Francis Coquelin

https://twitter.com/scrapytweets/status/1763224382829195546

I remember being very pleased that we recalled him as he was one of my favourites players that came through the academy at the time.
Seeing him step up the way he did was truly special.

He’s low-key unlucky that he left right before Emery arrived, who then later on went to coach him at Villarreal.

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What hope, this guy was mediocre beyond all comprehension. Wenger wasted our time with this guy (By neglecting the role which made people desperate) and wasted Cazorla’s time as well.

That Cazorla-Coquelin pivot was special man. It was actually one of Cazorla’s best period at the club.
Then that gangrene ruined it for us and him.

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Cazorla was special.

Coquelin was not.

They were perfect for each other. Coquelin later forged a similar pivot with Parejo at Valencia and Villarreal.

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We can’t agree on this :sweat_smile:

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Coquelin is and always has been trash. Such an injustice we couldn’t get a proper DM to go with Cazorla and Ozil.

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Coquellin looked very talented as a young player. It petered out and he became average.

Sounds familiar.

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This is a hill I will die on.

Coquelin is wildly underrated, and the partnership with Cazorla was one of the best midfield duos we had in the post-2006 era.

If we actually had a striker that could score, it would have won a PL title. The Cazorla + Coquelin partnership had us top of the table for 128 days or whatever it was if I’m not mistaken.

He was ineffective as a lone CDM but paired with Cazorla they were great together and he was a much better dribbler than he’s given credit for.

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IMO, it worked (in some way) because Coq was willing to stay back and cover Santi.
Not that Coq was reallly a destroyer or one of a kind CDM/CM.
In other words, he freed up Santi.

If you paired Santi with Ramsey, you know what the problem is.

Not trying to discredit him nor hyping him up.
He is a squad player at most.

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Tbf, I would say he was a destroyer.
Also very good ball carrier. Mediocre passer though.

He used to play as a winger at Freiburg because he was the best dribbler in their team.

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inclusively destroying himself also?? :sweat_smile:

That title challenge was an illusion, we got smoked by big clubs (Liverpool 5-1, Chelsea 6-0) and started the embarrassing streak against Bayern. It had a nice peak then returned to the mean.

Only thing they did right was winning FA Cups and nearly that went awry (Hull)

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Coquelin was not the problem.

Cazorla’s replacement aka Ramsey was the problem

I’m confused. What are you guys talking about?

Coquelin wasn’t involved 2013-2014 as he was at Freiburg on loan.
That was the season we put a fugazi title charge and then we got slapped by the other big boys.

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Actually you’re right he was on loan, I’m not sure what season @Cristo meant then, it can only be that one.

Although I covered myself nicely by only referencing the season :grin:

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Haha yeah I fucked it, I guess I have no idea what I’m talking about lol

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I saw nothing :wink: