Nick Kelsall
Ed’s note – The first issue of The Gooner this season goes on sale tomorrow at the match v West Ham. As we had two submissions for the edition on the subject of Francis Coquelin, we are running one here on the website. The Gooner can be purchased on your route to the ground from one of our sellers, and after the match as you leave the stadium. £2.50 for 48 pages worth of ad-free Arsenal reading. Full details of the issue can be found here, and for those of you that can’t make it to the ground it can also be bought through our website shop here. There is also an e-edition version available for iPhones and iPads, and Android devices using the Exactly App, whilst Kindle Fire owners can also get their fix by searching the Amazon App Store for The Gooner.
New Years Day 2015: Arsenal’s midfield pairing consisted of Callum Chambers, a defender in the embryonic stage of his career at the club, and Francis Coquelin, a midfielder/full back/reserve-who-doesn’t-stand-a-chance-of-making-it-Arsenal.
90 bruising minutes later, the score read Southampton 2-0 Arsenal. Arsenal’s midfield was overrun, overpowered and outthought. Arsenal’s midfield, “lacked the authority and confidence to convert possession into quick and efficient service for the front four”, lambasted The Daily Mail.
Whilst Chambers was able to offer the excuse that he was in an unfamiliar position and had barely completed 20 senior starts, Coquelin was surely on his last chance. Having spent two seasons on loan at Freiburg in the Bundeliga and Lorient in Ligue 1, Coquelin was treading water at Arsenal. At the time of the Southampton match, he had recently returned from a loan spell at Charlton after an Arsenal injury crisis affecting midfielders Mikel Arteta, Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey and Mathieu Flamini. This really was one last roll of the dice for the lad from Laval.
Fast-forward to May 30th 2015 and Coquelin has just delivered a majestic display of intelligence, guile and discipline on the pristine Wembley turf. Coquelin celebrated Arsenal’s 4-0 demolition of Aston Villa on the pitch bedecked in Arsenal scarf and covered in bright silver confetti, revelling in scenes of unbridled joy as Arsenal wallowed in the aftermath of a most satisfactory victory.
Key to that triumph was Coquelin’s adroit positioning in front of the back four and his countless interceptions of the ball. On numerous times he pick-pocketed Villa’s hapless forwards and strode forward, delivering simple passes to the more technical players such as Santi Cazorla, Mesut Ozil or the fleet footed Alexis Sanchez.
Coquelin came to club in summer 2008 from French club Stade Lavallois and his early performances were characterised by a tigerish determination to win possession of the ball. His contribution in the Youth Cup winning side of 2009 was significant as he fought doggedly to provide a platform for the more elaborately gifted of that side such as Jay Emmanuel-Thomas and Jack Wilshere. Coquelin’s future looked bright and he went on to make a total of 39 first team appearances in the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons. Then, with the re-signing of Flamini and the continued development of Ramsey and Wilshere, there seemed to be no place for him at Arsenal. He was farmed out on loan to Freiburg and his career went so far off the rails that he ended up in The Championship with Charlton come autumn 2014.
Coquelin’s role in the current Arsenal team is absolutely vital as he seems to be the only one who is comfortable sitting in defensive positions, not driving forward in search of a goal or assist. We have not had a midfielder so disciplined since the halcyon days of Gilberto Silva. Alex Song was obsessed with playing as a no 10 (although his assist record was admittedly impressive). Arteta literally was a no 10 before he came to Arsenal and never really seemed at home tackling and scrapping around against the bully boys such as Stoke. Flamini was too ill-disciplined, flying into tackles recklessly and providing observers with an amusing game of “how long before Flamini gets booked?” every time his name was on the team sheet.
Coquelin, however, seemed to actively seize his chance on recall form his Charlton loan. I would like to think he weighed up his options and thought it was highly unlikely he would get an opportunity at any other elite club and really threw himself into the anchoring role at Arsenal. The team’s form improved immeasurably after the turn of the year and Coquelin was immense in victories over Man City away and Liverpool at home, proving that Arsenal now really do have the backbone to outfight our title opponents.
With the springtime return to fitness of Wilshere, Flamini and Arteta, Arsene Wenger was suddenly awash with options in the middle of the park. But the Frenchman was loyal to the tandem of Coquelin and Cazorla and this decision ultimately brought Arsenal success with a respectable 3rd place in the league and a second consecutive FA Cup triumph.
Cazorla’s emergence as a central midfielder can be directly attributed to Coquelin’s marshalling of the deep midfield area, leaving the elegant Spaniard with more space and time to get the team moving forward. Coquelin protects Cazorla and the sublimely talented but undeniably frail Ozil.
As we move forward to next season, there is the usual clamour for ‘galactico’ signings. But one area I am confident we should not be looking to strengthen is defensive midfield. Any new signing of a renowned holding midfielder would inhibit Coquelin’s dramatic rise and surely our funds would be better spent elsewhere on the playing squad. I am not saying Coquelin is the finished article by any means, merely that he was our best player from January to May and thoroughly deserves the opportunity to build on that progress.
What once looked like a nomadic career that would peter out at Arsenal now resembles the emergence of a star in the making, as Coquelin forms a crucial part of the base of this Arsenal team. His attitude is superb as he crunches into tackles and dominates surprisingly well in aerial challenges. I for one am delighted that this vivacious young Frenchman has finally found his footballing niche.
