Why Francis Coquelin Was Arsenal's Most Surprising Player in 2014/15 Season

In many ways, it’s a surprise that Francis Coquelin is still at Arsenal. That he should have emerged as one of the stars of their season is all the more remarkable.

After spending three consecutive seasons on loan, Coquelin was named as part of the first-team squad for the 2014/15 campaign. However, his impact on the team in the early part of the season was minimal. He was a peripheral figure and barely any Arsenal fans blinked when he was sent on loan again to Championship side Charlton in November.

His only Arsenal appearance of the season of any note had come in the Capital One Cup, when he had played out of position as a left-back. However, the aggression and commitment he showed on that occasion demonstrated that this was a player determined to seize any chance he got.

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Nevertheless, he hardly set the world alight at Charlton. In fact, Coquelin didn’t even start every game for the struggling Championship outfit. With his contract due to expire at the end of the season, this switch seemed like a precursor to a permanent move.

The real change in his fortunes arrived when Arsene Wenger recalled Coquelin to London Colney. An injury crisis in defence and midfield forced Wenger’s hand, and Coquelin did not react to the news as you might expect. Wenger recently said, per Jack Wilson of the Daily Star:

"

He wasn’t happy when I called him back. He played at Charlton and he thought I just called him back as cover.

On that front, I think he has gone through a lot of doubt and has questioned himself, being many times discouraged that he doesn’t get a chance.

Now that he has a chance he doesn’t want to let it slip away.

He is a winner and he wants to win - that’s why he is so committed.

"

When injuries afforded Coquelin a chance to play, he took it. A series of combative displays made him absolutely integral to the first team. By the end of the season, he had started 19 Premier League games — that’s more than the likes of Kieran Gibbs, David Ospina, Danny Welbeck and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. The young Frenchman has become one of the first names on Wenger’s weekly team sheet.

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Coquelin provides Arsenal’s midfield with two things they have lacked for years: bite and balance. He genuinely enjoys the ball-winning aspect of the game, relishing a slide tackle the same way many of his team-mates savour an incisive through-ball. While others pour forward, he is prepared to sit back and snuff out the opposition threat. Since his introduction to the team, Arsenal have looked far less vulnerable to counter-attacks. 

Arsenal have needed a holding midfielder with his qualities for many years. The great surprise of the season is that they had one all along, languishing in the reserves. With his future now secure under a new contract, Coquelin’s next challenge will be to prove that he can be the long-term solution to Arsenal’s defensive-midfield difficulties.

James McNicholas is Bleacher Report's lead Arsenal correspondent and is following the club from a London base throughout the 2014-15 season. Follow him on Twitter here.