Even though he was doing brilliant things for Arsenal in the second half of last season, after the injury problems to Mathieu Flamini and Mikel Arteta forced Arsene Wenger to cut short his loan spell with Charlton, there were still a lot of doubts about the French midfielder Francis Coquelin.
Arsenal fans were happy that he came in and steadied the ship and showed that he really could do a defensive job for the team. But after all the years it had taken Coquelin to show this strength and with some parts of his game, namely his passing ability, still lacking, the articles I wrote about his brilliant stats putting him right up there with the best in the Premier League were often dimissed.
Well this season the 24-year old is showing that he was not a one season (or half a season) wonder, with his defensive stats continuing to match and even beat the best in England. Not only that, but Coquelin has now improved the technical side of his game to the extent where his passing accuracy is also right up there.
A Metro report that compares his numbers to those of Matic, Schneiderlin and Fernandinho shows that as well as being the best in terms of tackling, winning duels and making blocks, Coquelin has the highest pass completion at 91 percent, so can we now start to believe that Arsenal really do have the best holding midfielder in the Premier League?
Agreed.
Le Coq has been great, lets keep him playing week in week out!
Spot on! Le coq just keeps going from strength to strength, he is rounding into a real DM beast! Coyg!
I hope the know all Charlie reads the post, I have been saying how good he is and all we hear is Shniederlin for Arsenal and Swienstieger too. Well his performance V Unted just goes to show that he is is as good and better and it has been week in week out on how well he is playing.
I rest my case now. CB
What shirt number do you think he’ll get next season ? Could it be the famous no.4 ?? 😀
Oh Luko, your man crush knows no bounds I see. Still venturing on here just to talk about me time and again.
His performance vs United showed he’s better than schneiderlin and Schweinsteiger? Haha balanced a view as ever I see. Same nonsense from the more simple of Arsenal fans, judging a players passing ability by a pass completion stat? Christ. I won’t bother highlighting the stupidity behind that. I’ll merely say, see Mertesackers pass completion and get back to me. Coquelin is still incapable of being our deepest midfielder as he cannot distribute or initiate. Hence why Cazorla holds his hand back there.
Honestly the embarrassing element that comes with Arsenal victories is the absolute worship that follows them. At least it shows up the thicker Arsenal fans on here. It’s ok Luko, I knew where you stood long before this article.
Little did I know that the real (thick) fans are those who only criticize the team whether they lose or win. Isn’t that sadistic or masochistic?
He is a beast and getting better everyday, he still needs to get better in his medium to longer range passing to be a WC DM and we have plenty of great passers in the team he can learn that from. Le Coq and Bellerin are the diamonds of this season. 2 excellent young players for free!! An incredible GK for 10m, no wonder we have 200m in the bank. Maybe we can buy a player next window?
Monreal and Gabriel as well. Two very much, under the radar signings that are proving to be worth much more than their initial fee.
I think he has the ability to use his passing more, but the way Santi and Ozil have been linking and creating there’s no point taking unnecessary risks. If Santi and Ozil are being marked heavily he seems to have no problem advancing the ball through holes midfield. I honestly can’t remember the last time he was caught on the ball.
Personally, I like the subdued nature of his attacking game at the moment. His passing will improve but purely focussing on protecting, winning the ball back and retaining possession is working great. Leave the risks to Santi, Ozil and Ramsey.
Agreed with Josh ..and to be a world class defensive mid I believe one has to be aggressive and excel at winning ball back ..blocking off space ..game/danger reading ..winning duels and then just keeping things simple recycling the ball. Anyone who excels in the above traits and then keeps things simple is a WC defensive mid in my book ..ie could make an impact just about anywhere.
We don’t want or need a Xavi Alonso, Coq is exactly what we needed.
Coquelin is the chosen one. He will bring balance to the team as prophesied in scripture
So suddenly coquelin has become the best thing and walcott is the best striker. This is the problem with our fans, one win we go crazy and one loss we go crazy. Can we for christ sake stay grounded. Each season we get one crazy win but it leads us to nowhere. Drop points against watford or one injiry we are again doomed.
One win wont convince me that this team can win the league , no way.
Coq’s success is not new. He has played well since he returned last year so there is no “suddenly” regarding Coq.
Walcott has come a long way and is clearly working on the weaker areas of his CF play. But I don’t recall many fans claiming Walcott is the BEST striker in the league.
Right now, however, he is clearly playing better than any other player Wenger is using at striker – so he IS the BEST striker Arsenal have right now. (Sanchez does not count – he is playing LW).
word.
Your sense is lost here mate, just have a glance at all the comments waxing lyrical. We win one game and now loads of fans are saying X,y, and z are the best and we’re gonna do this or that. Quite funny watching the same numpties come out with the same things each year.
I was most impressed with him on the weekend about how he changed his role completely each half.
First half he played the destroyer, pro-actively winning the ball back and keeping the ball alive in dangerous positions. He was playing much further advanced and a higher risk, higher reward mentality. Then second half he dropped a lot deeper and played a much safer game in protecting and helping out our defence where needed.
He plays his simplified role to perfection and between him and Santi our ball retention has improved a lot. Pretty much all premier league teams are very good at organizing defensively when numbers and time are in their favour. Modern football demands it. Catching teams on the break and in transition is where we’re going to be the most deadly, Coquelin’s aggressive play is often at the start of that.
I will be happy if we can win either of the Bayern game. I will have wear Coquelin on my jersey if we win both matches.
I have full confidence in LeCoq. The problem will emerge when he cannot play because of injury/suspension/etc.
Super from Le Coq. We looked really balance when he plays.
We defiantly need a back up of him. Wenger must bid for cravaliho or some one in the January.
Striker we may not need as Welbeck if available can be a real asset and walcott forms continues. having said that, If benzaman is available , then we must go for it whatever the price is. I heard that it could be 60 million, so sell Giroud for 15 mill, then 45 mill extra we get a world class striker
for most of the time, he is passing the ball to cazorla, ramsey not more than 20 yards. Compare his stats with the other DMs over a gr8er passing range. that is where the comparison will be crystal …..
Coq doesn’t need to pass that far. Santi or sometimes Rambo is prefer to this job. His main obligation is doing the “dirty job” and “carrying the water”.
I think the problem is Wayne Barker and not the fans. It is not just one game or even five where Walcott and Coquelin have performed well. It is now almost a whole season for Coquelin. So what is wrong with giving the two players accolades? What has Scheneiderlin done so well to deserve accolades that Coquelin and Walcott have not? It is this kind of mentality by some of our fans that has made them to always yearn for signings at the expense of our own loyal servants whom they prefer to denigrate! Who knew that Coquelin and Bellerin would develop and even displace well established stars like Debuchy, Flamini and Arteta from their positions? Hence Barker and his ilk should save us from their moralistic lessons which are seemingly to sound caution but in reality are a veiled ridicule for our players.
Well said, and I think the same logic can be attributed to AFC. I read an article earlier which drew up an ulterior table over the last 38 games and guess who came out on top ..City ..but Arsenal were level on points with them joint top. And I think Arsenal also had best defensive record.
Wayne isn’t that wrong either. Jose described us last year as play with two balls, play and scored some fantastic goals but asked football authority to play only from January to May.
To be champion we need the consistency that run from August to May. We started slow but things are going into balance now. Lets make many of those ManUre game and you won’t even remember Wayne Baker!
One lose won’t convince me that we won’t be able to win the league….Definitely not at this stage. @Wayne Barker