Francis Coquelin Has Earned Arsenal Chance, but Must Impress over Rest of Season

For a club whose chairman is named Sir Chips Keswick, it is perhaps appropriate that Arsenal’s latest defensive saviour has the first name Francis.

Francis Coquelin’s ascent from unwanted squad member to viable first-team regular has been perhaps one of the more surprising Premier League stories of the season, up there perhaps with Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane’s arrival as a deadly goalscoring force—a player Coquelin could well come up against in Saturday’s north London derby.

On Friday, Coquelin’s rapid progression continued, as manager Arsene Wenger confirmed that the 23-year-old had signed a new long-term contract at the club. To the manager, that concluded a successful January, indicating just how important Coquelin has suddenly become to the stability of his first-team squad.

"We are happy with the work we did in the transfer window," said Wenger (per ESPNFC). "The target was on two fronts; the first was to get a central defender in, which we did [Gabriel Paulista].

“The second was to extend contract of Coquelin and Akpom, which we did. We are very happy with what we did."

Metro reported a new deal would be worth around £40,000-a-week before it became official, likely a considerable improvement on his previous terms and bringing him towards the remuneration enjoyed by the rest of the first-team squad (albeit still very much at the lower end).

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It was all so different just a matter of weeks ago. It would seem that Coquelin was always on the fringes of Wenger’s thinking going into this season, considering he was briefly involved in the Emirates Cup tournament to start the season and then started the Capital One Cup game against Southampton in September.

That game ended in defeat, however, while Coquelin was an unused, anonymous substitute in the various Premier League and Champions League games; games of a greater priority to Wenger and his side.

With that in mind, at the start of November, Wenger sent Coquelin to struggling Championship side Charlton Athletic, where he was finally able to get some playing time. It was his third loan, after previous spells at French club Lorient and German club Freiburg, which, when combined with his age, led many to believe his time at the club was winding to a close.

Nevertheless, the temporary move was good for Coquelin’s fitness even if he did not necessarily make a huge impact on the Addicks team (the side lost all three games in which he started).

Coquelin had asserted himself as a valuable member of the team, with the club working on a new tactical formation that perhaps better incorporated him when Arsenal, due to injuries, felt compelled to recall him.

“It’s weird because the way it happened was so sudden, so I didn’t expect it,” Coquelin told Arsenal's official website this week. “I trained with the team all week and on Monday I was going to see the Charlton manager with a few other people about a change of formation.

“He explained what he wanted me to do and told me I would be a big part of the formation.

“Then on the Thursday night, I was at home watching TV and got the call from Arsenal. That’s football and you just need to take it.

“I felt a little bit bad about Charlton because we had trained all week, were ready for the game and it was so sudden.”

He played three minutes in a comfortable 4-1 win over Newcastle United upon his return, making another couple of cameos before starting in the impressive 2-1 away win over West Ham United at Upton Park.

“It’s part of football and my [focus] went to the Newcastle game as soon as Arsenal called me,” Coquelin added. “I tried to give my best when I came on.”

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Being at Charlton helped Coquelin in more ways than one, ensuring that he was at full fitness when Arsenal were forced to recall him—meaning he could step straight into the action and perform at somewhere approaching his full potential.

As Coquelin noted: “Without Charlton, I probably wouldn’t be here because I wasn’t performing that well but they gave me the chance to play and I wasn’t out of fitness when I came back. I think that helped me a lot.”

Since then, however, Coquelin has made the most of his opportunities on his own terms. It was the performance against Manchester City that seemed to cement his new-found importance, with the 23-year-old tackling, intercepting, directing and snarling his way through a brilliant defensive performance, one that coincided with a rare (for Arsenal) convincing away win against a top-tier rival.

In the initial aftermath it was Santi Cazorla, scorer and creator of Arsenal’s two goals, who grabbed many of the plaudits, but as the reaction grew more reflective, it was Coquelin’s solidifying role that gained increased attention. Wenger certainly seemed to agree; Coquelin was rested for the FA Cup game against Brighton but was restored to the first team (ahead of Mathieu Flamini) for the league game against Aston Villa.

Coquelin has seemingly gone full circle; From squad filler at the start of the season, now he is one of the players rested in the secondary competitions. In that light, his new contract is no surprise.

“He's been really patient and I’m sure there’s been tough times for him since he’s been at the club,” team-mate Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain noted recently, again via Arsenal's website. “I know everyone here has always known what a talent he’s been, it’s just been a case of the numbers and the type of personnel that we’ve had. It can be hard.

“He’s been abroad and in the Championship but he’s never lost his quality and sometimes it’s all about luck and opportunities. Since he’s come back, he’s taken his opportunities, he’s taken his chances to show how good he is and now I see him as a big part of our team."

That is not to say Coquelin is necessarily the man to fill the role long term, even if Jack Wilshere—a potential alternative, although someone whose attributes are surely better suited further forward—continues to concern his coaches with some of his off-field incidents.

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Coquelin’s new contract owes much to his new form—he has shown he has ability at this level, and so if nothing else he retains a transfer value by being under contract—but the fact he now looks likely to be entrusted with regular playing time over the rest of the season perhaps says more about the difficulties in getting a deal done in January than Wenger’s unwavering confidence in the player.

“This time, across Europe, nothing happened [in the winter transfer window],” Wenger noted. “It pushes even more the idea, let's get rid of it. Go from season to season with the same players otherwise it disturbs the cohesion of a group.”

Wenger’s confidence in Coquelin clearly has wavered, numerous times over the years in fact, and a couple of impressive performances are not going to change that completely. Coquelin needs to extend that run for weeks and months before he shows he is truly ready for the role, a quality that you suspect is the one Wenger has always most doubted he can develop.

Perhaps Coquelin continues to impress for the rest of the season and cements his place in that role in the Arsenal side. But supplanting Mathieu Flamini in the pecking order is hardly a coronation and surely a summer signing in that position remains a priority for the club.

Coquelin has received a deserved reward for his form—but it remains up to him to change Wenger's longer-term plans.