Arsenal: Francis Coquelin can end the seemingly endless roulette

Arsenal’s pathetic surrendering of Watford’s second goal exposed far more than expected. It may have pushed to the point that Francis Coquelin is the answer.

I have been flipping ideas around in my head trying to figure out why Mesut Ozil was brought on for Arsenal at the hour mark against Watford as opposed to other options, especially with a 1-0 lead, and while I can’t claim that I’m not just spouting this idea strictly out of hindsight, I did stumble upon a concept I never thought I’d find myself exploring.

Why wasn’t Francis Coquelin brought on?

Both he and Ozil were returning from serious injuries and from what I understand, the only reason Ozil could have been brought on is because he was wanting for match fitness and some experience.

But in a match against the gritty Watford, is that really the best time to throw the softest player out there? Even in pursuit of that second goal?

Coquelin was on the bench, and I will say (completely out of hindsight) that had Coquelin been out there, the second goal would not have been scored.

As everyone has seen by now, as the ball was bouncing around in the box, the Gunners had numerous onlookers standing outside of the box blankly watching the events unfold, rather than taking an active part in trying to stop it from happening.

Ozil and Granit Xhaka were both guilty, as well as others I’m sure.

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Again, hindsight is a beautiful and terrible thing, but you know who wouldn’t have been caught dead observing? Francis Coquelin.

The rambunctious Frenchman is the most hard-nosed player that we have and in a match like we were taking part in, he would have fit right in and not backed down.

Coquelin has his limitations, as we are all well aware. His over-eagerness with the ball at his feet leads to him surrendering possession rather easily at times, rather through over-extending how deep he goes at the defense, or through his funny-in-a-bad-way through balls.

But man, that guy has the spirit of about half the Gunners XI combined that were out there in the closing minutes of the match at Vicarage Road.

If the goal is to make the team more about effort (Danny Welbeck, Sead Kolasinac) and less about dainty magical footwork, then wouldn’t Francis Coquelin be the perfect candidate to turn to and just encourage to do what he does best?

Next: Arsenal vs Watford Player Ratings

You know it’s bad when I’m over here embracing the concept of swapping out Xhaka for Coquelin. If you can teach Coquelin to stay in the defensive zone and let Aaron Ramsey do his thing, then why wouldn’t we? We know he is a fantastic ball winner, and right now, I’d take that over the roulette were are too often playing nowadays.

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