The above became an iconic image as Francis Coqulin truly announced himself back on the Arsenal scene playing an integral part in the team’s 2-0 triumph away at City in the Spring.
From his return from a short loan at Charlton, Le Coq and Arsenal have not looked back as he played his part in a the surge to Wembley to complete a double FA triumph. For weeks we wondered when his run of form would cease but weeks turned into months and the question for many became not whether he would play in the heart of the midfield but who would play with him.
His success was welcomed by most Gunners but very few of us felt Coquelin’s form meant Arsenal should not buy another younger holding midfielder. Sadly Arsene Wenger was one of the few and whilst his faith in the Frenchman was not misplaced his faith in Lady Luck was and his faith in Arteta and Flamini will be tested. His luck may just have run out on Saturday afternoon at the Hawthorns and whilst rumours of 2/3 months are baseless until the player has a scan it is not looking promising.
In the meantime as the football world has prayed for France, the Arsenal part of that world will also pray for a particular Frenchman. Get well soon Francis and using the iconic image above with your obvious one word tribute of ‘STRENGTH’ here is Batmandela’s (@invinciblog) Coquelin graphic/screensaver:
‘Strength’
Let’s all keep our fingers crossed as we await official news from the club!
Passionate fifty-something Arsenal supporter who has been making the journey to N5 regularly since the early 1980s – although his first game was in 1976. Always passionate when talking about The Arsenal, Dave decided to send a guest blog to Gunnersphere in the summer of 2011 and has not stopped writing about the Gunners since.
He set up his own site – 1 Nil Down 2 One Up – in February 2012, which he moved on in 2016 to concentrate on freelance writing and building Gunners Town, which he launched with Paul in 2014.
The objective of GT was to be new and fresh and to give a platform for likeminded passionate Arsenal fans wishing to write about their team. Dave still of course, writes for the site himself and advises the ever-changing writing crew.
Hi Dave,
This depresses me. I agree completely and at the risk of being a pessimist, I am afraid that my forecast is coming true. After Theo`s injury, following Aaron`s “I asked what price now Arsene`s failure to sign a midfielder”?
I am one month out in my prediction that once Coquelin gets injured we will probably be virtually out of contention for all major competitions.
After all the glitter and spectacle of our performances against Utd. and City the party is over again. The most depressing thing is that it could have been avoided. It is not as if it could not have been predicted. What cannot be predicted is when we are actually going to sustain a credible challenge for the premiership or the Champions league.
Arsene Wenger has assembled a team which can compete with the best but only when the players are fit. Comprehensively; it is clear that at a predictable time of the year, they will not be available. We all know that the heart of the team will be on the treatment table.
At the consistent level of injuries, we can never challenge for these trophies. Arsene is consistent in his replies to criticism by inviting you to look at what he has done and then say that he is not managing. He invites you to compare suggested signings and then says that he will not sign those players unless they are an improvement on what we have. That is to miss the point. I would say to him; this is not a case of signing better players, it is a case of signing players who will ensure that when we hit the rails every year, as we surely will, we will have adequate replacements.
To use his own repost, I would invite him not to look at what he has done but rather to look at what he has not done. He has not solved the solution to change our position of having the worst injury problem in the league on an annual basis and he has not signed any replacements when he could have.
There is no excuse for repeating the same mistakes over and over again. For those fans who idolise Arsene, I am afraid that the idol has feet of clay.
I absolutely adore his philosophy of how to play football and we owe him a debt of gratitude for that, however even with his huge talent for doing that, he keeps leading us to the top of the hill and down again. I ask him and those fans who disagree with me, how can you ignore the evidence in front of you? What is the solution for our demise every year at the vital part of the season?
Victor Thompson
Thanks Victor. Perhaps you might wish to write this in letter form as a Dear Arsene…..of you will.
If you can find the time in your days of leisure to do so I will post it as an article. Dave
Thanks Dave,
I am finding it difficult at present to think of a topic which would not be a re-hash of my previous comments. I have just sent a comment to Alex on his latest post and I am disappointed that I have to disagree with him as I think he is a fine writer.
I do not think that Arsene would read a letter sent by me. he has made it clear that he does not read comments about him and some of those are made by better writers than me.
I could perhaps write about my delight at the correspondence with other fans that I have had since contributing to Gunners Town and my perception of the club since I lived in London. The most amazing thing is the eclectic nature of the fan base. Arsenal is definitely a world establishment. It has always been world class to me.
Victor Thompson
I mean Dear Arsene in a blog sense nit an actual letter. Just need you to concert the last 2 comments into one article really
OK Dave,
Sorry for the inconvenience.
Victor