000 a week. We are unlikely to be able to move him on, unless he we let him go on a free transfer, and supplement his wages for a year. What is more likely is he sits and ‘rots’ for a year, before leaving in 2016.

Mikel Arteta is an interesting one. Just 2 days ago, he signed a 12 month extension seeing him through to 2016. He will be 34 by the time this extension comes to an end, and he has shown in recent times that Father Time is catching up with him.

This season he has played just 11 games, and there is a strong possibility that he might not play again this season.

Offering a new contract and keeping him on for another year would usually be a crazy idea. However, there are things in his favour.

The fact he is club captain is important. We have instability around the captaincy of the club over the last few years. Without a stand out captain to replace Arteta, we would be better off keeping the stability for another year, rather than handing it to, say, Mertesacker, who might find himself out of the team in a seasons time.

Many players have previously spoken about Arteta being a ‘father figure’ around the club. He is more an important captain off the pitch than on. Helping new players to the club settle, taking time to pass on advise to the reserves/youths, and ensuring that when young players are invited to train with the first team, someone puts an arm round them. This is an important role at the club.

I am sure that Arteta has assisted the likes of Alexis Sanchez and Santi Cazorla settle so quickly, being fluent in Spanish and English. He will also be key in the development of Gabriel.

On top of this, he is still good enough, when fit, to play against 60% of Premier League sides at home. He still has a place in the squad as a player.

We would be crazy to let his experience and calming influence leave the club. We saw in the late 00’s when we let a lot of experienced players (Lehman, Campbell, Henry, Pires, Ljungberg) leave in a short period that at times, the young players looked lost. Keeping the likes of Arteta and Rosicky around will only be good for the entire squad.

Arteta has a role to play at Arsenal, as club captain and 3rd choice midfielder.

As for Krystian Bielik, he is still just 17. He has arrived with a lot of hype, with many people labelling he is ‘the New Vieira’ based on a single article in a paper. It is important to no hype him up before he has even played a game. Afterall, he had only played 5 senior games in Poland.

I think it is still important to see Bielik as a youth player with potential, rather than someone ready to go now, until we see him play.

Having not seen him play, I think 6 months training with our 1st team this year, then going out on loan to a Premier League side next year to play 38 games, ala Alex Song at Charlton will do him the world of good. We would then see him return in 2016/17 as a 19 year old with Premier League experience under his belt. By that point, Arteta would likely be gone, and he would have a genuine opportunity to compete with our first choice central midfielder.

Despite the 3 dealings in central midfield – new contracts for Arteta and Coquelin, signing Bielik – a new central midfielder, for the 7th summer in a row (since Gilberto Silva left) should be top our our shopping list.

Congratulations Francis Coquelin, you deserve your new contract and it is testament to your hard work and professionalism. Hopefully you can be a good example to those younger who will now realise not to give up on their dream, and that hard work and good attitude is as important as talent.

Keenos

Has Arsenal’s defensive midfield issue been (partially) solved?

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I remember travelling down to the West Ham away match just after Christmas. The Arsenal team news broke and Arsene Wenger had decided to partner Francis Coquelin and Mathieu Flamini in the middle of the park. Unsurprisingly, he came in for some stick. Arsenal won 2-1.

Injuries to both Flamini and Mikel Arteta saw Coquelin come out of the New Years Day defeat to Southampton as the only player who could hold his head up high. His performances continued to impress in the FA Cup against Hull.

Yesterday, Flamini was fit, but Wenger decided to remain with the 23 year old Frenchman. In doing so, Coquelin put in his best performance in an Arsenal shirt to date, bossing the game against Stoke City.

Defensive midfield is certainly a position we need to strengthen. Flamini is not good enough, and Arteta no longer has the legs to play the role – although he does have the brain.

I think we can all agree, we need a new 1st choice defensive midfielder, a back up defensive midfielder, and then Arteta moving to 3rd choice – ensuring we keep his experience and training ground influence. Arteta is still good enough to play at home against many Premier League sides, as well as be part of a two if we want to go more defensive.

With Coquelin’s impressive performances, have Arsenal stumbled in a semi-solution to our midfield problem?

Now I am not going to be as crazy as to say he should be 1st choice, he should not. But there is a good case to be made that he could fill the ‘2nd choice’ role, providing back up to whoever comes in.

What Coquelin does is put himself about. He is certainly all action, covering a lot of ground, never shirking a challenge. Against Stoke, he competed for every header. Even when he was up against 6ft 4in Stephen N’Zonzi, he went in as if he expected to win the ball.

Defending is clearly not a problem.

In his 4 starts for Arsenal since returning from his loan spell at Charlton, his defensive statistics are outstanding:

Tackles: 3.75pg
Interceptions: 4pg
Clearances: 2.25pg

The interception stat is what interests me most. 16 interceptions, including 7 against Hull in the FA Cup. This highlights a player who can read the game ans has positional awareness. The likes of Gilberto Silva and Claude Makelele always had a high interceptions to tackles ratio. Who needs to tackle if you stop your opponent recieving the ball?

Coquelin can play too.

In the last 4 games, he has averaged 51.25 succesful passes a game, with a pass success rate of 83.1%.

Yes, it might not be up to Mikel Arteta’s high standards, yet, but it does show some potential.

For me, he deserves to currently keep Flamini out of the side. what now needs to be considered is whether he is has shown enough to deserve a new contract (it expires in the summer) – and with it a chance to be back up to whatever defensive midfielder we might sign.

Keenos