I must say that I am surprised, pleasantly surprised of course, to see how well Francis Coquelin has done for Arsenal since we recalled him from his loan spell at Charlton Athletic and brought him in to the starting line-up. Arsene Wenger had little chance, to be honest, with MIkel Arteta, Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey and Mathieu Flamini out of the picture.
But I really did not expect the versatile young Frenchman to look so comfortable in front of our back four. His loan deal to the Bundesliga club Freiburg last season and his recent spell at the Valley seem to have done wonders for him and his confidence and he now looks to me like a real Arsenal player, not just a stop gap in an emergency.
Energetic, dynamic, tough in the tackle and composed on the ball, Coquelin has really clicked and he also has the most important thing in that defensive midfield role, discipline in his position. But as much as I am glad to see Coquelin finally looking the part for the Gunners, I still want Wenger to sign a top class central midfielder in this January transfer window, such as Schneiderlin, Khedira or Lars Bender.
Coquelin looks like he could do a good job for us, but with Arteta getting on and Flamini a little bit inconsistent, we still need more than just Coquelin to compete with those two. But will Wenger agree or has Coquelin;s recent form convinced the boss that he does not need to sign a DM after all?
Good job done by #coquelin but all i can say & accustomed saying iz in#IN17WETRUST!!!! #COYG!!
Coq is good but he needs some one to learn from 1or2 things and he will become g8, our current squad doesn’t have him but the market does….so i say buy the better one, b’se we don’t want to c another wilshere senario where alot of potential is just deminishing
Watched Schniedelen and didn’t do anything to want to buy him why pay for him when Coquelen is getting better and better and just as good ,use the money for CB a creater mid fielder as Ozil still not there yet. CB
dont think wenger ever wanted to buy a dm anyway…
as long as the whole worlds says we need a defensive mid he wont buy one
and i highly recommend campbell to put in a transfer request
great game today. the best ive seen this season!
and le coq was as impressive as the whole attack
Arsene Wenger doesn’t go on Justarsenal to see who fans want him to buy. He has said that he has been wanting to sign a holding midfielder for a while now. People just tend to ignore it and asume that he doesn’t want one because people are saying it. Campbell hasn’t been good enough and needs more work on his overall game. He has said that he wants to fight for his place so let him do it.
the reason he didnt sign a holding midfielder is because he wasnt willing to pay the price.
matic, bender, wanyama and schneiderlin all slipped through our fingers.
today felt good but it will always puzzle why wenger didnt pay the extra 5 or 10 mill for a player that will guarantee title pushes.
Disappointingly muff, we weren’t even in for Matic. A Lars Bender bid of 20 million was rejected the seaspn we signed Ozil. If we had offered a bit more money, who knows? I don’t think that he is worth 30 million though. Wanyama went for only 10 million on the cheap. I think that we were interested but never bid for him because by Arsenal standards, the deal was cheap and low risk. At the start of the summer, I backed Wenger for not paying the 30 million for Schneiderlin, however with his performances this season it looks like we really missed a trick. Hopefully we get one in the summer or maybe even January. I think it’s just more than asking prices. Why would we spend 16 million on Chambers who had only 22 league appearances, spend 80 million and not sign a DM. There’s more to this and something we don’t know.
i agree it doesnt add up. sad thing is we will prob never find out
You are trying to rationalise the thinking of a man who no longer operates at full capacity.
Wenger’s reasoning is seriously flawed now and it shows.
No hidden reason for the team being unprepared, simply mis-management.
I don’t think wenger as any intention to sign a defensive midfielder this January I think we will see what Francis Coq. is really made of this weekend at Manchester City if he does well I don’t see why we can’t give him a chance until the end of the season I think our biggest problem is at CB ( Mert) but with that said we need another DM to play along side Coq and we would have a wonderful team we just need 2-3 players and we are capable of beating the top teams
I would like to think we don’t need another DM alongside Coq. as long as Ramsey comes back with the form he had at the beginning of last season, part of what made him so great was his defensive work, I think he had an average of 4.4 tackles per game back then.
When Wilshere gets fit (again…) then he will have to fight for his spot, I recall when he was loaned out at Bolton and he wasn’t shy of ‘getting stuck in’, if he gets that ‘fighting spirit’ back again then we would have 2 world class B2B CM for rotating in that 1 spot.
I dont disagree that we need another DCM but instead of playing alongside Coq. I would of thought it best to use them as competition for that 1 spot while having the luxery of rotation. We would have 2 world class DCM for rotating in that 1 spot.
Think I read schneiderlin doesn’t want to leave half way through a season mixed in with Wenger saying we are looking for a defender leads me to believe that we’ll get someone like Reid in this window and then making Schneiderlin (or another DM) the star buy for the next window.
Le Coq had a fine game, but i still think we need an experienced DM. A new keeper, one or two defenders and a top quality striker is what we need for me.
Le Coq has played well in last 4 games and deserves to keep his place. AW should sign a second strong DM like Carvalho, as we need to play 2 DMs in key away and home games vs Man C, Chelski, Man Gaal and Liver Birds. Saints showed this yesterday against United. And these two are both in their early 20’s
Koeman won’t sell Schneiderlein in this window, but maybe in summer if they don’t get top 4.
Should also sign Reid NOW. And look to get Hummels in summer, as Dortmund won’t sell him in Jan
COYG
Wenger won’t do it, CB at most in January.
Maybe in summer though, but we’ve wanted that for years now.
It’s a shame that we had a 20mln bid for Lars Bender rejected 1.5 seasons ago. He was meant to be the successor to Arteta to be our enforcer. Hopefully we can snag someone like him soon. Schneiderlin tore up the midfield today.
sven bender? hes a sit back dm an dortmund are having a mare.
cheeky 15 million bid?
Especially if they don’t qualify for champions league, he might be up for grabs.
Dont be too sure we qualify for CL, all teams have played eachother and we’re still not 4th. 3rd and 4th is for taking for Arsenal, manure, Saints and spuds – and we’re not exactly clear favourites at the moment.
But we usually do well in one half of the season, so hopefully we will be “lucky” and end up on third. All that concerns me is wether or not injuries will continue to hit us or if we are able to avoid them. And Welbeck. How much longer is this hopeless horse destined to ruin our game’?
The question is whether Le Coq can be a consistent performer. Anyhow whichway, I think an established DM(maybe in the range of 28-29yrs) will make us better and tougher. Coq can be the second choice and subsequently, a successor.
… and I also share the opinion that Arsene will not buy any DM. The whole footballing world feels we need one, that is enough for the stubborn man to ignore that fact, to prove nothing.
Arsene Wenger doesn’t even look at the media, so that point falls its face. You don’t actually believe that he logs onto justarsenal every day or something? There’s been overwhelming evidence of offers made for players in this position by reliable sources. He’s publicly said that we need a player in that position.
so why since gilberto silva has he not rectified this problem:
(cue excuses….)
Alex Song actually replaced his place. It has been from 2013 that this problem has not been rectified. Since Giblerto Silva left, it’s been our centre backs that needed replacing! Toure, Gallas and Vermaelen were inconsistent. Squilaci and Silvestre are among the worst ever seen and Andre Santos makes Monreal seem a saint.
You forgot Coq!
Been with us since 08, Wenger thought he had enough potential to snag him up early and the age difference between him and song almost leads to the thought of constant development.
Chambers is 19 and Wenger has said that he thinks Chambers is better in the middle, again a nice age gap between the 2.
Got to say awch about Toure, he was part of the invincables… He and Gallas just didn’t work together and I would put that down to Gallas due to the fact that Toure prooved he could do it alongside a reliable partner.
Oh really?! You really dont see his interviews where questions are thrown to him about him.
You also dont think he sees TV analyses. You think he only knows what the media says when he is being insulted. Dont be rigid in your thinking, Brother.
It’s a bit hard not to know particular things such as a personal attack or general news unless you live under a rock. What I mean is that he doesn’t spend time looking at what the media think. I read a biography and to this day, he is so busy with Arsenal that to this day, his house isn’t fully furnished.
Yes, this is a man who lists “walking” and “listening to political debate” as hobbies – can’t see him thumbing through the back pages of the Sun or tuning in to radio 5 Talksport for his entertainment.
Francis coquelin is very good and has stepped up wonderfully for the gunners cause so far! But we still need a dm in the caliber of schneiderlin or kondogbia! Coyg!
@Greg
I think he’s similar to Schneiderlin. We need a Wanyama to hold it down while Le Coq roams and breaks up play on the run.
Schneiderlin is a bit tidier on the ball. He can rrach that level. Coquelin ia more like Mascharano or Medel.
Agree Schneiderlin is a bit tidier on the ball but not sure he is what we need..
Wasn’t that impressed to be honest
A more pressing issue is a certain bfg..
Kos and a top partner and we would be fine.. Saying that we have now lost debuchy so will be interrsting to see of arsene reacts to our injuries ….again..?
@ptn
I feel we have a Schneiderlin type DM in Le Coq. We need a Wanyama type DM…
NY G
Agree but will arsene sign one this window.. I very much doubt IT..
I hope arsene signs 1 or 2 defenders..
We are desperate …!
Greg I hope he signs Kondogbia for you. You seem his number one fan. Lets see how Le Coq does against Silva, Nasri, Toure, and the rest next week. That will be telling
We can still do with a quality dm and cb arsene! Coyg!
I think he needs a beast of a partner. Then replace Mert and we’re good to go…
Mertesacker has been awful this season, however it’s only been 6 months. We need a defender, however Mertesacker is picking up form. Mertesacker is good at intercepting as well is being better in the air than Koscielny. Koscielny is a pacey, agressive one on one defender and they compliment each other.
@arsenalman365
True. But taking into account the match against Pool where Kos was preoccupied with Suarez and Per was run ragged by Sturridge. Mert is not agile enough which makes Kos’s job harder…
very impressed with le coq -got to find a nickname for him btw.
But these next two games will answer more clearly two questions:
how good is david ospina?
how ready is le coq?
We have hope muff, “On the whole I am very satisfied. We might be able to do a little more, people say that we lack a physical presence in midfield, one profile at a Vieira or Petit, it’s true that this is what we need.”
I have been so impressed with THE COQ since he was introduced a few games back..
And what is it with Sissoko? He is out again declaring his love for Arsenal and that he would like Wenger to call him so that they can have a one to one chat..
With Diaby, Rosicky, Flamini and Arteta looking like on their way out in the summer what about a desperate Arsenal fan (Sissoko) replacing one of them? I like his athleticism.
Just a thought…
I’m happy Coquelin was chosen over Flamini today. I’d say retire Diaby, Flamini and Arteta and get Bender for next season, then DM pos will be well covered with Coq and Bender.
Right now the ? is defence!
Just imagine making it to the CL final, with a teenager at RB and a donkey at CB!
Then there’s the issue of GK
(BFG is a great defender, but he also didn’t get picked for the world cup final)
my vision for a CL final:
GK?
RB? CB? KOS GIBBS
COQ
RAMS CAZ
WAL GIR SAN
wat ya tink?
not a hope in hell .
giroud leading the line against madrid or munich?
lol good one
coq did well today- now hes ready for ronaldo bale robben an lewandowski?
mate if we get to semis it will be because we get another amazing draw!
which is possible! COYG
If I was being highly pedantic after a great win i would have to be critical of ospina…
Not that he was a headless sheza, or he made stupid decisions..
The only concern I have is his kicking ability.. I may have been the only one that saw it but it would concern me away from home especially at the etihad..
Especially after a back pass or goal kick.. It just seemed a bit nervy and directionless..
Something that might come after a few more games who knows.?
Also, bfg was still all giraffe legs.. Reckless in clearances .. A bit cumbersome.. And putting players under a bit of needless pressure that against better opposition – well.. We may see next week..
On the positives- coq looked assured and although he’s not a wanyama or matic – he definitely gives us some bite and must hold his place over arteta and flam ..
Great to see kos back- we will need him at his very best next week.. I thought Mozart and cazorla played well, direct, and pressed on numbers.. Overall the balance was right..
Well done to giroud for not reacting to that Neanderthal shawcross ..
Finally
A big special man of the match performance from our player of the season Alex — if there was a title for his effort alone we would win the prem, but I’m still purring after his display to first ride the challenge after his 1-2 and scoring from an acute angle surrounded by 3 players..
He makes things happen from nothing – and although its to early to say he’s better than Suarez – if he keeps it up AND we sign a defender or 2, I believe we can have an exciting end to the season ..
Glad to see players returning from injury, it must give the rest of them a psychological lift..
Ps thought the ox had a good game ..
Well done lads (and arsene for getting the balance of the team right!)
yeah, i’ve been v.critical of AW lineup choices recently but this one he got spot on. played COQ instead of flam: kudos. played roziscky: kudos. caz in the center. caz should ONLY lose the center spot to ozil on merit. similarly, roz should only lose to ramsey on performance, and ox to walcott. dont put the others on unless they are better in practice etc. otherwise we’ll end up having results that are inferior to the potential of our team.
Remember that,at some point in their coming as youths Le Coq was ranked higher than Wilsharte and I know in most of his loan spell he was not successful so am of opinion that let him get more games under his belt,nature Chambers to that DM role too,get WC DM in summer but for now we need a CD atmost….Le Coq take my bow,give him support and you won’t be disappointed.
If we need a centre half i would look no further than the southampton centre back fonte. Hes a winner,club captain and an organiser. Imagine him with koss.
Fonte is awful. Mertesacker has been poor for 6 momths, however is starting to pick his old form again. Jose Fonte is a championship quality defender. I have seen him play many times.
Mertesacker is starting to pick up form because Koscielny is back. When Kos gets injured again, we all know what will happen.
Well he didnt look awful today with r.v.p in his pocket or when they done us 2-0.
Arse365
Agree fonte is garbage (but btr than bfg)
Southampton have a great defensive record because they have 4 agile/quick defenders who are protected by 2 in front schneidelin and wanyama and they all close down and work extremely hard for one another.. Player for player we have btr players- they have btr discipline..
If we could maybe sign 1 or 2 Id be happy..
Lets not kid ourselves. Wenger had NO plans to buy a CDM. Thank goodness Coquelin is doing well for us or we’d be screwed. Anyways, Flamini and Arteta’s contracts run out this summer, and probably only one will get an extension… Well, even then I dont see Wenger getting a CDM. I just dont ever see it guys. We may not even get a CB.
Coquelin aside now, let me talk a little about our star man Alexis: we should now tie him down to a longer contract and set a £100M release clause on him as we have the knack of losing our best players to the richer boys for nothing. Watch Man City, Chelsea and even Real sniffing around come summer if Alexis continues on this vein of form! We must do everything now to keep him.
Now for Coquelin, he has impressed me to no end that he should now be given a chance to impress further and seal his place in the side. However we must buy a suitable back up should he get injured or duffers a loss of form from perhaps being over cocky like Sczesny.
He won’t get one. The closest he will get will be Beilik who can also play DM. But no way he will
spend BIG money on a holding midfielder
In fact, he won’t spend huge money on a defender. The best we can hope for is howedes but more likely Perrin, van dijk, reid or schar. Infact, if other Januarys count Wenger may just get a loan or very cheap lower leaguer from France.
In other words, don’t get your hopes up.
you dont have to spend big money of a defender for them to be a good defender. Besides for maybe two of the names you listed, I think all of them are very very good players. I know a lot of you like Hummels because he’s always in the papers, but personally I think Howedes is better.
Agreed. Makes me laugh when Mert is lambasted constantly for being “slow” – I am hoping people know that Hummels is no faster and Howdes possibly slower!!
All most of the fans want is big names who cost 30 million quid. They dont get that you dont have to be a household name to be a top class defender. Hummels this hummels that, dortmund are crap and he is slower than merts. I would rather have a fonte,jagielka or this young fella at the back for athletico that they played 1 million euros for.
Sign a top DM and have Coquelin as back up DM, get rid of Arteta and Falmini, they’re deadwood in my eyes.
Arsenal has the third best squad in the premier League, only Man city and Chelsea are better in terms of overall squad. Therefore, Arsenal are in a very good position to give opportunities to their young promising players such as Campbell as a winger/striker, Bellerin as a fullback and Coquelin as a defensive midfield.
Mr Wenger main objective should be to try to improve on the way Arsenal play. For example, we allow stoke to play we did not close them down effectively and effeciently that allow them to have almost 50% possession in the entire match, Stoke is very good at winning long ball in the air but yet still rather than play from the back Ospina kick most ball long, this allow Stoke a foothold in the game.
Good win for Arsenal but our overall perfromance should be better.
I saw a 3-0 win and very less efforts of Stoke to score(however they were awful).
So I didn’t see any particular fault in Wenger’s gameplan of what you are suggesting as closing down or possesion. After 3-0, its better to close the match by passing, or creating chances if possible. And overall, it was a top performance. Wenger should deserve the credit for that.
Le Coq seems to be coming along nicely.
Can’t tell you how impressed I am with Hector Bellerin.
Le Coq is a massive upgrade on Flamini, what we need now is a massive upgrade on Arteta. IMO we should have a strong, physical all action central box-to-box midfielder who is capable of starting attacks from the deep and defends well to partner with the more attack minded box-to-box midfielder Ramsey. Not sure of William Carvalho (he’s pretty slow from what I’ve seen of him) is that player but a Sami Khedira, Morgan Schneiderlin or even Moussa Sissoko could be it. Le Coq would be a great player to come of the bench to close the game down and start games where we need a much tighter central midfield.
Le Coq = Obi Mikel
One day,hopefully next season I hope we can field this team.
Against the “smaller” teams when playing at home.
—————Giroud—————-
Sanchez———————Walcott
——-Cazorla——–Ozil————
————–Wanyama—————‘
Monreal—-Kos—Hummels—-Debuchy
—————Ospina——————
Against the “bigger” sides:
—————–Walcott————–
Sanchez——-Rosicky————-Ox
——–Wanyama—-Le Coq———-
Monreal—-Kos—-Hummels—Debuchy
—————-Ospina—————–
Sit back and counter attack formation.
The different between Arteta and Coquelin?
For me the space for next year will need to first be for the one who is going to play more…Arteta or Coquelin. Neither will be a first teamer, but offer Squad Depth. The one left over is the weak link and needs to be moved on…no sentiment required…just moved on with love.
For me? Wenger can make what Song was for us out of Coquelin. Therefore not bad to have Coquelin (Song) on the bench.
For me, Coquelin moves the pace more than Arteta which is what we need. His tackle attempts don’t cause free kicks like Arteta tackles does. He attempts balls over the top and he is obviously quicker than Arteta.
Sometimes it is not always about who is on the pitch, it’s also about who you have to come on off the bench. Look at Pedro at Barca. No way in hell he is coming in our Saurez, Neymer and Messi. He is good for Barca to come off the bench. It is this that makes title wining teams.
Please, don’t try to slate Arteta please. He can dictate the tempo of the game, is experienced as well. Le Coq can do a brilliant job as Arteta but in a few years, time. His passing is exquisite, he can thread long balls as well. But Arteta is way over him.
Wouldn’t mind a Arteta – Coquelin partnership. 2 DMs anticipating each other. Just like Mertz and Koss.
Hi, I’m talking about spaces available on the pitch, and therefore I pick coq because of his age.
But you make a fair point about Arteta and Coq, that is probably a good solution right now, def because of Man City next up.
I would think at the moment, Sanchez has to out gun Man City
The only thinking counting against Coquelin in my view is
a) His size. Can he dominate the midfield against the likes of Toure, Fernandinho, Wanyama and Matic?
b) His experience. He has a bit of Flamini in him when making challenges. He needs to work on the yellows as well.
I believe the game against City will give us a good idea if Coquelin is ready or not…
Mr Wenger said that all his signings has been a success. I disagree we that apart from Sanchez and Ospina all his signings has been a failure in terms of what he already had. To let Sagna go free and then spend £12 million on Debuchy who is almost the same age as Sagna and not better denfensively is poor business, to send Jenkenson on loan and go out and spend £16 million on Chambers who offers some creativity offensively but very poor at defending is naive because the number one priority of a fullback is to defend and to spend £16 million on Welbeck who is not better than Giroud is madness.
Therefore, I cannot see Mr Wenger making any more signings.
I disagree with you. I think all the signings have been successfull. Debouchy has played very well when he did play and he is also at the right age. We needed an experienced defender to replace Sagna and we got the best option IMO. In a few seasons (or less) Bellerin will take the RB spot. He’s a real gem.
As for Chambers, he has started the season brilliantly offensively AND defensively. He was just getting tired towards the end of the year due to lack of rotation.
Welbeck is a decent squat player. Needs to work on his finishing but has played well. He’s linkup play and workrate have been top notch.
So yes I agree with Wenger that all the signings he made were successfull. He’s only mistake was that he didn’t buy defensive cuvers in defence and midfield which essentially ended our title bid.
The signs that Wenger has loaned out players is a sign he is lowering the wage bill, that’s a good sign room is being made for a singing.
I agree with your thoughts though. The next Defender Wenger buys will give us a big indication of what he thinks of Mertisacter. For me at the end of the season, the only shining light for me might be Bellerin.
His experience next season with Jenkinson back and also with experience could be priceless. For me, Chambers, Gibbs, Jenkinson, Bellerin, Monreal, Kosciency, Dubuncy and ? Could be a solution.
As long as there is a Top Goalkeeper behind them…
We are 13 points behind Chelski and 5th place.
We are not scoring enough goals. We didn’t score against Southampton.
Strengthening our defense is important. But scoring goals is too
Giroud and Welbeck score sometimes. Costa scores everytime
Even if we get Hummels and Kondogbia, we still need a special striker similar to Costa, Aguero, Falcao, RVP if we want to win the PL. Sanchez, Walcott may get injured, then what?
United: RVP, Falcao, Rooney and soon Bony.
Chelski: Costa, Remy and Drogba
City: Aguero, Dzeko, Jovetic and soon ano
Arsenal: Giroud, Welbeck and Sanogo
We need a striker who is capable of a goal every match or close to it. Giroud and Welbeck miss too many chances. We need a striker who can score a goal out of nothing. Need someone to put less pressure on Sanchez
I don’t see us winning the PL with Giroud/Welbeck
Arsenal : Sanchez, Walcott, Giroud Welbeck, I would say though.
You want a striker that providing you goals every time. Job is done by Alexis, and if Walcott is in good form, he can reduce the pressure, plus, I think, striker don’t always win us the games, even if your midfielders and wingers are scoring, I will have no problem with that, plus Giroud is creating chances with that.
Sanchez
Caz-Ozil-Walcott
Coquelin-Ramsey
Gibbs-BFG-Kos- Debuchy
Our best outfield?