At 23, Francis Coquelin is still young, but the Frenchmen is into his 7th year as an Arsenal player having made only 28 appearances. Loan stints at Lorient and Freiburg have sandwiched his brief cameos for the Gunners over the years and most recently a brief loan with Charlton Athletic.
It mustn’t be forgotten that just 6 weeks ago, Coquelin was picking up a yellow card as his struggling Charlton side were held to a draw by Nottingham Forest. Yet after being desperately recalled from the Valley amidst Arsenal’s annual injury crisis and after a few short substitute appearances, Wenger thrust him straight back into the starting line up against a high-flying West Ham. Coquelin passed the initial test, intelligently shielding his back 4 without dangerously venturing forward, like a certain Mr A. Song – who featured for West Ham – once did for the Gunners.
A tough test followed at Southampton where Coquelin didn’t have his finest performance; however he was relatively blameless for the goals that eventually cost Arsenal defeat. His two most recent performances against Stoke and the current champions, Man City, are what have sparked conversation amongst Arsenal fans and neutral onlookers alike. Is he the answer to Arsenal’s defensive midfield nightmare?
The way he convincingly blocked David Silva out of the game at the Etihad and retained his discipline throughout, might suggest he is. Desperate cries for the rest of his team-mates to ‘calm down’ after taking the lead and a quick rant at them when the Gunners were unusually caught exposed on Sunday, suggest Coquelin has developed a maturity that wasn’t evident in his first few stints with the club.
Whether he needs to be partnered by a ‘Viera’ type or even whether he needs to remain the understudy to such a player – should Arsenal bring one in – for the next few seasons remains to be seen. Arsene Wenger recently described him as“an internal solution”, not hinting at the permanence of his role. However, at this current moment in time he should be taking all the plaudits, quickly adapting his game from the unexceptional midst of the Championship to successfully commanding his team – alongside a certain exceptional Spaniard – to a victory over the champions. Whether he’s just hit a brief run of form, or whether it remains permanent is something that will become clear over the next few months, but as Aaron Ramsey said after the result at the Etihad, “He wins it back, keeps it simple and keeps things ticking over.” Qualities Arsenal have craved in recent years.
