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Arsenal’s Francis Coquelin Drawing Praise From Every Corner
By Josh Sippie
Francis Coquelin has a very unique story. It was in the year 2011 that Sir Alex Ferguson somewhat crudely said of the French midfielder: “He was completely out of his depth. I had hardly heard of him and he barely played again,” as quoted by the Telegraph, from Ferguson’s own autobiography.
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Surely a guy that draws that much negative reaction from such an ‘astute’ mind as Sir Alex Ferguson would never amount to anything.
Yet, Francis Coquelin has amounted to everything and more for Arsenal. After be sent out on loan to Charlton Athletic to start the 2014/15 season, Coquelin’s Arsenal career still appeared to be a long time in coming. And yet, due to very beneficial injuries to Coquelin’s cause, the rambunctious midfielder was recalled and thrown into the starting XI. At first, it was a matter of discipline. Yellow cards were flowing in for the marauding midfielder.
But it was crystal clear. This guy wanted to play for Arsenal. He had all the passion in the world for this very club and he was being given the last opportunity he would ever need.
Coquelin improved his discipline and by the end of the year, was statistically the best defense midfielder in the league. That is no easy feet in a brutish league like the Premier League.
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Slowly but surely Coquelin shook all doubt from everyone’s minds and proved that he was Arsenal-worthy. In fact, he quickly became indispensable. The Frenchman puts in the same performance week-in and week-out, no matter the opponent. He times his sliding tackles with sheer brilliance and intercepts the ball with a tenacity that can only be described in numbers: Over three interceptions and three successful tackles per match (stats via WhoScored.com).
Numbers like that will not go unnoticed. It is starting to get to the point where people are taking Coquelin seriously across the board. Initially, guys like Jack Wilshere spoke up for Coquelin’s credibility, but the wizened folk are tougher to convince than that.
One Arsenal legend in particular has come to Coquelin’s side with some very meaningful words in an interview with the Guardian.
“I love this guy because he has very good spirit and he loves fighting. He’s French but he has an English mentality, and in this position you need that. In my time we had Ray Parlour, and Coquelin is the same. He’s a very good balance between defence and attack. He is important for the team. Imagine for 10 seconds Vieira and Coquelin together in midfield, in this moment or 10 years ago. That would be fantastic.”
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All of this after Pires picked Coquelin to be in his all-time Arsenal starting XI. How is that for transformation? In a year he went from Charlton Athletic to being picked in Robert Pires’s all-time Arsenal squad.
Coquelin is the best defensive midfielder in the league. What is more impressive is that his passing percentage has improved a whole 7% from last year and is now up to 92% on the year. For a guy that used to be an offensive liability, that is a pretty stout indication of the improvement we are seeing.
Not only that, but have we ever seen a guy celebrate a team mates’ goal more passionately? Anytime the back of the net bulges, somewhere on the pitch is Francis Coquelin, piercing the airwaves with a scream not heard since Genghis Khan pierced the Great Wall Of China. He probably had a similar look of unbridled ferocity/joy as well. But don’t just take my word for it:
Francis Coquelin is a blessing to this Arsenal side and he is going to be a mainstay for years to come. Now we just have to get him to score a goal of his own and see what happens.