The performance of this Arsenal duo caused quite a stir Tuesday night going toe to toe with Man City’s experienced duo Owen Hargreaves and Nigel De Jong and arguable won the battle in midfield. With Emmanuel Frimpong running around like a mad man chopping at everyone especially Nasri. (Which put a smile on a few faces) then there was Coquelin who was also at the heart of the midfield broke up play with well-timed tackles and distributed it well but who should be the number one cover for Alex song? Or dare I say eventual replacement.
After joining Lorient on a season-long loan last summer, Francis cemented his place under Christian Gourcuff with a string of fine performances. The tenacious midfielder, who can also play at right-back, got some valuable experience under his belt, making 24 appearances in Ligue 1.impressing in his time at france he earned the chance to stay and fight for a first team place. However due to the under 19s world cup he started the season late missing most of preseason. However with Arsenals injury’s and suspensions at the start of the season Coquelin was given a chance In a game against man united and I think we all know what happened there but even in a eight two defeat he still managed to impress enough that when an opportunity to impress came at spurs he took it with both hands putting in a great stint which again unfortanly ended with defeat.
Then there’s Frimpong who finally had a full preseason after last years injury he’s come back stronger than ever; earning a starting role straight away in his first to games however in a game ageist Liverpool Frimpong showed his nasty side getting a red card for a reckless tackle, which arsenal fans are always scared he may repeat in the future if he doesn’t curb that streak. Frimpong’s friendship and on field relationship with Jack Wilshire may prove to be deceive once the Englishman is back in the fold since both of them have been playing together for nearly ten years they’ve built a good understanding in midfield that could rival most Premier League duos.
So who should be first in line now arsenal are out the Carling cup? Should it be Coquelin or Frimpong both have different qualities to make them great holding midfilers but you would say that Frimpong has the upper body strength needed for the premire laugue however he lacks the passing skills that Coquelin has and for that reason I think the back up to song should be Coquelin he is more of an intelligent footballer something that is needed to play for Arsenal. A loan spell seems perfect for Frimpong as personal growth might be the thing that moulds this promising youngster into an arsenal legend after all certialy worked well for Jack.
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I don’t think Le Coq is a DM. He’s more of a box to box. Frimpong is more suitable to the DM role and can improve his passing as Song did.
That’s funny, I would have said it was the other way round. Coquelin is perhaps more effective going forward because his passing is better, so on the relatively few occasions when he does move forwards, he tends to make more of an impact. Frimpong is more of a Vieira, in that he is a destroyer, but not a true defensive midfielder, like Makelele or, say, De Jong. Coquelin is more like that, but happens to have enough energy and technical ability to contribute well in the attacking areas.
If it came down to a straight choice, in terms of ability, I would say Coquelin is a much better all-round player. His technique is better and he is a more positionally sound and intelligent player – Frimpong is physically stronger, but both are extremely good at tackling/winning the ball. That said, I really think there is a place for Frimpong as well, and together they could form a very powerful CM screen.