What Coquelin’s Injury means to Arsenal

What Coquelin’s Injury means to Arsenal

Every season at Arsenal has always been synonymous with injuries; there is no season that goes by without some form of injury to a major player or players as the case maybe. This season has not been different, and it is only November, why the squad has coped with the long term injuries to Jack Wilshere, Danny Welbeck and Tomas Rosicky as well as the recent additions of Aaron Ramsey, Oxlade Chamberlain and Theo Walcott, it is the injury to Francis Coquelin that has brought so much gnashing of teeth with the gunner nation.

He was one of the players that many penciled down as one the club could not afford to lose for a considerable number of time because of his importance to the side in terms of what he brings to Arsenal’s midfield, his tenacity in the tackle, ability to cover a lot of ground because of his pace, interception ability, and to an extent his passing range as a defensive midfielder is something no other player in that position can offer to Arsenal. The discipline he brings to the middle of the park has allowed Santi Cazorla to flourish in his deep lying midfield role, the partnership that was built by both players since Coquelin rose from the ashes in January has been the catalyst that has driven Arsenal for much for this calendar year.

What makes his importance so understated in the Arsenal team is that the options available as possible replacement are poor at best. Mikel Arteta’s struggles as a player was depicted in his cameo against West Brom last weekend, where his time on the pitch after he replaced the aforementioned Francis Coquelin coincided with Arsenal conceding two goals, the second of which was an own goal scored by the Spaniard. The Arsenal captain later succumbed to a calf injury, something he has become synonymous with. His place as a footballer who can cope with the rigours of the Premiership needs to be seriously questioned, as his pace, and most importantly his ability to stay fit has disappeared, he was out for six months last season with a calf injury and the surgery he had has not done much to address it, and the incessant injuries he has had this season shows he is a player who cannot be relied on. When your ability as a player has diminished as a result of age and injuries, that inevitably should spell the end, and this should be his last season at Arsenal as a player.

Mathieu Flamini is the other player that can come in to do a job in that position, his tenacity has dropped off has he has entered his thirties, but his recent appetite to go searching for goals at the expense of protecting the back four could be an issue. At 31, the same issues Arteta has struggled with are not absent from his game as age sets in. over the years, he has developed a propensity to play out of his skin in the last year of his contract. Whether his body can provide him with the platform to do that once again is another thing. This is because in September when he scored two goals against Tottenham Hotspur in the League Cup, he was rewarded with a starting berth in midfield in the short absence of Coquelin against Leicester City at the King Power Stadium; he only lasted for twenty minutes, before he succumbed to a hamstring injury. His performance against West Brom when he came on, was not a disaster by any means, if the players in front of him had found their shooting boot, it could have ended happily for the French midfielder.

With Arsene Wenger confirming in his press conference on Monday that Coquelin will be out for at least two months, it means Mathieu Flamini will have that position to himself until his compatriot returns from injury. However, another option available to the manager would be the stationing of Aaron Ramsey in that position. The Welsh midfielder has been deployed there when Arsene Wenger has tweaked his tactics when searching for a goal, but Aaron Ramsey is not known for his discipline, as one of the strong points of his game is in attack, but his boundless energy could be important in that position if he is deployed there when he returns from injury.

Yet, it clear that no player in the Arsenal squad offers what Coquelin does, it is the balance he brings to the team that has made it flourish, and that balance is possible because he sticks only to the duty of protecting the back four while leaving the attacking side to other players.

Obviously, few would point to the failure of Arsene Wenger to sign an adequate back up in defensive midfield in the summer, but in hindsight, that cannot change anything at the moment. Although others would pin their hopes that the club would dip into the transfer market in January to address that problem.

For now, it is left to Arsene Wenger to fashion out a way that his squad can overcome the absence of the most important midfielder in the team for the next two months. With the squad already down to the bare bones after the current state of injuries, it will be down to how he manages the fit players that would determine whether they too do not breakdown.

Enyeama’s Retirement: Echoes of Oliseh From 2002

The premature retirement of Vincent Enyeama last week after he fell out with Sunday Oliseh brings back echoes of the premature way the present Super Eagles coach’s international career ended with the senior national team.

Although the situation in respect of Vincent Enyeama is different from what obtained 13 years ago, the underlining theme here is that both ended their time with the Eagles prematurely.

Sunday Oliseh was the captain of the team in 2002, a position he had held for a number of years at the time. That Super Eagles team was overflowing with talented players had struggled to qualify for the World Cup in Japan and South Korea in a group that contained Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Sudan. The struggles of the team led to the sacking of Jo Bonfere who was the team's coach at the time.

As it’s usually the case, there was an upturn in this team's result when Shiabu Amodu took over as the chief coach, he eventually led the team to the World Cup after they pulled off an escapist act to turn the qualification process around. A result that typified the team's turn around was the 4-0 win over Sudan in Omdurman.

The team's resurgence saw it as one of the favourites to win the African Cup of Nations in Mali at the beginning of 2002. The team had agonizingly lost the finals against Cameroon in Lagos two years earlier. However, the team’s participation in the AFCON was plagued by disorganisation stemming from unpaid bonuses and lack of sync between the football house and the sports ministry. It was Sunday Oliseh who as captian stood up to challenge the authorities during the competition when he challenged the sports minister at the time, the late Ishaya Mark Aku.

After the heart breaking defeat to Senegal in the semi finals in which Wilson Oruma missed a penalty in extra time which hit the post. He would have tied the match at 2-2 if he had scored. Some key players had refused to take responsibility for taking that spot kick.

That match turned out to be the last that Sunday Oliseh played for Nigeria, as the Sports minister through the football house dismissed Shiabu Amodu and disbanded the Super Eagles. It meant that Nigerians were denied the opportunity of seeing a formidable team at the World Cup in Asia that year as Adegoye Onigbinde took an experimental team to the World Cup. And incidentally, it was through his experiment, that Vincent Enyeama came into team as he was plucked from Aba side, Enyimba into national limelight.

Sunday Oliseh knew what he went through in the hands of footballing authorities that ended his international career prematurely after he was denied the opportunity of playing in a third consecutive world cup. It was no surprise that a fall out with one of his players have also led to a premature retirement.

The present Super Eagles coach was used to falling out with the authorities as captain of the team over a decade ago, but for good causes it must the said, so the fall out with Vincent Enyeama brought back echoes of what happened in the early part of the new millennium when Nigeria had talented players that stood out every where.

With Vincent Enyeama gone after 103 caps to his name, he can boost of similar achievements to the present Super Eagles coach, both won the African Cup of Nations, and between them, they participated in five FIFA World Cups. Sunday Oliseh in USA 94 and France 98, while Vincent Enyeama was at Japan/Korea 2002, South Africa 2010 and Brazil 2014.

There have been different things said about the premature departure of Vincent Enyeama from the Super Eagles, although he still had one international tournament in him, no doubt he was already winding down his international career with the team, a point he had reiterated several times. It is only a shame that he had to depart the way he did as the team could still have done with his experience especially in this embryonic stage of Sunday Oliseh's time as chief coach.

With the Lille shot stopper gone, the time is now for Carl Ikeme to take the reigns as the new first choice and judging by his stellar performance against  Tanzania in September in Dar re Salaam, he has enhanced his reputation. And with four caps already to his name, there is certainly more to come as he seems to have earn the confidence of Sunday Oliseh as the team's first choice goalie.

Will that be the Standard? Or it was a Stand Out?

The talk of response and lessons learnt has always been synonymous with everything Arsenal. Such talk of responses often comes after a bad result. So it came as no surprise that old clichés were copiously repeated after the win over Manchester United in the last round of Premier League matches. That win came after the defensive debacle that plagued the team in the 3-2 defeat to Olympiacos a few days earlier in the Champions League. The players led by Theo Walcott took turns to mention how the team needed to respond to an earlier defeat, while Per Mertesacker emphasised a renewed defensive focus from the team as a result of the defeat to the Greek champions.

This talk of responses has become a common trend after a defeat. The situation begs the question as to why the players cannot sustain a long period of consistency by building a momentum of results, instead of waiting for a defeat before they would play well in the next game.

There has been an uncanny knack of inconsistency and complacency from the Arsenal players. And it seems that the team's focus is determined by the calibre of opponents they are facing. If an opponent is a lesser team, there seems to be an unconscious complacency that creeps into the players that they only need to turn up to win such a match. The pattern of result this season has reflected this. This situation was reflected by the defeat to West Ham in the opening match of the season when the players simply did not turn up. Many would point to the fact that West Ham have gone on to beat both Manchester City and Liverpool away from home. Yet it did not cover for the insipid display that was that performance on the day.

The defeats to Dinamo Zagreb and Olympiacos owe much to a bout of complacency than the rotation that was blamed for those defeats.

With the key matches coming up after the international break, the question is whether the performance against Manchester United would be the standard for the rest of the season or it was just a stand out display that this Arsenal team is capable of once in a season? For all intent and purpose, the team can follow up that win against Louis van Gaal's side with a dire display against Watford this weekend. And the same team that has gone on to lose two of its opening group matches in the champions league can also go on to beat Bayern Munich a week on Tuesday. That is essentially the world of Arsenal, one littered with inconsistency.

Alot would ride on the ability of the team to stay switched on defensively for the reminder of the season especially in matches where they are expected to win on paper. Arsene Wenger's teams have seldom lacked the capacity to create chances; rather it is the capacity to stop leaking goals that has been an albatross for most of this team's life span.

Will an Arsenal team attach the same level of focus in a match against Manchester United, to a match against Watford?

The answer obviously lies in between which is where the manager comes in. It is Arsene Wenger who has to denounce the culture of complacency that has become a recurrent theme every season, where the nature of opponents determines the level of focus the team decides to accord a fixture. Wins against any opponents in the Premier League brings the three points irrespective of the opponent, so the level of focus should not be different, rather the same effort that should be geared towards winning against a lesser team should be given to a bigger team.

It would take detour from this maliase that has hunted Arsenal for seasons for this issue not to be revisited, because it has happened on more than one occasion this season, where the team needed a defeat to jolt them into action in the next couple of matches. Yet for a team that aspire to achieve great things this season, it must cultivate a culture of consistency and not wait for a defeat to a lesser team before coming out to mention a respond and renewed focus.

It was something Petr Cech harped on in an interview in his homeland last week when he mentioned that the team has to learn how to cut out emotional moments which causes a lack of focus, According to him, it was what caused the defeat to Olympiacos in the Champions League. Such emotional moments stem from losing focus or wanting to hurriedly get a match won which could lead to ball been given away that could cause an opposition goal.

The buck will never stop ending with the manager which is Arsene Wenger, it would take more than just repeated talks in the media about how his team needs to respond and focus for it to really attain anything near that. Talk has to consisten

Is Martial a Fruit or a Fluke?

Many have continue to revel over the performance of young striker Anthony Martial, the 19 year old French striker who assumed the position of the most expensive teenager in world football when he was signed on transfer deadline day, got his fourth goal in as many games for Manchester United in the 3-0 win over Ipswich in the League Cup on Wednesday. He had earlier scored a solo goal against Liverpool and a brace against Southampton in the Premier League.

The composure he has showed in front of goal is certainly something that belies his age. For a player that have only played just seven ninety minutes in his career before his arrival at Manchester United, he is certainly not showing it.

While it is still too early to pass a definitive judgment on how his long term prospect would be in the English game, the early signs are certainly positive, with the likelihood that he could reach double figures for the season before the turn of the year if he continues the current ratio of scoring.

There are certain things that academy coaches cannot teach young players, one of them is that natural instinct to be composed in front of goal. These are qualities that mark out players from their young age with those in the same age group. He has been compared to Thierry Henry in his homeland of France, because of his raw pace, and his composure in front of goal.

The consternation that followed the £36 million Manchester United paid for his services which could still rise, has gradually died down because of his performance so far. But it remains to be seen whether he can continue at the pace he has started with.

Many have been quick to point out other players that came on the scene and took everybody by surprise by their initial display, but later failed to live up to expectation. Federico Macheda has been mentioned in some quarters. The young Italian scored some key goals which was instrumental in Manchester United winning the title a couple of seasons ago, although he has since been fanned out of the club after failing to live up to expectation.

Yet it misses the point to compare both scenarios as many have done. Firstly, the two came from a different footballing background. Anthony Martial is already at a stage in his football development that many advanced players have not reached. He benefited from Monaco's policy of bedding in young players after they abandoned their short lived policy of signing big name players for big fees. With this, it means Martial has a measure of experience few young players can dream of. He already has several Champions League appearances under his belt, having been part of the Monaco side that got to the quarter finals last season.

No doubt the footballing education he received in his early age in France must have stood him in good stead in the early performance he has put up with since his arrival at Old Trafford.

Little wonder the vastly experience Louis van Gaal, who has worked with several young players in his career has already asserted that Martial is ready to play a major role in Manchester United's season.

The player is currently striving on the crest of what is essentially a low expectation because of his age. With Wayne Rooney the first choice striker at Old Trafford, he will not be an automatic first choice, but he provides a huge option from the bench against defences that are tiring, and he has already shown that he has the pace to anticipate certain situation as he did when he incepted a pass against Southampton to score.

While his signing was a huge gamble on the part of Manchester United because of the fee he commanded, few would be talking of that amount if he continues his scoring form. The fact that he would not be first choice, gives him the opportunity to develop under the radar and with the guidance of the experience Wayne Rooney. Besides, he still has time on his side to develop due to his age.

While Manchester United relied on the failed experiment of experience last season with Radamel Falcao, it is the fearlessness of youth that is currently reaping reward with Anthony Martial at the moment. It remains to be seen whether it remains a fruit that bears consistently.

Experience paved the way for Arsenal, but concerns persist

"We rotate a little bit but for me these decisions are the same because all the players have the same qualities." -Arsene Wenger before Wednesday's match.

Arsenal returned to winning ways after a gritty performance against North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday at White Hart Lane. The unlikely hero on the day was the forgotten Mathieu Flamini, who got a brace to send the gunners to the fourth round where they will play Sheffield Wednesday in late October.

While Arsenal relied on moments such as Mathieu Flamini's quick reaction to score the first goal after Micheal Vorm spilled a shot from Oxlade Chamberlain, and the 20 yard shot in the bottom corner that settled the tie with 13 minutes to go, notable concerns still persist with the Arsenal team.

Arsene Wenger claimed that the qualities of his players are the same, but it has been obvious that on the evidence of certain display, some players are not at par with those that feature regularly.

While it is hard to be too critical after securing a hard fought win over what is Arsenal's local rivals, you cannot help but wonder what has happened to the likes of Mathieu Debuchy. The French international has been a complete shadow of the player Arsenal signed a year ago, as the ligament and shoulder injuries he picked up last season seem to have made him to lose every sense of positional ability he once possessed. He had complained during the last international break that he considered his future in the summer after Arsene Wenger opted for Hector Bellerin over him in the Community Shield win over Chelsea in August. But on the evidence of his three starts this season against West Ham, Dinamo Zagreb and Tottenham Hotspur, he has a long way to go to displace Bellerin as Arsenal's first choice right back. It is no surprise that Tottenham's first goal came after he failed to stay tight to Nacer Chadli, while in the Champions League against Dinamo Zagreb, he was too infield, thereby leaving huge space on the right. With the games coming thick and fast, he would have to rediscover his form for Wenger’s rotation not to diminish the quality of what his players can offer.

It was also evident that the game passed by Aaron Ramsey. The Welshman was played in the playmaker's role behind Oliver Giroud, but he was largely anonymous on the day. And it clearly shows that when Arsenal have had to deal with a side that press high up the field, the ability to retain possession is key, and players such as Aaron Ramsey have shown that he does not have the nous to retain possession, which is why Mesut Ozil is important to Arsenal's ability to retain possession in any match. Arsenal's inability to keep the ball was reflected in the possession stats which stood at 47% after the game. That the team had no outlet when they were pressed back only shows where the team is lacking. That ability to relieve the pressure from a high press is solely lacking from the Arsenal team.

The performance of Oliver Giroud did little to reassure the Arsenal faithful that he would regain his mojo soonest. If anything he continues to under whelm. Even though he was unlucky not to score after Vorm made a save.

While Arsenal has only played eight games this season, six in the league, one each in the Champions League, League Cup and Community Shield, what is obvious is that they have still not found their feet in the early weeks of the season. Alexis Sanchez could really do with a goal, as he has spurned some chances he would have put away last season, and concerns whether Mikel Arteta can cope with the high tempo game of certain opponents when Arsenal play without a double pivot in midfield remains. This is especially so, with the current injury to Francis Coquelin.

Yet, for all of the games Arsenal have played this season, there have been at least one chance or two to score. And the issue of scoring persists. There have been nine goals scored by Arsenal this season two each for Theo Walcott, Oliver Giroud and Mathieu Flamini, while Oxlade Chamberlain accounts for the other, with two own goals. But when the ratio of conversion of chances is considered, therein lies the problem. With a trip to the free scoring Leicester City coming up this weekend, one of Walcott and Giroud will have to discover their scoring boot one way or the other.

Beyond Diego Costa Was Arsenal good enough on the day?

The fallout of the tempestuous match between Chelsea and Arsenal at the weekend continued on Tuesday when the English FA revised the ban handed down to Arsenal’s Gabriel following the red card he got from Mike Dean. Instead, Diego Costa who was charged for violent conduct will now serve a three match ban. The former still has an improper conduct charge hanging over his head for which he has up still Thursday 6pm to response. Chelsea released a statement on its official site yesterday criticising the verdict of the English FA. But in hindsight, Diego Costa brought it all upon himself by his behaviour. However, the decision by the FA misses the point in respect of the abject performance of Mike Dean on Saturday. The referee admitted in his report that he did not see the incidence between Diego Costa and Laurent Koscielny for which Costa has now been censored.  Instead, Mike Dean’s performance has been rewarded as he would be in charge of the match between West Ham and Norwich this weekend. Since his decision was reversed, shouldn’t he have been censored for his performance?

While Mike Dean took centre stage at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, his refereeing distracted from the main theme on the day which was the performance of both Chelsea and Arsenal. the later play Warsall on Wednesday as they start the defence of the Capital One Cup they won last season, while Arsenal face a stern test in the North London derby against Tottenham Hotspur.

However, few column inches have been given to the performance of Arsenal on Saturday; instead the other sideshow took centre stage. Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal have not been convincing this season as the team as struggled for form especially in front of goal. Although many would claim that with the red card, a clear appraisal of what would have happened on Saturday after ninety minutes cannot be arrived at, yet Chelsea’s first goal came from a set piece which could have been defended better, the number of players on the pitch should not have stop the players from preventing Kurt Zouma from having a free header to give his side the lead. Defending set piece used to be Arsenal’s Achilles Heel in time past, and the goal on Saturday was the second time in three days that they had let in a goal from a set piece. Dinamo Zagreb’s second goal in the Champions League came from a corner kick.

With the injuries racking up for Arsenal, Arsene Wenger’s reticence to sign an outfield player is beginning to hurt his side, Francis Coquelin could be missing for a month. And the debacle that is the striker’s situation at the club is becoming more apparent, with Oliver Giroud and Theo Walcott still finding their feet as far as this season is concerned. The former has been particularly disappointing in front of goal with his knack for missing sitters, while Theo Walcott has not fared any better. It leaves Arsenal terribly short in the early months of the season. With Danny Welbeck, Tomas Rosicky and Jack Wilshere are long term injury absentees, the chance to change the dynamics of the team through the existing personnel is not there, while any long term absence for the tigerish Francis Coquelin would leave Arsenal in deep trouble in midfield as Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini cannot offer what Coquelin brings to the side in the middle of the park.

The performance of Mike Dean at Stamford Bridge was one thing, but the performance of Arsenal was another, the shocking display of the referee should not hide the fact that Arsenal were equally as poor as him on the day.

The team would have to find a way to reinvent itself in the coming matches starting with the North London derby on Wednesday, because Arsene Wenger and his team will not have a second chance of hiding under the performance of a referee. The players have to starting doing the talking on the pitch with their performance.

Arsenal: curious case of an opening day accident

When Arsenal lost 1-3 to Aston Villa in the opening match of the 2013/2014 Premier League season at the Emirates despite the fact that Arsenal scored first through Oxlade-Chamberlain, there was mass hysteria from sections of the fan base as the fans called on Arsene Wenger to dip into the transfer market to strengthen the squad with just Yaya Sanogo on a fee transfer as the only signing Arsenal had made at that moment.

But for all the outburst and reaction that followed that defeat three years ago, a situation that was heightened by the club’s lack of transfer activity at the time, that performance was still better than what Arsenal served up on Sunday August 9, 2015. The defeat against Aston Villa three years ago was littered with midfield and defensive issues as an axis of Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey could not provide adequate defensive cover for the back four, and the sending off of Laurent Koscielny exacerbated the situation on the day. Yet that team showed some fighting spirit, and they had moments in that match. They took the lead on the day before they lost their way.

However, what happened on Sunday was a complete contrast of what transpired three years ago, there was absolutely no moment to speak off in the entire match, as unforced errors littered most of the match, players went about giving the ball away throughout the match. The performance was lethargic and at times even the basic act of passing to a teammate became an issue.

The tone for the match was set in the make up of the midfield where Aaron Ramsey started alongside Francis Coquelin in central midfield. And Arsenal struggled throughout to keep possession on that side of the pitch. It is difficult to decipher why Arsene Wenger decided to ditch a tried and trusted central midfield formation of Santi-Coquelin which was the foundation on which Arsenal’s renaissance was built on in the second half of last season? With the Spaniard absent alongside Coquelin before he was substituted, he struggled in possession as his simplicity of passing it short to Cazorla was absent as the decision to go long on several occasions led to passes going astray.  It was not a surprise that the midfield was largely dysfunctional for most of the match, as it was essentially a new partnership, as Cazorla was deployed on the left side of midfield.

The same situation played out last season when Arsene Wenger tried to play a 4-1-4-1 formation with Jack Wilshere in the middle, and Mesut Ozil shifted to the left side of midfield, it was a formation Arsenal struggled with in the opening part of last season.

The opponent on the day West Ham could not have been accused of parking the bus, as they played an expansive game as much they could. Arsenal gave the East Londoners a free reign to transit from their half of the pitch with the freedom of the Emirates without putting pressure on the ball or pressing their opponent. Whether the players thought they only needed to turn up to win on the day nobody knows as the performance was lacking in conviction and zest on all grounds without an ounce of urgency on the day.

Yet for all the lethargy that was on display on the day. It still does not legislate for why the defensive performance that was put up by the back four to be error strewn as if the players were trying to outdo Senderos in the act of how not to defend. The marking for the free-kick was poor to say the least, as Kouyate had virtually no player close to him as he had what was practically a free header,

Arsenal’s right side of defence was never convincing on the day. Mathieu Debuchy was still rusty and he showed why Hector Bellerin has kept him out of the side. The French international was largely off the pace and his crosses were not better either, He also gave the ball away on several occasions. And Per Mertesacker seem to struggle with Debuchy by his side as they have not played together in a competitive fixture for months, the last being the FA cup semi final against Reading. The former Magpie showed he was still not match fit with his poor display on the day.

While the last man of the defence, Petr Cech had a debut to forget as he was at fault for the first goal. He could have caught that ball if he had stayed on the line or at least punched it to safety, but rushing out meant there was no chance once he missed it.

Arsene Wenger described the result as an accident and stated his players were nervous. For all the talk of it being an accident, that was not an excuse for the team to lack creativity on the day, as the West Ham goalkeeper was practically on holiday for most of the match. The team could not build up any pressure as they were just disjointed.

The display of the team was typified by a passage of play that happened before the 85 minute mark after a West Ham attack had come to an end. Per Mertesacker brought the ball forward, and there was no midfielder that made himself available to pick the ball, and the groans from the crowd was audible as a result, Mesut Ozil eventually came to take the ball off Mertesacker, as just like the theme of the entire match, the long pass ended up with a West Ham player.

There has been talk of the team’s ability to bounce back from the opening day defeat, with reference made to what happened in 2013 after the opening day defeat to Aston Villa was followed with a succession of wins which eventually saw Arsenal at the summit for months. Yet the Premier league is different from three seasons ago, as there is little room for error as last season showed. The defeat was term as an accident by Arsene Wenger, who is to legislate that such an accident will not occur again?

The squad now have one week to interface and study the horror show that was the match against West Ham, before the visit to Selhurst Park where Crystal Palace is expected to give Arsenal a stern examination. The team has thrown its fan base back to cautious optimism after Sunday’s performance, and the oscillating blade of unpredictability and not knowing what to expect seem to have descended on the horizon once again as the clouds are now hazy, it would only become clear after what Selhurst Park will serve up this weekend.