Franics Coquelin could well prove to be the find of Arsenal’s season. In a year where they’ve brought Alexis Sanchez to the Emirates, this would be quite a turn up for the books.
Since Alex Song left the club, The Gunners have lacked a strong, physical presence in the centre of the park. In truth, however, it’s not since Gilberto Silva’s time at the club that they’ve had somebody who’s truly capable of providing his back-four with meaningful protection.
Francis Coquelin, on the other hand, looks like exactly the kind of disciplined defender they’ve been looking for. He stays pinned between the back-four and the middle-four, reads the game well, makes bags of interceptions and loves to slam into tackles. He’s a tough cookie.
Ex-Arsenal legend, Thierry Henry certainly seems to be impressed. Check out these comments (via The Express):
‘For me the best thing they’ve done is bring Coquelin back from Charlton. Maybe if he hadn’t come back and played the way he did recently, Arsene would have gone and bought a defensive midfielder. He has been amazing, Arsenal don’t look like they will concede, they can score and he gave everyone protection everybody was talking about.’
That’s fairly high praise from a top player. I’m sure there are many players out there who dream of being described by Thierry Henry as ‘amazing’. Unfortunately for the young Frenchman, Arsenal’s former number 14 doesn’t view him as a long-term solution. He continues:
‘What Coquelin does is allow you to go for the player you want in the summer, because in January you go for the player that is available.’ (Source: The Express)
That’s true, but Coquelin is now well on the way to making himself indispensable for The Gunners. I’m not sure there’ll be a need to sign anybody else in the summer. The Coq is young, athletic and fired-up. Would options like William Carvalho or Morgan Schneiderlin be much of an improvement?
Despite their price-tags, I’m not sure they would. For that reason, I’m hoping Arsene Wenger stands by Coquelin. He’s got Thierry’s backing after all.
What’s your take? What does the future hold for Francis Coquelin?
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