The impressive thing about Coquelin is that his best performances have come against Top teams. Against United,City and Liverpool he has been outstanding.
TBH at this moment I am sold on Coq being our DMF, I think if Coq was playing for any other club, most of us would be touting his name as someone to sign for us, he has all the stats to back him up, and he has the attributes we want in a DMF, he's a workhorse. I doubt Wenger will go out to buy another DMF with the way Coq is playing, even someone as back up, Wenger will keep Arteta as back up, plus we have that youthful Polish kid, and Wenger thinks Wilshere can do to the job too, so Wenger will feel we have enough back up already in the DMF position behind Coq.
If I were a betting man I would wager Wenger signs a player in the Arteta mould rather than a true defensive midfielder. I could see us signing Cabaye for example rather than a Lars Bender type player.
I do wonder the mentality of some of our Arsenal fans on this site. How can anyone make a judgement on a player with barely a half seasons experience? Let him perform over a whole season and then we can make a proper assessment on him. He is playing for a top tier European team and the expectations on him are naturally high. At the moment he is playing at the required level but it's just too early to tell at the moment. Give the lad some time, as we know what happens to players when they have a dip in form, the pitch forks come out! Also, it would be a grave mistake if we didn't strengthen this area. We have Arteta who has been injured for a long while and is past his peak. We have Rosicky who is also past his peak and Diaby, who never was. Add Wilshere's persistent injury record and then you soon realise that this area needs some attention. Coqs shouldn't be the only option, but one of the options.
We need to sign Rod Fanni. Underrated right back who can cover defensive midfield. Sometimes Wenger could play with Coqs, other times he might play with Fanni. And there'll be those times where he just fancies playing with both at the same time.
For me, Coq IS our number 1 defensive midfielder, yes it's only half a season, but what more could you ask for? He has done everything right, he knows the system, he knows the players, he knows the manager, and he has the skill set level to get the job done. People keep mentioning Shneider and others, and yet Coq is outperforming each and every single one of them, just look at how many points we have won ever since Coq came into the team, and BEFORE when we were crying out for a solid DMF until December, what more can people want? As for buying a back up DMF, no problem, but it would be silly to remove Coq as our number 1 DMF, and plus who are we kidding? You think Coq after the way he's been performing, is just going to sit back and accept being number 2? Hell no, and you can bet there will be a lot of clubs willing to take him. So that's that, I'm pretty sure Wenger will keep Coq as the number 1 DMF, it's the right thing to do. Let's say we buy another DMF to be the number 1 guy, he fails to the job, Coq leaves because he doesn't want to be number 2, and then it's a right all mighty **** up, similar to the Flamini situation back in 2008, only this time we actually signed Coq to a new contract.
Have to agree with Sanj and A87. Coq is just too good at the moment to be left as #2 after the Summer Window. We still need a DM as Flamini is gone and Arteta's legs will be too. Get someone who is good and can challenge Coq. But let him know he's not walking into the starting 11 and he'll have to prove himself worthy of a start and that's the DM issue resolved
Yep agree. I would like to see anther DM brought in as well though but Coq deserves his starting place and it would be stupid to drop him. But I feel the same way about Bellerin too. At 19 he's only getting better and based on performances it would be very harsh to drop him.
Bellerin has been good, but not as good as Coq, he is still very inexperienced, and he was exposed a couple of times yesterday, Burnley's best opportunities often came from his side, their best chance was when he got nutmegged....So as good as he has been, his inexperience still comes up, like yesterday, and then also against Liverpool he gave the penalty away.
True but this is our best run since what 2004? .. would be crazy to change things without good reason.Our defence has been a major part of that. At Bellerin's age he is going to be a little inconsistent. But his potential is FAR more than Debuchy's. We could have a true World Class talent on our hands.
Replacing Coq will be stupid. I will still go for Schneiderlin as a priority. We need a STRONG SQUAD if we want to win big prizes. Coquelin will need competition after having a stormer of a season. No one should be guaranteed a starting position on the team. Knowing he has a player like Morgan breathing down his neck will keep his performance levels up. We know our injury history. Players will go through dips in form. It'll irresponsible to not to get the cover in. Remember those games where we played with Arteta and Flamini? We would have Coq and Schneiderlin. And Schneiderlin is also decent going forward and gets goals too. Coq has been outstanding , he doesn't need to be replaced. He will need competition.
If he wants to become our established number 1 right back, that comes with the territory, ;-). He has the potential to be one of the best in that position.
