Coquelin – It was Cazorla that convinced me to leave Arsenal

When Francis Coquelin arrived back at Arsenal after being recalled from a loan at Charlton, he was quickly installed as the automatic choice in central midfield alongside our Spanish genius Santi Cazorla and the pairing was absolutely amazing. But when Cazorla got injured Le Coq couldn’t seem to gel with any other of our midfielders and his performances dipped and he dropped down the pecking order.

Now the Frenchman has left us to join Valencia in La Liga, and he has revealed that he was unsure of the interest of the Spanish club until Cazorla convinced him it was a great destination. Coquelin said: “He told me it’s an excellent club which I will not regret joining.

“I respect Cazorla’s opinion a lot, so when he told me this, he convinced me. I trust what he tells me.”

He also wishes he had made the move during the summer when Valencia first made overtures about a possible move to Spain. “It’s true that there was interest in the summer but in my head I wanted to continue at Arsenal and do well there,” He revealed. “It wasn’t to be and now this opportunity has come up.

“I almost regret not having come before. I think it’s an excellent opportunity for me and I’m very grateful.

“It’s a big challenge, and a new start in my life for me, which I’m very excited about.”

It is a fact that if Coquelin can find another partner in the mould of Cazorla he could take La Liga by storm. He was never really trusted by Wenger when he first arrived, having flopped on previous loan moves at Lorient and Freiberg, so I think Le Prof was just as surprised as the rest of us when he became a beast of a player alongside Santi. Personally I think we should have given him more chances to regain his form, but if Santi thinks he will be fine in Spain, then who are we to argue!

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21 Comments

  1. Since Coquelin was dropped we haven’t challenged for the title. The Le Coq/Carzorla Pivot was the best midfield we have had in years. I thought he performed well for us in the europa league and showed he can create.

    Once he has a run of games and gets sharp he is one of the best DM’s in the prem, if not the best. Not happy about this sale.

    1. Wenger goes for passing midfielders who are not really equipped to protect the back 4 (or 3) … like Arteta and Xhaka. My information is Wenger only played Coq there as a genuine dmf because senior players wanted it. The senior players were right.

      1. Wenger liked Coquelin ..whoever told you that info is talking out of their bum. Coquelin owes Wenger and I think he’d tell you as much. Coq is a very honest very decent player, but when Xhaka took that yellow or when Wilshere defends everything we do esp the bad tackles, that is the stuff Coquelin lacked (among other things). He is a fine player, but he’s not winning material and he had more than enough time just like some of the others. I wish him well but I feel changes are a long time in the coming.

    2. JUST IN:Man City have now finally met Arsenal’s asking price of £35m for Alexis Sanchez.He had already agreed terms of £250,000 a week with them but both clubs were struggling to agree a fee.But now the issue has been resolved and he’s free to complete and finalise his move.He is scheduled to have a medical next week.
      Arsenal had to take a loan of £20m to keep him which simply means keeping him cost us.
      We are seriously looking at Malcolm as a replacement but the player is not so keen due to the fact that we cannot guarantee that one of Ozil or Sanchez will stay.The move may still happen though because money talks.They want £45m for him.

      People can say goodbye to Sanchez now.That’s all for now.Will update you on more later.

    3. The Coquelin sale will come back to bite to us and I’m praying it does.Not world class but a level above all the DM’s in our team and would’ve the ideal back up to a top DM we would’ve signed.The move doesn’t make sense at all like the Gabriel sale.I heard he’s now consistently good for Valencia.Even in Coquelin’s match vs Man City he was our best player yet substitued for no reason due to sentiments.

  2. Upcoming summer transfer window will be very crucial For AFC…. Specially when there are doubts about future for many players… We may loose Sanchez to City… We may loose Ozil to United or someone else… If Wilshere doesn’t prove his fitness then he would also go… Unclear about Ramsey as he is in last year of contract.. Potentially may loose him as well…. Francis has already been to Valencia now… Giroud could be on his way to other club because of less game time… Walcott will definitely go..
    We are in turmoil if all this happens… Situation would go bad to worse if we don’t win Europa because then we won’t be able to make Champions League…. And to attract quality players either you should have money or challenge for titles or least as Champions League Football… we don’t have money, we we can’t challenge for title for sure and if we don’t win EL then we won’t be in CL so no quality players we would attract…. And Clubs like City, United, Liverpool will definitely act strongly in summer window as they would be having CL football and Money as well… We are going into very toughest patch… Hope we are not gonna become next Leeds United..

    1. Wenger insists upon possession even if it is negative, nothing possession. And don’t you dare shoot !

  3. Good luck to Coquelin on his new adventure. Apart from this unknown Greek lad, what are we actually doing this transfer window, Wenger said he will buy before he sells, at the moment he has only weakened an already weak squad by selling our only true DM for chump change. We are consistently being linked with 3 players Lemar, Malcolm and Pavon, yet there is no concrete evidence of any bids. If we are waiting on the sale of Sanchez I expect it to be dragged out the entire window, instead of taking the bull by the horns and making a decision, I feel Wenger will once again bury his head in the sand hoping that Sanchez will one day sign a new contract.

  4. Coquelin isnt he the same player which the fans claimed he was not good enough because hes not a big name and big tag player??

    This is what the fans always wanted….Coquelin to leave….

  5. Coquelin is an interesting story.
    He was loaned out to Charlton
    and on his way out of the club.
    Then Arsenal hit a disastrous
    run of injuries when Mertz +Koscielny
    Arteta and Flamini Ozil and Giroud also got injured.
    Arsenal had a nightmare run of results with
    Monreal Debuchy and Sagna playing CB.
    Szczesny got blamed and never played again for the club.
    Francis got called back just when all the players like Koz Mertz
    Sant Ozil and Giroud recovered and also just when
    Bellerin also suddenly emerged.
    After Xmas Arsenal went on a huge unbeaten run till the end of the season. Arsenal had the best stats in the League for 6 months with Coq being the most feared DM in the league.
    Xhaka cost 30m so had to play but he and Francis never clicked.
    Wenger gave Walcott Chamberlain Ramsey Wellbeck Wilshere a million chances
    but treated Francis poorly. Why? I don’t know.
    Sad because at his best Francis was the most bad ass DM in the league.

    1. Haven’t seen anything from Coquelin to warrant a place and believe good move for both parties.

      I would say however that Coquelin did look good and in that spell mentioned and believe for two reasons – 1) playing alongside Cazorla and 2) he had a specific brief what do alongside Cazorla.

      You may argue that Wenger then destroyed him by letting start improvise rather than stick to a game plan and especially used for man marking players. Remember him marking Silva out of the game at Etihad?

      Did always like his attitude though so good luck to him at Valencia CF

  6. It’s a shame that Wenger has not risen to the challenges up to this moment! If we must challenge, we must sign quality players.

    I’m beginning to be afraid that we might just go down if drastic measures were not taken. Selling Le Co obviously meant Wenger has a potential replacement.

  7. That’s the thing with Wenger, players are not played due to performances or merit but down to the fact there is an injury or suspension and he has no other choice, I only believe Wilshire got his chance back in the league was down to Ramsey’s injury and not because he deserved his chance.

  8. Goodbye and good luck Coquelin. We are grateful for your contribution. I’m excited at having AMN play at DM and the chance to see other young defensive midfielders.

  9. Coquelin was one best dm for a season. So sad he didn’t regain his form but I also believe wenger’ way of using him was not correct.

  10. Arsenal will never challenge for anything until Wenger leaves. FA cup used to be our saving grace but even that ship has sailed.

  11. I can’t understand the debate here, many you fans here had coq grouped amongst the lad who needed to leave and now he leaves, its Wenger’s fault, we just have to blame Wenger for everything irrespective of weather or not its good or bad.

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