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Arsenal Welcoming Back Francis Coquelin Complicates Things
By Josh Sippie
When Arsenal purchased Mohamed Elneny, it was understood that he would help fill the gap Coquelin left. So what happens now that Le Coq is back?
Francis Coquelin’s injury did a lot of the things everyone expected it to do. It softened Arsenal’s core. It removed their spine. It left the defense incredibly vulnerable. The only expected thing it didn’t do was sink the Gunner’s season. They used their grit to hang on for dear life and actually rose up the table without Coquelin present.
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Just imagine what would have happened if Coquelin had been around.
With a return set for February or March, Arsene Wenger had to make a signing in January and lo and behold, he did. It took a bit longer than expected, and by that I mean even longer than you think I mean (eight months), but Arsenal landed the signature of Mohamed Elneny.
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Fast forward two matches and the Egyptian midfielder still has not featured.
Now that Elneny has not played and Coquelin is due back in the first-team spectrum as soon as this weekend, what happens with our newest signing?
Wenger sat Elneny against Stoke City because he wanted to show him how tough life in England was going to be. Nothing was going to be handed to him and he was going to have to earn it. That is an admirable lesson to teach. However, it is also admirable to give the team the damn defensive midfielder you signed so they don’t have to deal with Mathieu Flamini and Aaron Ramsey’s lack of defense anymore. But I digress.
Elneny was also sat against Chelsea. Hopefully he is taking to heart how hard life is going to be in England.
We will probably see Elneny feature against Burnley. If we don’t, then it might as well be that we didn’t sign him. However, after he – hopefully – features in the FA Cup, then what? Francis Coquelin is like Hector Bellerin. He is a player that Arsene Wenger will not sit no matter who is behind him.
Aaron Ramsey is also that kind of player and so is Santi Cazorla. That gives us three players ahead of Elneny at the holding midfield role, all of whom Wenger is particularly fond of starting day in and day out.
In case you weren’t paying attention, Mohamed, life in England is going to be hard.
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Elneny better put on a dazzling display against Burnley because it may be one of the few chances he has this season. Substitute appearances are going to be the calling card of the Egyptian. While this is partially admirable, because the signing did nothing to Coquelin’s starting place, it is also partially confusing. If we were just going to wait until Coquelin came back anyway, why even sign Elneny?
We have yet to see what Wenger has in store. Even when considering substitute appearances, Ramsey and Coquelin are two guys that are not subbed off. Ever. Ramsey has only been subbed off twice this year, not including his injury against Bayern Munich. Likewise, when Arsenal are trying to defend a lead, Coquelin is not coming off either. Similarly, if Arsenal is chasing a goal and Coquelin is coming off, chances are Elneny is not the go-to guy either.
The only substitute appearances that make sense for Elneny are in situations where Arsenal are defending a lead and Wenger decides to take off Ozil (which again, is rare). Then, Ramsey can shift up and Elneny can fall in next to Coquelin.
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We may not see a lot of Mohamed Elneny this year at Arsenal. It may be a case of waiting for the exodus of the three elderly midfielders before he has a little breathing room.