There have already been a few Arsenal players that have come in for some criticism from the Arsenal fans and members of the football media, even though we have only played two Premier League games so far. But while the likes of Petr Cech, Mesut Ozil and Aaron Ramsey have been largely forgiven for the opening day disaster already, thanks to their showing against Crystal Palace, the same cannot be said of Francis Coquelin.
Perhaps this is because a lot of us feel that the young Frenchman was pretty lucky not to be sent off for a second yellow at Selhurst Park. Arsene Wenger has backed the combative central midfielder and suggested that it was the vocal home fans and their attempts to influence the referee that forced him to replace Coquelin, but he really was riding his luck.
So the Sky Sports report in which the former Gunner Charlie Nicholas suggests that Wenger still needs to sign another DM is far from being unusual.
Champagne Charlie said, “Arsenal are strong and I’ve tipped them to win the Premier League but I would still like to see them sign another holding midfield player.
“Francis Coquelin will be walking a tight-rope every week because of the way he plays and he’ll pick up suspensions, so another defensive midfielder would be good. Wenger’s got Mikel Arteta, who can do a job there, and he’s also got a couple of young kids who he wants to fill that role, but I think he’ll let Mathieu Flamini go.”
I think we might be jumping the gun on the lad a bit here. Coquelin played 22 EPL games last season and was never shown a red card. In fact he was only booked five times. For the amount of tackles and duels he is involved in, that shows me that he is usually very accurate with his defensive work, as shown in his stats on Squawka.com.
Maybe he is not quite up to speed yet this season but he was already better in the second game, so Arsenal fans should remember how good and important for us he was last year and give Coquelin a break. I do not think we need to sign a defensive midfielder, mainly because only one of them could play. Do you agree?
Yes we must support COQ!!!!
He’s my guy: the furious Cock. #ActionPerson
But we need another good or better DM.
Agreed Kickass he is no different to Viera,Roy Kean Steve Gerrard .Thats what he does and very well too Seems like some expect to much of him, CB
I support Le Coq. And his back up? Wait? He doesn’t have anyone. Neither does Sanchez. Our amazing Brazilian dribbler is on loan? Sounds good Wenger!
Nope, sign a good DM to compete with and provide cover for Coquelin … we don’t need to scramble in Jan if we are in the midst of a title race and short a DM … sign now, get him integrated into the team, and waiting in the shadows along with Gabriel.
Yes, We have to keep faith with Him as He deserves it.. He is one of those players that put in a stellar performance in the second half of last season.
Having say that, We still need another DM to rotate with Him, Bring out the best in them due to competition and Coquelin wont play all games anyway..
If we sign Benzema, Then i’ll follow @AlexisDun85 on twitter and will name Him one of the best agents in the world… He has been calling so many big transfers before they even happen (Pedro to chelsea, Otamendi to Manc and the likes)….
Whatever happens, I’ll support this great Club ARSEEEENALLLLLLLLL
I don’t want to jump on the bandwagon of Benzema, but his latest Instagram is a bit cryptic…KB9 / Come back soon…
It’s all this transfer frenzy, it gets us all going and then reality bites…but I don’t want reality (no signings)…I want fantasy (3 marquee signings!).
And then he woke up…
we have faith in him but we also need a good backup for him
Yo no hablo Inglés señorita AKA admin.
In Coq we trust.
Me gusta Le Coq lol
Que hora son mi corazon
ustedes son muy graciosos
Habla en Inglés por favor ?
We should not sign anyone. We should keep faith in Coquelin, Giroud and Mertesaker. Money doesnt buy success. Cohesion gives us success. Wenger will win us every trophy coming season.
Giroud is better than Benzema, Muller and Lewandowski. Coquelin is better than Busquets and
Krychowiak.
I enjoyed that- sarcasm the lowest form of wit but the most effective.
Stay off the hard stuff!!
Man City are playing like champions. They are spending money to reach next level. Chelsea after
struggling have already gone out and signed Pedro and Baba and are trying to spend big on
CB and another attacker whereas Arsenal cant find quality player who can improve the team.
Man U have strengthen their midfield and wide areas and are trying to sign another top CB,
CF and GK if De Gea leaves.
It’s quite a pity that many Arsenal fans think only ‘cohesion and mental strength’ will win us the title. Not putting into consideration that teams who finished stronger than us last season are strengthening their teams.
Keeping the Faith in Le coq will not keep him un-injured/out of form all Season……. It’d be better to KEEP A BACK-UP/SUPPORT for him ……… I didn’t mention Arteta or fLamini ere
Im a big fan of le coq and keeping the faith with him, but the only thing im worried about is what if he picks up a serious injury or gets red carded hmm?
Injury or red card? Could never happen! Not to an key Arsenal player 🙂
Never thought I’d Say this but I can’t Wait till Monday comes.
And What will happen?.hmmmm…B
It’s not really a case of keeping faith with the lad, we all know how good he can be and how good he’s gonna get. But it boils down to this, he is young and still learning his trade, he plays in one of the most agressive and challenging roles on the pitch and it requires him to be agressive and hard nosed. Such a position for such a youngster WILL mean he will have injuries and it WILL mean he’ll have suspensions . Does anyone really think this is not the reality of it? For that matter does anyone think that Arteta, loyal soldier that he is, is up to covering this role now? Even less so flamini? I have faith that a player like let Coq will come good but he’s gonna have to go through it to do so and that’s a little unfair on him. We get should have brought in a player that could both partner him in really tough games and cover when the inevitable occurs. He hasn’t and that is a crime in itself
Getting on my t*ts this Coquelin thing. Media want to ram it down our throats how we are too nice, no mettle, shoved around too much, like the selfies too much – along comes Coq and commits 4 fouls in non-threatening parts of the pitch, none dangerous or reckless and one or two were questionable decisions, that prat Pardew baying for him to get sent off and now we need to be careful, throttle back. I wonder what level of aggressiveness is just enough to appease the pundits but not too much to upset their delicate sensibilities. Jeez. Anyone remember a guy called Vieira – FFS, 77 yellows and 8 reds!!!!
Matic, Ramires, Ivanovic, Fernandinho would still be waiting for their first full 90 minutes in the PL if Coquelin’s heinous crimes are the new benchmark. I will say however he has probably learnt a lesson – he definitely needs to be a bit smarter with the cynicism – like the Chelski boys.
LOL Very good!
Daley Blind did a decent job for United. They also had Carrick. However, LVG is ambitious and wanted to improve the team, so he got Schneiderlin and Schweinsteiger
We must get another DM!
We are good with b2b: Ramsey, Cazorla, Wilshere, Rosicky
However, we lack depth with DM
Coquelin could get injured, get red carded
Coquelin can’t play every match in all 4 competitions
Also, Coquelin could get lazy without any competition for his spot. He needs to be challenged to improve. Arteta is not enough competition
I would say go for Krychowiak, Carvalho, Bender or Wanayama
Well Coq was better last season than he has been so far this season – only 2 games in which is harsh but it’s fact.
Now is this because last season he was so delighted to be back from Charlton and in the team that he followed orders , was disciplined and stuck to his position WHEREAS now this season he thinks he’s a better footballer than he actually is – that he can roam forward, spraying the ball at will ?
Or is it a case of second season syndrome – loads of players have a great first season and then in the second season they struggle as the opposition who previously didn’t know or rate him are now aware of him and know how to provoke and deal with him?
It looks like Monaco may not qualify for main CL draw. This will make last year’s loss to them feel even worse. We had a great draw but screwed up @ home like we did to West Ham. We won big away but lost big at home
We should have beaten Monaco or at the very least taken Kondogbia from them this summer. Kondogbia would have been the ideal DM for us. I wanted him sooooooo much
totally agreed, I was cheering forr them to win because of that, it would feel less embarrasing to see the guys who knocked you out in…not out!
It also got me thinking about Kndogbia… if a team misses a guy that much….well, hes gone,
Because, first he is an arsenal player, secondly when our player has bad games we should support him, thirdly he was the best last season and lastly we are the gunners we should support our players 100% jan to jan.COYG.Ya Gunners Ya.
Good point …Well said…
funny fickle fans. I remember most of you here calling Flamini the gladiator after his first few games. I know you would be comparing le coq to Matic very soon. The guy is good yes but must we rely on him? A big NO. you can thumb me down but watch him disappear in big matches. Average is becoming the best at arsenal now. From Vieira to le coq, from Henry to Giroud, the list is endless n it says it all.
I do have faith in Coquelin.
But that doesnt mean I dont want him to have another backup.
I love Srteta s way of playing, but he s like 34, better have a younger backup to Coq nust in case.
“stats on Squawka.com” here we don’t recognise stats which show how good Arsenal players are. İn fact, we cherish the ones which show how average Giroud is,and how slow Mert is.
Another obsolete subject…
Of course we are going to support and have faith on Coquelin… What are we supposed to do??? He is the ONLY descent DM we got…!!
Who else is going to fill the position? Wilshere (useless)? Arteta (useless too)? Please !
I don’t support players I support the team … And I certainly don’t support overpaid mediocrities just,coz they wear the arsenal kit but who can’t deliver us more than third or fourth place … That said coquellin is a good player with potential to improve what we need now is an accomplished DM from whom he can learn … Missed kondogbia who is a better player and younger which might have been a problem … Same goes for Carvalho … Sven bender probably best around for us if not the pole … Both older more experienced more rounded footballers and wiser than coquellin …sadly wenger doesn’t any longer have the brain or brawn to improve this team …. So don’t have any expectations for this window can’t be disappointed then only positively surprised but it will take a loss to lpool for that to happen I suspect
My faith in the Coq relies on his willingness to play like a defensive midfielder and not like Song before he went to Barca.
I want Arsenal to go on a win as many titles this year, but if we fall short i am sure it will be because of a lack of transfer activity. Wenger didnt plan in 2013/14 and panic buy Kallstrom, 2014/15 he didnt prepare for an injury and had to panic buy welbeck. So i presume if Coq cannot play for whatever reason he might just panic buy some random mediocre DM in January.