Arsenalfaithfull wrote:The unsung hero of the highest order. Le Coq has done enough to stake his place in the team I think. This thread is dedicated to him.

So whats your impression of him so far?
Do you see him sticking around for years?
Did he exceed the expectations you had of him when he joined us again?
How is it that he is performing continuously  at the highest level for us but was deemed as a failure while featuring for shittier teams in shittier leagues?

#dontneedaDM

Been the best performer for the past 4 games if we are to not count Sanchez imo.

Coquelin hurls spanner in the works

Up until the last minutes of the 2-0 win over Hull City, Francis Coquelin had timed every one of his challenges just right. That is to say his challenges, teetering precariously on the edge of ankle-breaker, hadn’t as of yet, been called up by the referee in the three-and-a-bit matches he featured in over the festive period. He was booked once late on against QPR though that was for a tactical foul when Arsenal were holding on.

However, close to the end of the Hull game, Coquelin launched himself into a tackle that saw him booked. He got the ball in the end, it must be said, but the way he propelled himself, studs showing, was deemed illegal. On the face of it, the tackle was a minor aberration in what was a solid performance from Arsenal, however, since he has been recalled from loan, everybody has been keenly running the rule on Francis Coquelin.

He caught the eye initially against West Ham when he started alongside fellow scrapper, Mathieu Flamini, in a double pivot and quickly outshone him, launching himself into tackles yet emerging with the ball with the clinicality of a hit-man. His passing was also crisp and accurate, with Wenger praising the way he passed “through the lines.” Against Southampton, Coquelin was rather less impressive – despite a bright start he was found wanting against such technical-savvy opponents (though to be fair, he did start alongside the inexperienced Calum Chambers).

His performance against Hull went someway to restoring his reputation, but it was that tackle which stuck in the mind because in those three games Coquelin has played, you sensed that at some moment, he would be penalised for a challenge that the referee would deem excessive. To be fair to Coquelin, he has generally executed them with clinical efficiency and certainly, there is a particular joy in seeing him propel himself with a shark-like muscular ripple because tacklers these days are rare.

But that precisely is also the point: Sam Allardyce says you can’t train players to tackle anymore, rather it’s about having the awareness to intercept, because “most tackles are fouls now”. And up till now we’ve been waiting to see if Coquelin has substance to his game and that he’s not, forgive me for putting it bluntly, just another Flamini.

On the plus side, Coqeulin has shown he has enough awareness to his game to suggest he can go another level: he tracks runners, plays with intensity and is a clean passer of the ball. For a long time, that final point has stuck in the craw of some Arsenal fans; sometimes we’re too guilty of over-intellectualising positions and players – even if the player who plays in front of the defence needs to play 50-70 passes per game. Coquelin has enough in his game to polish into a finer footballer: it’s just whether his particular strengths off the ball can transform Arsenal’s game in the short-term.