Francis Coquelin: No Longer Needed?

[Rex Stone]

Yeah when we've got Ramos, Ronaldo, Bale,Benzema, etc. then we can talk about playing a lightweight midfield.

We have Özil, Alexis and Kos around them they're hardly poverty ffs.

Midfield is our weakest area by a country mile

 

[Batman]

We have Özil, Alexis and Kos around them they're hardly poverty ffs.

Midfield is our weakest area by a country mile

I'm not disputing that but to use a team with considerably better forward and defense options than ours as your example of why WE don't need a dedicated defensive midfielder is flawed. That would be like if I said 4-5 years ago "Oh we don't need an out and out striker, look at Barca with Messi." It ignores our team's reality versus the fantasy that is a club like Barca or Real and what they have at their disposal.

 

[Rex Stone]

I'm not disputing that but to use a team with considerably better forward and defense options than ours as your example of why WE don't need a dedicated defensive midfielder is flawed. That would be like if I said 4-5 years ago "Oh we don't need an out and out striker, look at Barca with Messi." It ignores our team's reality versus the fantasy that is a club like Barca or Real and what they have at their disposal.

Well look at Utd then, they've binned off Schneiderlin and have been playing miles better with Carrick in there.

Top clubs in general shouldn't just be sticking bang average cloggers in there.

 

[Taylor Gang Gunners]

Coquelin is the type of player to shout "huy-ya" before tackling someone.

 

[Jury]

The injury has ****ed him. I don't know in what way, but it must have. Still think people go OTT about how bad he was and totally ignore anything good he does. More is being asked of him now, and it doesn't suit. We know what he's good at, and he's proven that.

Edit: I forgot to add how much he relies on everyone else around him to play well to be seen at his best...

 

[Penn_]

Imagine if he never returns to that level, like Ramsey

 

[Batman]

Well look at Utd then, they've binned off Schneiderlin and have been playing miles better with Carrick in there.

Top clubs in general shouldn't just be sticking bang average cloggers in there.

Fair enough, although part of that is not playing Rooney as much and thus having Pogba in his natural position. I do agree that no top side should need a clogger but given our midfield options and our manager's inability to adapt his tactics I would argue that this side as constituted needs it to not be undone regularly by big sides. I'm not saying that's how it should be but that's our reality. Wenger needs to go and we need to adopt more modern tactics.

 

[Furious]

Imagine if he never returns to that level, like Ramsey

Which level?

Was always a myth. Guy made a few tackles and people sucked him off. He's as mediocre as they come, Capoue and several other midtable midfielders are better than him.

 

[BBF]

Never rated him, but always thought he was a good defender. Now I've realised he's absolute ****e. Forgave him for the 8-2, but I'll never forgive this little ****** for Sp**s last season and Chelsea this season.

He's so inept on the ball it's infuriating. Like @Furious said, he regularly gets mugged off by average midfielders, and for what? A few stats that said he had a good game? **** that.

 

[BBF]

Honestly, when a new manager comes in he needs binning. He'd be a good bench player but he reminds me of too many bad things he has been at fault for. Get in some players that can pass further than 5 yards and can actually play some football for ****s sake. Fed up ****houses like El Nenny and Coquelin

 

[Giroud]

See him try to challenge Hazard when they scored their 2nd? Again like last week he's not getting goalside and this guy's weakness is meant to be on the ball not while defending.

He can act as a ballwinner to a high level but at times his 1v1 defending is laughable. Not good enough.

 

[nick gould]

I like the boy a lot because he is a honest grafter so don't call me a hater when I analyse his game.

The first goal, he let Hazard run off him and pointed. Mustafi followed where Le Coq was pointing. The logical thing would have been to fill the gap left by Mustafi. Nope the boy did nothing. We conceded a goal. He was as capable for that goal as Theo. To make matters worse Bellerin ended up injured, he should be suing those two.

Second goal the boy tried to be too honest and win the ball cleanly. Decision making. To stop present danger sometimes you have to commit a blatant foul. Rugby tackle would have been necessary force to stop the danger. I bet Xhaka would have kicked Hazard out and got sent off in the process.

Now looking with untinted glasses, I think at least 10 teams have a better defensive midfielder than Coq. Huddleston, Ndiaye, kuote, Gueye, romelu, Obiang are all better than Coquelin.

He was a stop gap measure but we have made him a corner stone. There was a time when every Arsenal player was a full international. What happened to that?

 

[Hunter Zolomon]

wenger sucks guys, he really does. All these players mentioned are not beyond arsenals price range.

 

[FinnGooner]

Denilson mkII. Promising start followed by over-the-top hype followed by the realization that this guy is just not Arsenal material

 

[Taylor Gang Gunners]

Denilson mkII. Promising start followed by over-the-top hype followed by the realization that this guy is just not Arsenal material

Denilson was much better on the ball than this guy.

Coquelin is a mid-table level ball winner. He's a hardworker and will always give 100%, but there's a reason this guy was on loan at Charlton before making his mark here.

When he was paired with Santi (who is an absolute magician btw), we never really saw how negatively he impacted our game. Santi could dictate play from deep and dribble toward the final third. Coquelin simply had to run around and cover his back, make a few tackles and interceptions here and there.

But recently Coquelin isn't even good at the basics a defensive midfielder should be good at. Honestly, his 'defending' for Hazard's goal was criminal. He got brushed off like an U12's player training with the first team. He also gave the ball away a few times, putting us under serious pressure. Was even worse than Watford.

If Granit Xhaka is a Granit Xavi, Coquelin is a French Lee Cattermole.

 

[Tom9]

His defending for the Alonso goal was just as bad as his defending for hazards.

 

[karl]

You have to say Coquelin is not out of place in this team and performs to his expected level. He is not the best in his position, but certainly we don't have anyone else to do his work. I would reserve your anger for the players that are considerably better paid and looking for more from the club, yet offer so little.

 

[4R5Emaniac]

Why do we need someone to do defensive work? How many top teams do you see in the CL with cloggers dedicated just to that.

The best teams win the ball back with pressing and off the ball work. Modric and Kroos just won a CL as a midfield duo.

Modric and Kroos had a defensive midfielder in Casemiro playing behind them. They were actually struggling and lacking in balance before making Casemiro a mainstay.

Anyway, the absolute nonsensical amount of abuse against Coquelin is just unreal. He is a limited player and I've said it myself that he should not play in big games but this level hatred is mental. He is a good player and a great servant of the club. Sralex made a career out of maximizing these sort of players output. We need better starters but Coq isn't in the job of recruitment.

 

[Tom9]

You have to say Coquelin is not out of place in this team and performs to his expected level. He is not the best in his position, but certainly we don't have anyone else to do his work. I would reserve your anger for the players that are considerably better paid and looking for more from the club, yet offer so little.

What work does he do? Turn the ball over when players are pushed up the field and thus are out of position. The bloke is utter trash and we are so much worse of with him in the team.

For what its worth when our midfield pairing has been just Xhaka and Ramsey we have scored 15 goals and conceded just 2. So not only are we expectedly better offensively we are heap better defensively as we are not regularly losing the ball due to simple errors, nor are teams confident in attacking us as we can punish them should they not be successful.

 

[Taylor Gang Gunners]

For what its worth when our midfield pairing has been just Xhaka and Ramsey we have scored 15 goals and conceded just 2.