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Hard as nails… pink manicured ones

Is this what Arsenal have become?

2 June, 2011 10:00 17 comments
Hard as nails… pink manicured ones

Coquelin: Peter Storey he ain’t

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Here’s a photo from the official Arsenal website that I think sums up one of the many issues that Arsene Wenger needs to get by the throat this summer. It’s a picture of Francis Coquelin on loan at Lorient this year. Things to note:

1) Coquelin is small

2) He is wearing long sleeves

3) He is wearing tights

4) He is wearing woolly gloves

5) The defender is big

6) He is wearing short sleeves

‘Nuff said, except perhaps to speculate on the colour of the nail polish under the gloves.

(OK, for all I know Francis is developing into a good player and yes, yes, I know Thierry Henry sometimes wore gloves but have a sense of humour will you – and get the wider point. I know we can’t have a team of 11 Martin Keowns – but one or two would be nice)

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17
comments

  1. West

    Jun 03, 2011, 0:03 #8146

    Curiously, the policy of his loan club maybe to offer a short sleeved shirt, with and under garment for those who prefer a long sleeve (See Man City). Note the left arm is not black, the other two players are wearing the same. You also forgot to mention - He is not facing the goal, so there is no chance of a shot. The defender might be Pascal Cygan? Rubbish Rubbish Rubbish All everyone wants to do on here is moan, and its just reached the point where people are running out of ways to say the same thing!!!!! The easiest way for negativity to develop is to predict failure.

  2. The Happening

    Jun 02, 2011, 23:26 #8145

    Silly season, yet again lol I actually thought Coquelin was a feisty little player when I saw him play for the Gunners, how the hell he managed to secure a loan with Bianconeri i'll never know, sign 'o the times perhaps? Yes our club is over compensated with Wengers 'experiment' and the players, each time i read an interview with this man i'm amazed at how (little by little) he seems to be undoing earlier claims regarding our club and the players he has employed! Summer transfer stasis, AFC PLC website bollox, la di da di dah!

  3. Rocky RIP

    Jun 02, 2011, 22:41 #8143

    Joking aside, who is passing the baton on at the club these days? By that I mean the likes of TH14 were left in no doubt as to what it meant to play for The Arsenal & what was required of them. ''Remember who you are, what you are & who you represent''. Who at the club is imparting these values on to the next generation? Amid all the stuff going on at our beloved club, this is one that seriously bothers me. Big Tone would have had half our team pinned up against the changing room wall at half time. To quote Elbow ''I think we dropped the baton like the 60's didn't happen.'' Not quite the 60's, but I hope you catch my point. We drastically need to regain our identity, instead of operating at a corporate cash cow stadium where we are treated as customers & not encouraged to actually support the team by shouting & singing. We need to re-build the Arsenal family & sense of belonging. Victory through harmony, not prawn sandwiches & match day experiences led by patronising PA announcements.

  4. Aaron

    Jun 02, 2011, 18:57 #8137

    @HD Thierry Henry was a finesse player who moved like a gazelle. Coquelin is supposed to be a DM. You wouldn't catch Roy Keane in tights, snoods and gloves. I doubt you'll catch Wilsher in them either, it's a mentality

  5. SwanseaGooner

    Jun 02, 2011, 16:01 #8133

    I did not have to read the notes - The picture says it all...

  6. Mark2

    Jun 02, 2011, 14:13 #8123

    Swansea even had a nicer blend of mobile creative and tough. i reckon theyll take 4 points from us next season. putting away the so called smaller teams has been our achilles heal for a long while. thats because you have to turn up to those less glamourous matches as equally motivated as you do when you play the televised top 6 matces & the fact that overall we definitely do not, is more proof of overpaid, soft, prima dona characters that we seem to specialise in these days.

  7. maguiresbridge gooner

    Jun 02, 2011, 13:54 #8121

    what you forgot to mention is he has taken it round the two big defenders.

  8. Lewis

    Jun 02, 2011, 13:40 #8119

    11 Martin Keowns would be awesome. "There's only one Keown... Oh wait..."

  9. Goonerdamo

    Jun 02, 2011, 13:01 #8112

    Ha ha, nice one Bernard. A picture paints a thousand words...

  10. Richard Ansell

    Jun 02, 2011, 12:52 #8111

    Thanks for giving me a good laugh, Bernard, he looks just right for Wenger's team of soft midgets.

  11. Mark2

    Jun 02, 2011, 12:29 #8106

    it confirms what we fear. We are a feeder club for training and sales to bigger clubs. the business plan is buy cheap and obscure and brand them from the Wenger school and sell them on at a profit. it of course works. Valencia + Lyon have been doing it for years but i ask you Arsenal fans did you ever associate us with a Valencia or a Lyon ???? i for one never did

  12. Cesctastic

    Jun 02, 2011, 12:24 #8105

    finally a succinct article. well done sir.

  13. rodders999

    Jun 02, 2011, 12:18 #8104

    He also seems to be going sidways, aimlessly away from the box. He'll fit right in!!

  14. CK Gooner

    Jun 02, 2011, 10:58 #8098

    Excellent Stuff! I also have a very strong dislike for those "snoods" that some of our players hae taken to wearing a lot, combined with gloves and long sleeves as you say it just gives out the picture that we're not up for it!!!

  15. HD

    Jun 02, 2011, 10:25 #8094

    Coquelin is 5'10, not overly small for a central midfielder. Mascherano is 5'8. I don't care about gloves and tights if he's good, Henry wore them, no-one complained about that when he scored. The defender may be big, he's clearly a centre back, as was Martin Keown, and as big as Martin was he wasn't great in midfield. I appreciate the sentiment regards height, we do need a better balance of height as Wenger pinpointed yesterday, but there's a growing trend of moaning about young players we have coming through. Because "project youth" has failed to a large degree, some believe that all youth development and younger signings should now be halted. I certainly don't conform to that way of thinking. I think we need to bring more young players through, sign more talent, just as Barcelona have done and continue to do. And just the same as is required with our first-team, we need to be quicker at filtering out some of the players that arne't going to make it. Let's replace Denilson and Rosicky with someone taller, rather than Coquelin and Frimpong. The latter look to have strength and speed, something the former don't, and that's just as important as height.

  16. WiganGooner

    Jun 02, 2011, 9:36 #8086

    11 Martin Keowns? The Ugliness rating would be through the roof.. Plus the Grove turf would take a right beating from all that leaping about and screaming. WG

  17. Steve

    Jun 02, 2011, 8:52 #8083

    Bernard, To write this mate you obviously must be bored!