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?