Arsenal Debate – Coquelin or a new DM?

The Coquelin Case by JA

Hello guys, hope you’re having a good day.

Now I’ve been reading a lot of comments from some people saying we should buy a “world class DM” like Nemanja Matic and use Coquelin as backup. Now that might be a good notion but then is Coquelin going to want to stick his butt on the bench? I’ll have you remember that he considered leaving permanently prior to his Freiburg loan move, and his reason? He wasn’t given enough opportunity the previous season. Now he’s 23, playing great, why relegate him to the bench?
He’s gone out on loan a couple of times and his experience there is beginning to pay visible dividends. Why then buy someone to bench him?

You might suggest we buy backup to him and I’m not against that, but then again, even if we didn’t, we’ve seen games where Arteta shines, we’ve seen Flamini shine too, why not lose one, (Flamini for me), and keep Arteta to play when Coquelin needs a rest and even mentor him and make him better. It’s a win-win situation, your backup need not be world-class, but he needs to know how to do the job, and the fact is Arteta can do a job. It’s just that he’s getting on in age and just can’t play every weekend.

Fact is, let’s give Coquelin time to play to the end of this season, then we can maybe sign a backup to him. If Arteta still has the legs, we can depend on him for a few games here and there, just like Rosicky.

So for me my preferences for DM next season,

1 Coquelin
2 Arteta
3 Beilik

just enough for a full season.

Have a great day!
Joe

Tags Arteta Beilik Coquelin

91 Comments

  1. We should go for another dynamic DM to pair with Le Coq, if we are serious about getting anywhere in the CL…

    1. Why buy someone to partner with coquellin ?where will you put the whole myriad of attacking midfielders at the club if you play two DMs?I know you’ll say rotation but I don’t know a tinker man who has a consistent team.players need to play regularly to keep their form

      1. @Joe
        Arteta and Flamini would not be of much help to Le Coq at the CL level. The whole”myraid of attacking players” can take turns out on the wings where they belong…LOL

      2. Joe, didn’t “the whole myriad of attacking midfielders at the club” get injured (almost all of them) at some point???

        How old is Arteta now??? How good is Flamini??? How long do you think both will be playing for us? Besides, it seems Diaby has put a spell on Arteta.

        Coquelin is improving, but I don’t think he’s arrived yet (he’s still not very convincing with the ball at his feet. Let’s have someone much better from whom he could be learning and also take over from, someday.

      3. Coquelin replaces Flamini, he’s done end of this season. So Coquelin isn’t an extra body, he’s just a better version of Flamini….we still need a better version of Arteta. The best teams, Champions and CL contenders are always improving their first 11 and their squads.

        You buy a Schneiderlin in the summer, and if Coquelin is talented enough he will still play. You don’t limit yourself to what you have and say he’s “good enough” unless he’s measurable against THE BEST in the game. Coquelin isn’t there yet, and there’s no guarantee he will be….Schneiderlin/Wanyama already are.

        Also, I think you overestimate our myriad of attacking options…

        1. Agree with what you said except about Wanayama.
          He does not convince me yet, he has the physique and a hard tackler but his positioning, passing are still suspected. There is a reason why everyone wants Scheinderlein but not him

          1. Yea the reason is Schneiderlin is 25 and the more rounded player. I’ve watched big Vic since his Celtic debut and he easily has the ability to play for a top 4 team. You’re also quite a way off about his passing ability, he’s very good with the ball and the second he emerges out the shadow of Schneiderlin people will sit up and take notice.

      4. Why repeat the mistake of not having a position REALLY covered? Do you believe Flamini is a good cover for the DM position? Do you really believe Arteta will be able to play from now on on this position? A new DM if not to partner then at least to cover Coquelin is most probably needed. I am ok with having him in the summer but it must happen.
        I am absolutely gutted and disaponted by Diaby. I REALLY thought he would play this season. It is so sad.

        1. Its a rare occasion that we agree Bud but I have to say you’ve hit the nail right on the head, although Coquelin has really come into his own now why leave the position exposed in the long run ? another Dynamic midfielder would also spur Coquelin to keep his form up and allow us depth in the squad. Now that the attention is on filling this position why “Penny pinch” and leave the role short? Also we know Arteta and Flamini are on their way out in the long run and having an established and experienced man in this role would allow Coquelin to carry on learning the role and get to an even higher standard.

      1. @true gunner are you a true arsenal fan?or do you even know that coq is left with about 4months on his contract? And your thinking is 4th place.i go with NY GUNNER we need 2 mds

      2. a 17 year old and a guy who has played 7 games for us is enough for a title challenging team? I don’t think so, and I guarantee Wenger won’t leave himself in that position

        1. hes played 7 games for us and done very well but you would rather put your hopes in a player who has played 0 games for us ?
          i also think we should buy another strong player but give the coq his respect we asked him to go out and prove himself and so far hes done that very well

          1. He’s done extremely well in those 7 games, and I’m not suggesting for a second that he hasn’t. Also, you’re missing the point a bit, I’m saying who we should be pinning our hopes on….I’m merely pointing out a club that has Prem League and CL ambitions should NOT go into a season with a 17 year old with 0 games and a player with just 7 games experience. Buy Schneiderlin in the summer and you’ve got someone to really push Coquelin on, if he’s good enough he’ll play, whilst at the same time it near guarantees someone of required quality at Dm.

            Also, this is Arsenal…we start with Coq and Bielik and we’re an injury away from a 17 year old being forced to be our Matic. It’s just not smart man c’mon. Guarantee we buy a DM in the summer.

    2. Why not turn santi into a cm ? We have so many central players at arsenal the weak links are diaby n wilshire due to injury record. So unless we’re bringing in a worldy we should still have Flamini and arteta in the squad.

  2. Coquelin playing well is showing Arsenal fans just how successful Arsenal could be and could have been with a proper CDM after Song left (not that Song was that for us, but he’s a lot closer to it than Arteta/Flamini). I believe that now is not the time to rest on that, but rather the time to purchase a more seasoned CDM should one become available, like a Schneiderlin/Wanyama type for example. We are clearly always one injury away from being derailed, so I think we should definitely purchase a powerful, athletic, ball-winning CDM.

    CB and CDM should still be the target. LK6 was hobbling towards the end of the game, and we’ve all seen how god Per is without him. Chambers and Mertesacker is not the CB pairing that’s going to lead us forward.

    OG has scored big goals in big games this season, but I still feel that he’s a great super sub for us, and not necessarily the man to lead our line. His hold up play is great, but if he had more pace we could’ve played splitting vertical balls down the middle yesterday when Kompany and Demichelis were stretched into wide positions to provide cover Clichy and Zabaleta.

    1. OG won 10 possessions from goal kicks. It’s not all about goals scored for him. The wings are where the through balls should be going to. Sanchez and Walcott are 20 goals a year forwards.

  3. No debate. Remember Wenger’s “2 quality players for EVERY position” idea. Sadly, Arteta and Flamini are final legs of their careers – Wenger needs to look forward now.

    With Coq playing well, however, Wenger has more options – he could more safely opt for a talented younger DM instead of an established veteran.

  4. Very easy. Buy a world class defensive midfielder who the coq can learn from. There is no reason that we cannot play with two defensive mid fielders especially when we get a couple of goals up and want to close the game down to take the points. Also playing teams like Chelsea we need strong midfielders and playing with two strong defensive midfielders and playing on the counter is the way to go. The coq is the future and can easily be played alongside someone like khadira. The coq playing well has just higlighted how much better the team could do with a defensive giant sitting in front of the defence.

  5. First things first. I doubt we can sign a good DM this Winter. Lets wait till the summer transfer and sign Schneiderlin. For the rest of this season give le Coq the chance to play in the DM role. Hopefully his form is good and hopefully he wants to sign a contract extension.

    So next season I see Schneiderlin/Coquelin/Arteta/Bielik/Hayden for this position. Arteta could be sold next Winter transfer. Hayden could benefit from a loan spell but he is good academy product.

    1. Schneiderlin could also play the B2B role for Ramsey/Willshire/Ox where a more defensive minded B2B player is needed. This way Schneiderlin and Le Coq are played along side each other.

    2. Its a big assumption to make that Schneiderlin will want to come to us, that we will pay what Southampton are inevitable going to ask by way of Fee’s and that we are even going to be in the position whereby we can offer him CL football. Lets not run away with the idea that we have secured the Wenger Trophy yet!! the team has improved to a huge amount and beating City was somewhat of a landmark, but we have all been here before and there are no certainties just yet.

  6. Well certainly over the next 2 windows I would lose arteta, diaby and flamini. We are never going to get cash for any of them though, arteta is out till April, diaby until 2020 whilst flamini likes being a bosman. We will then need at least 2 central midfielders.

  7. If we make coquellin second choice again,he’s leaving.and don’t even talk rotation because some positions are too fragile to be tinkered around with.

  8. My preferences for DM:

    1. Schneiderlin – One of the best Dm’s in the premier league if not the best. (people who have watched him play know what i’m talking about)

    2. Coquelin – Even if it is too soon to judge, this guy has proven himself lately and has not only helped us gain points but helped the team gain great confidence in beating a top team away and he looks like he has a fight in him.

    3. Flamini – We all know his not the best DM but he gives his all for the team and has quite good work rate. He is a professional and brings fighting spirit in to the team plus i think he can cover for left or right back if the unthinkable would happen.
    I don’t he would have a problem with being a third choice Dm either.

    I really appreciate what Arteta has done for us and remember when he was our most important player at one time. But a don’t believe in typical deep lying play-maker such as Arteta and Alonso (as wenger does) without the necessary defensive skills. Even Arteta would do well in Real madrid as Alonso has for them and same as kroos is doing know. This is the PL and you get run over if you put does types of players in DM role.

    1. I stopped reading when you listed Flamini … I don’t believe any of what you said about him … when you keep shouting at everybody (especially when yourself you need someone to shout at you) doesn’t mean you bring fighting spirit … It’s only couple of minutes after the kick-off and he gets the first yellow card and then he plays handicapped for the rest of the game …

      1. Well your an idiot.

        Flamini is a great squad player to have he is full of enthusiasm and very experienced.For your information flamini has 5yellows this season in his 22 games that’s better than 1in 5 Games. He also keeps his play very simple with his short passes and position. Did you know he has a 92% pass accuracy one of the highest in the leauge? He makes good blocks and loves to intercept aswell.his only weakness is his concentration but after getting his yellow he is experienced enough not to get sent of.

        Flamini is a consistent 7out of 10 player that’s what you want from a squad player

  9. Coq’s done a fantastic job of late but remember it’s only 2 games…
    If he does it consistently over s 10 match run then why buy a DM ..
    It’s simple if we protect the back 4 like we did yesterday..then we can make it until the summer for a world class partnership ..
    Not taking anything away from what was undoubtedly the best result we’ve had in 5 years – but the players reacted like they had won the premiership and CL in one swoop..
    Credit to the manager for instilling the desire in the players..
    If we play like that every game we could still win the premiership..or close to the top 3- playing like that must have given the lads belief they can go on a run like they did when we beat bayern..
    Consistency will be key.. I hope we don’t blow it against the spuds.. Undoing all the hard work..
    Would still like to think Arsene has a signing up his sleeping bag.. Not long to go..

    1. Two games, really, you haven’t watched Arsenal much of late I guess. This is the 8th game Coq has featured in and I believe it his 4th start, even against Southampton he was probably the only one who stood out. Guess it won’t change some fans mind even if he performs the same way for rest of the season; he’s not a big name and doesn’t cost/value much on the transfer market so not good enough, please this dude has always shown the promise and has finally got his chance which he has taken.

  10. Both. Coqs doing great but flamini and arteta won’t be around for ever. If coquelins injured what then? Chambers? Bielek?, (have we officially signed him now). We need as much depth and versatility at dm as we have up front I’m pretty sure wenger realises this and coquelin will have done wonders for us in reminding wenger in the importance of a disciplined dm player.

        1. Debuchy is good shame he did get injured. Bellerin is an upgrade over Jenkinson. So we should sell Jenks come this summer. Let Debuchy and Bellerin fight over the RB position. A bit like Monreal is now better than Gibbs on LB.

          1. I know the thumbs down is about Jenks being such an Arsenal fan. But lets be realistic I think Bellerin and Debuchy are better and we also have Chambers that can be used on RB.

            Why not sell Jenks and get some good money to invest elsewhere. Arsenal have quoted 7 million to West Ham.

            1. Jenks is better than Chambers. Have you seen Chambers play RB before? He’s only good as a central defender.

              1. So we bring Jenks back and we have suddenly 3 players on RB. Plus Chambers that can also fill in so 4. That is overkill. I can’t see Jenks as good CD so why not sell the guy.

                Unless we move Bellerin to RW spot where he competes with Theo & Ox.

                1. debuchy can also play cb he is the best in the air statistically at arsenal he is good in the tackle and at reading games if anyone going to loose out its chambers.but at his age a loan won’t do him any harm.

        2. @Phil, Bellerin is beautifully improving, but he’s certainly not better than Debuchy. However, he is far better than Chambers, IMO.

          1. Chambers is good as 3rd choice RB and 2nd Choice CD. For a lad that is only 19 that is not bad. He has all the time to improve his game. As CDM against Southampton he was not looking good at all. However first time for him for Arsenal in that position.

  11. Off topic here, just watching Everton – WBA here. Can’t believe how average Everton has become. No creativity what so ever. Barkely is out of form. Coleman the best RB of last season looks very average.

    If this continues Martinez may be out of a job soon.

    1. @supertuur
      1 win in 13 says a lot. But I hear ya. This was the team to bent us over and didn’t use lube. Look at them now…

    2. It’s amazing how quickly fortunes can change in football. That’s why it’s exciting to see Arsenal gaining confidence. Confident Gunners are dangerous!

  12. We need another DM who’s equally if not better than Coquelin. This is because of our injury record and to keep him competitive because right now he’s playing lights out. What happens when he’s tired because he’s played every single game? Our first priority this summer is to replace rosicky/flamini/diaby who’re all on their way out then buy CB.

  13. Francis coquelin is doing an awesome job for arsenal, i must commend! But i still think we should get a DM like kondogbia, bender, or schneiderlin! We must also consider on the realistic side, what if le coq picks up an injury?

  14. Better than Arteta / Flamini? Yes
    As good as Matic / Schneiderlin? Too early to say – he needs consistency!

  15. Release Arteta and Flamini and get in proper reinforcement for the final push and perhaps challenge for the CL & FA Cup!
    Le Coq has done really well but I feel that without competition he may get a tad complacent or even arrogant. We need to use this window to step up our ideas!

    1. Nobody will buy Arteta in January when he’s probably out for the rest of the season or if they do it will be for less than they’d pay in the summer.

  16. Strengthen from a position of strength – only makes you stronger!

    Have we enough up front..? Probably.
    Attacking midfielders…? Probably.
    Defenders .. No.. Keepers.. Probably not quite top tier level..
    DM .. The coq, arteta, flamini.. Probably not.. So if we sign paulista, or someone of that ilk then I believe that will be arsene’s lot until the summer..
    I’d love him to sign Schneiderlin carvalho kondogbia Pogba etc.. But we all need to wake up and accept that Arsene will probably say he’s justified in not signing anybody this window..

    1. COQUELIN has really improved no end and the boy deserves his place, but he could get injured or go “off the boil” at any time and that’s why we need another experienced man to take that spot and push Le Coq to push for his first place spot. Waiting for the summer and then assuming Wenger would “spend spend spend” is a massive assumption at this point lets not forget that the other clubs with more money are just as likely to buy players we are looking at just to keep them out of out team, and they will spend the asking price where as Wenger will quibble. Man city only bought Bony because they would rather have him on their side than against them, first choice will always be Aquero . Both them and Chelsea would out bid us at any point.

  17. Arteta is a superb player. Seems to me that he is underrated by many Arsenal fans. His problem is that he’s nearing the end of his career and is picking up a lot of injuries. I would still make Arteta number one and I think Coquelin is a very solid deputy.

  18. Is there a need of arteta or flamini in our club?i mean which experience do they bring? As much as i hate being negative but those guys are useless,they blocking our way to the top including diaby.we need an extra md and he should be young too.

  19. It is ironic that had he have had this level of performance against a mid table team then people would have said he needs to prove himself against a big team. Yet his first big test and in all honesty, other than a master performance from Cazorla (who is a Spain international and recognised player) he was the best on the pitch. So you can’t win. Play well then you have to prove your worth against a big team. Be the best DM on the pitch against a team that spent well over 60m in that position and still you need to prove yourself!!!!

    This is ironic. This is Columbo turning around and saying ‘oh just one more thing’ ironic.

  20. I’d say Coquelin can do the job till the summer and then we’ll need to ofload one of our three current DM’s , either Flamini, Arteta or Coquelin has to go this summer if we want to bring a new top class DM. I do believe Coquelin has the qualities to be our DM for the years to come but it also depends on how he will perfom till the end of the season.
    What about Diaby?

  21. Well Wenger you are our and your own most dangerous enemy. Play the game how it should bre, dont be prone to favorisem and you will find your self winning many games.

    1. Man, it would really hurt me if Wenger drops Santi at anytime just so Ozil could feel special.

      Honestly, there’s so much sh*t Carzola does that Ozil can only dream of.

      1. bro, we need them both. You can put Cazorla even in the keeper poz and he will perform superb, that much in a good form he is.

        Ozil will play left bec Chamberlain is not performing well.

        Santi simple :

        Can’t be touched
        Can’t be stopped
        Can’t be moved
        Can’t be rocked
        Can’t be shook
        We hot
        When will you niggaz learn

  22. I can’t see Wenger bringing in another DM this window. Hopefully his eyes are solely on a world-class CB but I’m not expecting much. My gut is that it will be someone like Reid and, as long as Koscielny and Mertesacker stay healthy, he wouldn’t see much action. Not happy about it but c’est la vie.

    1. Reid has a good frame and he is 26.he is similar level to Cahill when chelsea got him.he has been very consistent this season , but that’s with two mammoths in front of him in song and koyate. At a more expansive arsenal how would he fair?

      does he have the potential to be a top player?i don’t think so he should target a move to Man U because there’s no space at anyone bigger. Plus he would fancy his chances at being ahead of smalling,Blackett,McNair .teams like Newcastle and Everton will be a side way move so is only hope is arsenal or stick with West Ham.he isn’t good at passing neither.

      If we were intrested why would be looking across Europe?

      Who we should go for?

      Gabriel paulista is a very good 24 year old player.he isn’t the strongest but he is still developing he has very high blocking, intercepting stats 9th in la liga.he is also a sound passer with 85%accuracy he makes a lot of clearances and can hit a very good long ball. His secondary position is left back making him the ideal vermaelen replacement. He also has 6 clean sheets in the last 9 games. According to whoscored.com he has no weaknesses judging on this seasons performances.

      How much would he cost?
      They bought him for 2.9m around two years ago. His current market value is 2.7m but bidding would start at double that so he would cost between 5.5m-8m. This would be a very good signing for arsenal because once he gets into the national team he would be worth 15m+

  23. @kickassfan sometime dont think right as fans,do you remember that ozil and carzola were played out-wide?have you noted that carzola was out of form at the start of the season and when did he picked up.all im asking for is fairness when judging ozil and santi,yes santi has a defensive side in his game but he also has been given that n.10 role

  24. get wanyama, le coq can learn from.the 21yo very experiennce and world class player who makes no mistakes and can fly from one end to another providing endless tackles and interceptions

  25. I honestly don’t see Wenger signing another DM.
    He hasn’t mentioned getting one and has mentioned getting a defender. Also, the main reason is Wenger probably thinks that having Coquelin, Flamini, Arteta, Diaby, Chambers and now Bielik that the position is covered. (That’s not what I believe. I want a new Top DM. )

    The only exception maybe getting a player who can play both Defender and DM or re-sign Song. However, I don’t see that happening either.

    I am just being realistic with Wenger’s history in the January transfer window. He loathes it in my opinion. If we get a Top defender we will be lucky.

    I think Wenger wI’ll either get a good defender like Van Dijk, Schar etc or will get nobody and say that he tried hard but nobody was available (he will also say that we will manage with what we have)

    I’m being realistic because Wenger has let us down so much. I HOPE I AM WRONG. I will be so happy to be wrong.

    I’d be happy with ANY of the following

    Midfield
    Lars Bender
    Sven Bender
    Carvalho
    Gundogan
    Gustavo
    Sissoko
    Kondogbia

    Defender
    Hummels
    Verane
    Ramos
    Howedes
    Schar
    Van Dijk
    Otamendi
    Gabriel Paulista

    1. Agree with the cb list

      Sissokko is a right attacking mid for club and country he doesn’t play dm anymore like when he was coming through in France. His bad performances this year came from playing dm and dm

  26. I think Coquelin has been out standing and glad to see him take his opportunity with both hands but I do still think we need another DM to either play alongside or a step better choice than arteta and flamini, an injury/suspension to Coquelin then we are back to square one!

    Fair play to Coquelin and Wenger for bringing back from loan!

    1. Remember we have flamini on the bench, England’s dm jack lol so were unlikely to sign another dm untill the summer

      Rosicky,santi,ramsey would also be used at cm whilst ozil could come back into am

  27. Since he is back, le Cocq has not been good, he has been exceptional. He finally bring security to the back four, things we have rarely seen since the beginning of the season. Our opponents now think twice before going through the middle. Big up to the guy. With Flamini as a sub we don’t need new DM for the moment.

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