Francis Coquelin: No Longer Needed?

[bojed]

Coq is a good DM. Remember Flamini in his final season with us before he jumped ship to Milan? Coq is slightly over that level minus the goals. I know he's sh*t right now but you can't deny how good Flamini was in that season. He even stepped up when Cesc was starting to get his seasonal burnouts.

However Coq will struggle against opponents who play a possession game. He will turn into a redundant headless chicken playing tags around the pitch without achieving pretty much anything. Thankfully there are only a handful of teams in the PL that play with such quality.

Coq-Arteta to an extent, Coq-Caz or Coq-Elneny will most of the time work because they provide useful options for Coq to release the ball quickly and safely, especially Cazorla who is very good at carrying the ball from midfield to attack.

I agree we should get a better player than Coq but we need someone to displace Giroud, Theo and Per first.

 

[VancouverCanuck]

He tackles and does nothing else. The guy is a nothing player. There are hundreds of his ilk and quality. Cazorla is a God in comparison, you're essentially saying Coquelin is a better footballer which is completely nuts.

Oookaay. Would you enlighten us and name a few PL DM's that you would take over this nothing player?

 

[Goon-Ger]

He tackles and does nothing else. The guy is a nothing player. There are hundreds of his ilk and quality. Cazorla is a God in comparison, you're essentially saying Coquelin is a better footballer which is completely nuts.

I'd say that is extremely harsh. We have been crying out for a player like him for years. Just look at last season our season was heading nowhere around January, we bring this guy in from nowhere and he plays a blinder in helping us beat a top 4 team away from home (Man City 2-0), something we have struggled with a lot in recent years.

 

[Penn_]

I can't think of many that can do the job of protecting the back four as effectively as Coq does while pinging world class balls foward every five minutes.

Where has all this sudden hate for him come from?

 

[Marmaduke]

Where has all this sudden hate for him come from?

Hormonal seasonal swings of the Arsenal fanbase. We hate everyone and everything at times. Like a teenager trying to assert himself.

 

[Trilly]

Hormonal seasonal swings of the Arsenal fanbase. We hate everyone and everything at times. Like a teenager trying to assert himself.

How else do you cope with this insanity-inducing teams?

 

[Maxim]

Coquelin isn't a starter if we want this team to actually challenge. He provides so so little in the attacking phase.

He should be taking flamini's squad place next season, with a new player coming in.

 

[Coolin]

I think he's absolutely fine and was once again one of our better players today.

 

[Goon-Ger]

How has Coq went from hero to zero in such a short space of time in the eyes of many on here?

He was injured when our season really went to sh*t and without his discipline and tough tackling in CM we really missed him.

Even when he came back people expected the same Coq straight away without allowing him time to find his groove again after 3 months out.

It seems he is being made a scapegoat. People have short memories and it sickens me. Still one of our most crucial players in the team.

 

[Maxim]

He's not gone from hero to zero (although his actions against Sp**s didn't help).

For me it's always been the fact that we shouldn't have a player of Coquelin's ilk as a starter. Pure destroyers are outdated, at the highest level of football there's no such thing as midfielder who doesn't join the attack and isn't effective.

Look at the midfields of Bayern, Barca, Madrid even Juve. The closest player to that level who you can compare to Coquelin is probably Krychowiak at Sevilla - who people were quite keen on weirdly...

 

[Aevi]

Coq isn't really outdated. It's more that we need a midfielder that can accomplish more than one task, and that would preferably be a player in Coq's role. It can be his partner that does this though, moving forward and passing well (and consistently) somewhat like Elneny.

 

[say yes]

Most overrated player in our squad. And I like him.

 

[say yes]

How has Coq went from hero to zero in such a short space of time in the eyes of many on here?

He was injured when our season really went to sh*t and without his discipline and tough tackling in CM we really missed him.

Even when he came back people expected the same Coq straight away without allowing him time to find his groove again after 3 months out.

It seems he is being made a scapegoat. People have short memories and it sickens me. Still one of our most crucial players in the team.

Typical case of seeing what you want to see here.

When Coq got injured we were in 4th and on the verge of dropping out of the CL at the group stages. Flamini actually did ok - we had a very strong December which put us at the top of the table.

I've no doubt that Coquelin is the better player of the two but he's not 'crucial' by any means. For all the talk about how he has transformed our side I'm pretty sure that his first season as a starter is going to coincide with our lowest points total in about a decade.

 

[stajlarN]

Very good player, love that he's back. We should stick with Elneny and him as a CM pairing until cazorla comes back.

 

[Nyctophobia]

When Coq came back for us and played the way he did, he had a major element of surprise, no one expected a Arsenal midfielder to play in a purely defensive role like that and so aggressively, when teams are better prepared for it like they are now he's not going to stand out as much, this is the hard part for him -to continue evolving his game, not drastically by any means, but he cannot become predictable if he does he won't be good enough to be a starter.

Hopefully we haven't seen everything he has to offer yet, I believe if he can develop his passing ability he will be a top player.

 

[GDeep™]

He's a good player, but not a top player.

I want to call him a plodder but im fearing the backlash from the 'We Love Coq' brigade.

 

[MaraDon]

he is like Mascherano but without everything that makes Mascherano a special player.

 

[Penn_]

I'm all for replacing him with a better ball player but we'd need to fix the balance in midfield. There's too many games where his made 7-8 tackles with the same number of interceptions. Surely that needs to be addressed?

Ideal squad player that can come in and no one would have any complaints about unlike when we see Arteta or Flamini.

 

[Sykes]

Thought he was skillful back in the youth teams...i remember the game against fulham where he skinned their left back i think.
Wenger told him to simplify his game and he has done so. He's much better on the ball than he's showing...maybe not a great passer. Much better than Flamini ever was on the ball that's for sure.

 

[A_G]

I want to call him a plodder but im fearing the backlash from the 'We Love Coq' brigade.

People might accuse you of racism again.