Why Arsenal Must Bring Francis Coquelin Back for Bournemouth Match

It would be somewhat surprising if Arsene Wenger wasn't thinking about making changes to his Arsenal team after the 0-0 draw with Southampton. The Gunners have failed to win in each of their last four Premier League games and have dropped from first in the league to a familiar fourth position.

With Arsenal desperate to recover their form, there is one obvious change to the lineup Wenger simply must make: It is time for Francis Coquelin to return to the first XI.

Coquelin was sidelined at the end of November with a knee ligament injury. Since then, his recovery has been impressive. He was back in time to start the FA Cup tie with Burnley on Saturday but was back on the bench for the Southampton game on Tuesday. Perhaps Wenger felt two starts in the space of four days was too much for the Frenchman.

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However, it was fascinating that with Arsenal chasing a winner in the final 10 minutes, Wenger chose not to bring on another attacking player, instead replacing Mathieu Flamini with Coquelin. That speaks volumes as to his importance to the team.

Perhaps Wenger felt that with Coquelin on the field, the rest of Arsenal’s players would feel liberated to bomb forward, secure in the knowledge the feisty defensive midfielder was on patrol behind them. Perhaps he simply wanted someone who could help Arsenal keep hold of the ball—in Coquelin’s absence, his tidy passing and neat footwork has been sorely missed.

It may be surprising to identify Coquelin as the player Arsenal need most. In the last few weeks, Arsenal’s biggest problem has been scoring goals. The Gunners have gone three league games without finding the net.

However, Wenger seems confident that issue will be sorted sooner rather than later. Speaking to the club's website, he said:

"

Against Southampton, we created the chances and couldn’t finish them off. I believe overall, we should not be alarmed, because the quality of our performance was there in every single game.

We should take a lot of encouragement from that, even if sometimes in the recent games, we didn’t get the result we wanted.

We have to prepare without being obsessed with [scoring] - finishing is cyclic and if we create the same amount of chances we will score.

"

If Wenger believes the goals will come, then sorting Arsenal’s dysfunctional midfield becomes the biggest priority.

Since losing Coquelin and Santi Cazorla, the Gunners have tried to get by with Aaron Ramsey and Flamini in the centre. Although both players have performed relatively well individually, their partnership doesn’t seem to click. Neither player is particularly positionally disciplined, which can leave Arsenal’s midfield looking ragged and undermanned.

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Bringing Coquelin back should change that. He plays without ego, protecting the back four and covering for the full-backs when required. It remains to be seen whether he can forge a partnership with Ramsey, but he appears to have a better chance than Flamini. In almost every respect, Coquelin is a superior player to his compatriot.

It’s understandable Wenger would want to be cautious with a player who has only just returned from injury. However, Arsenal are in dire need of improvement. It’s time for Coquelin to bring bite and balance back to the Gunners midfield.

James McNicholas is Bleacher Report's lead Arsenal correspondent and is following the club from a London base throughout 2015/16. Follow him on Twitter here.