Francis Coquelin: The Arsenal legend who has helped me most

FRANCIS COQUELIN has hailed the influence of Arsenal legend Robert Pires on his career.

Coquelin was out of favour and seemingly had no future at the Emirates Stadium this time last year.

But he was recalled from a loan spell with Championship side Charlton Athletic due to an injury crisis and brought back into the team.

Robert Pires is still loved by Arsenal fans

He has since gone from strength to strength, becoming a key member in defensive midfield for Arsenal.

Pires is considered to be one of English football's best foreign imports and still trains often with the Arsenal players.

And Coquelin feels Pires' help has been hugely beneficial to him personally.

"I have good people around me; Robert Pires gives me tips and advice," the midfielder said.

"He is a French player and as a young kid I was watching him play for France a lot. It’s always nice to get tips from someone like that.

"He’s quite honest and if you haven’t played well he’s not going to hide it from you."

Arsenal's Francis Coquelin: We've answered critics and proved we're serious title contenders

Francis Coquelin believes Arsenal answered their critics and proved they are serious title contenders by blowing away Manchester United.

Arsenal moved up to second with a 3-0 win at Emirates Stadium yesterday and are now only two points behind leaders Manchester City.

Coquelin thinks the excellent display sent a message to the rest of the  Premier League after a week that saw Arsene Wenger and his players heavily criticised following their shock 3-2 defeat to Olympiakos.

“We proved a lot of people wrong,” said midfielder Coquelin. “A lot of  people did not expect us to win but it is a great win against a big team. Inside the dressing room we knew we could do good things this season. We knew we could be contenders but obviously we have to be consistent.”

Arsenal players held a meeting without Wenger before yesterday’s game and Coquelin was thrilled to get a result for the manager, who bore the brunt of criticism last week.

“Obviously, when you get a disappointment like that you need to face it and talk about it and that is what we have done,” said the midfielder. 

“We came back really strong against United with ambition. It was a completely different team out there. We do not really take notice [of what people say] but we knew we had to put it right after Olympiakos. That is what we have done.”

Arsenal blew United away with three goals in the opening 20 minutes.  United went into the weekend top of the table but have slipped to third after a peformance that raises questions about their own title credentials.

Arsenal produced a reminder of the kind of performance they are capable of and Coquelin believes no team can live with them when they play like that. But he has called for some consistency when they return after the international break.

“It was a great performance from us and, hopefully, we can do that again in the coming weeks,” said Coquelin. “The most important thing is to carry on now and keep getting the results.

“We had some bad results but we are slowly getting back to our level. Obviously, it is hard to play like that for 90 minutes but we are creating chances and as soon as you score it becomes easier.”

Arsenal play Watford next before a crucial Champions League match against Bayern Munich. Wenger believes the win against United was a statement of intent from his side in the title race.

“We are in it, two points off the league leaders, so I hope this result will give us belief to fight for it,” said the manager. “It was a strong response following our disappointment on Tuesday. It shows the group is very united.”

Wenger: I’m proud of Arsenal’s overlooked duo

Arsene Wenger has stated he is “very proud” of full-back Hector Bellerin and ball-winning midfielder Francis Coquelin, and believes they do not get the credit they deserve.

Bellerin was in the form of his life at the back-end of last season after he made his first-team breakthrough back in the autumn.

Born in Catalonia, Bellerin started his football career with Barcelona before he moved to north London in the summer of 2011.

The full-back then made his competitive debut against West Brom in 2013, but real game time came his way after he made his Champions League bow against Borussia Dortmund last season.

Due to injuries to the likes of Mathieu Debuchy and Calum Chambers, Bellerin made 20 league appearances and is now a regular at right-back for the Gunners as a result of his good showings.

Hector Bellerin has won 11/22 tackles in the league this season.

Meanwhile, Coquelin joined Arsenal from Stade Lavallois in 2008, but the Frenchman had been restricted to a minimal amount of appearances due to a number of injuries.

Coquelin then had loan spells with Freiburg and Lorient, before another temporary spell last season in the Championship – this time with Charlton – was cut short by Wenger.

Francis Coquelin has completed 15 interceptions in the league this season.

Since returning to the Emirates, Coquelin has not only developed into one of Arsenal’s most important players, but perhaps one of the finest defensive midfielders in the country.

Arsenal’s Francis Coquelin: Manchester United win sends message to critics

Francis Coquelin believes Arsenal’s impressive performance in their 3-0 victory over against Manchester United on Sunday has sent a strong message to their critics but admits the team need to show more consistency in their play.

Arsène Wenger’s side have come in for some stinging criticism following their defeat in the Champions League to Olympiakos. The defeat was their second in Europe this season and, given their next two games are against an in-form Bayern Munich, has left them with an uphill task if they are to make it into the knockout stages.

“It’s a great win for us against a big team,” said Coquelin about Sunday’s win against United. “I think a lot of people didn’t expect us to win but we proved a lot of people wrong. Inside the dressing room we knew we could do good things this season. We knew we could be contenders. But obviously we have to be consistent. The most important thing is to carry on now and keep getting the results.

“We are getting stronger against the big teams. We beat City last season, now United. It’s all about consistency. The league is getting tougher because even the smaller teams are beating the bigger teams. So we need to be getting results every week … We knew we had to put it right after Olympiakos and that’s what we’ve done. ”

A blistering opening 20 minutes at the Emirates saw Arsenal go three goals up, with Alexis Sánchez scoring twice and Mesut Özil getting his first of the season but Coquelin reserved some special praise for the performance of Theo Walcott, whom the France midfielder described as “unstoppable”.

“It was not only offensively [his best game], what he did defensively was absolutely amazing too,” said Coquelin. “He was defending, chasing the ball. It makes things easier for us at the back. When he is in this kind of mood he is not far off being unstoppable … He [has shown] everyone he can play in this role up front.”

Coquelin also revealed that over the last 12 months he has been receiving some helpful and honest advice from the former Arsenal midfielder and World Cup winner Robert Pirès. “I have good people around me,” he said. “Robert Pirès gives me tips and advice. He is a French player and as a young kid I was watching him play for France a lot. It’s always nice to get tips from someone like that. He’s quite honest and if you haven’t played well he’s not going to hide it from you.”

Arsene Wenger praises Arsenal’s underappreciated stars Hector Bellerin and Francis Coquelin at Annual General Meeting

Arsene Wenger has expressed his pride at his current crop of Arsenal stars and picked out two players in particular.

Speaking at the club’s Annual General Meeting, the French boss reserved special praise for Francis Coquelin and Hector Bellerin.

French star Coquelin, 24, and Spaniard Bellerin, 20, have established themselves as Arsenal first XI regulars but Wenger believes that some people undervalue their contributions.

‘We are very proud of the players we bought,’ he said.

‘We are also proud of Coquelin and Bellerin and they don’t get the rewards they deserve.’