Good news from France where L’Equipe report that Francis Coquelin should return to action after the international break.
The Frenchman appeared to twist his knee blocking a shot by N’Kolo Kante during Saturday’s 3-0 win over Chelsea and was substituted on the half hour mark. After the
After the game, the boss admitted he was worried that the player had to leave the stadium sporting a brace because the injury appeared to be in the same place as knee ligament damage sustained last season. The midfielder was then pictured wearing the brace in a North London hospital yesterday.
In a very non-Arsenal twist of fate, the feedback from the specialists appears to suggest the damage isn’t long-term. It sounds as though our Coq will spend a couple of weeks on the sidelines recovering and could be fit to challenge for a place in the squad that faces Swansea on 15 October.
Granit Xhaka and Mohamed Elneny will provide cover in the centre of the park. All going well, Aaron Ramsey should also be back after the next Interlull. The Welshman injured his hamstring on the opening day of the season and is yet to return to first team training.
Back early rather than late? I am very confused.
This stuff just doesn’t happen to us.
Can only imagine how confused YankeeGunner must be feeling right now with such a shortage of Arsenal-related things to get himself worked up over! Can’t wait for the next AVpodcast 😉
Haha. He’s loving it though
We’re having lots of good fortune at the moment. It’s not right.
Yeah first all the penalties in our favor, and now this, I feel like we’re riding a dangerous high.
And I will inevitably ride it, with the hopes that our hopes will turn to fruition. A pregnant pause of a season, where we hold our breaths in great trepidation of the presumably inevitable crushing collapse as the vicissitudes of the Arsenal fate finds equilibrium. Musings of insomnia, omit for those who wish not to engage in the verbose–we may be fucked.
Was this written by Joey Barton?
Great news, squad depth so important and he’s played well last 4 games
“squad depth” TRIGGERED
Coquelin, at the moment, should be first choice unless Xhaka or Elneny make themselves undroppable in his absence. I think there’s a case to be made that he’s been our best player so far this season.
Brilliant! Nice to know our Coq’s harder than last year.
I literally cant get enough of COQ jokes .
Sigh of relief
Very good news
Wow. I hope this is accurate! I was bracing myself for an update that said something like “early in the new year” or some such. Wonderful news if true.
Please be true please be true please be true please be true!
Its on arseblog. It is true.
I can understand we’re on the crest of a wave at the moment and everythings bright and rosey, but I refuse to believe this until I see it.
….but ……Please be true please be true please be true please be true!
The Footballing Gods heard our pleas and made a big prick look like a useless cunt on Saturday, so maybe if we ask nicely they can do us a favour with this too and turn our sore Coq into a fighting fit Coq.
I hope this is true, i think the guy is vital to our team especially when he’s played in the correct position.
The team has some nice depth right now but with their injury history they’re going to need every single body possible for this upcoming season.
What a relief, let’s get our Coq back in there asap.
I just hope Ramsey is not thrown into the team causing disruption. Arsene does love Ramsey. I have not seen him fit a system since he was scoring for fun all those years ago. Since then, he has not been utilised in his best position which, for me, is the number 10 role. Obviously that spot is taken by Özil.
Agree with the first half, but I think Ramsey’s best position would be a classic Box to box player (a little bit like Pogba, Gerrard or Rakitic) The problem maybe: this position do not really exists in our team/(general 4231 formation) when Özil plays (as he is a 70% attack – 30% defense player at best). So that means: Ramsey should limit his willingness going forward (just like Santi is doing) and should be mature/disciplined enough to balance his performance (concentrating more on defending/holding onto the ball)… But I always have the feeling that he considers himself first of all… Read more »
Exactly.
Rakitic is a great example of a player he should model his game on (much more than Gerrard, who always played about 8 hollywood balls a game too many for my liking, and Pogba, who is a freak of nature, and so, by definition, difficult to emulate): the Croat has a great engine and gets himself forward in dangerous positions, but at the same time, while not being a Xavi-style human metronome, he obviously has the skill and intelligence to hold onto the ball when he should, since if he didn’t, he’d be found out in that Barca side real… Read more »
Yes. That 2013/4 season when Ramsey scored and assisted for fun he was one of the very best players in the world (until he got injured again) but he has never again got close to that. The rest of his career he has had an awful shots per goal ratio and an awful turnover rate, so we have got very little out of his attacking while suffering a great deal when he either turns it over or gets caught out of position on a forward thrust. He’s got a huge work rate and tackles and intercepts well when he’s in… Read more »
I love Ramsey and his skillset. He carried this team on it’s back when our midfield was in it’s worst shape. I’ve always defended him against slander on here. But I’ve accepted that our starting XI simply works better without him in it (as both Flashmob and Arky explained so well). A more ruthless team would have cashed in on him after his magical Euros. I hope he eventually finds a club that can give him a freer role, that we in return get a fee commensurate with our investment and patience in him, and most importantly, that he’s replaced… Read more »
Damn, I love our depth this year. Don’t have to sweat every time we have midweek games, or even a few injuries.
So as it stands… The attacking half of our so called “B” team now/in the future:
Giroud
Welbz Ramsey The Ox
Xhaka Elneny
…wow 🙂
That looks pretty good, especially considering we also have Lucas and Akpom who can both play CF and on the wings.
There’s no B team. All players are options and different weapons to cut open different teams. It’s not a zero sum game. There isn’t one preference over another. The Cback pairing of Mustafi-Koscielny-Bellerin will likely be the most stable selection. Next to that, Santi-Ozil-Alexis But this does not mean switching things around on occasion to suit rotation/injuries and tactical considerations. For Basle I’m hoping to see : ………………………………..Giroud……………………………………. Alexis……………………….Ozil…………………………………..Ox …………………..Elneny…………Granit………………………….. Gibbs…………..koscielny……Mustafi………………Bellerin ……………………………..Ospina……………………………… Switch out Koscielny for Gabriel later to give Laurent a rest. Also can switch Lucas for Giroud or Alexis. If Ox is still struggling to get a foothold… Read more »
You won’t see Giroud, he’s suspended for a game because of his red card. Perhaps Perez will start up front. I’ve got no issues with the rest of it.
I do love the guy but where does Rambo fit in to the team when he’s back? Combinations with him in centre midfield rarely seem to work when he plays and, for me, Cazorla, Coquelin and Xhaka are definitely ahead of him and I’d say Elneny compliments the others better too. With Feo back in great form on the right and Ox/The Jeff as back up, where does that leave Rambo? Btw how ruddy marvellous is it having problems such as these?!!
Was a bit disappointed about a lot of comments about the fact that it’s not so bad that he’s injured because we have the likes of Xhaka and Elneny to cover. I thought that was quite disrespectful towards our Coq. You can think that Xhakas style of play would suit us better, no problem. But was Coquelin has played over the last 1 1/2 years was really good and I thought he started this season really strong too. And of course I’m also happy to have top class cover but first and foremost I’m gutted that a guy who plays… Read more »
Strange things are happening this season! winning penalties every other game, winning calls from the referee we wouldn’t ordinarily win before, unusually short term injuries and even coming back way way ahead of schedule! something’s up I tell ya…..something’s up!
Oh did I forget to mention how delightful it all seems! Come back stronger le coq
Thank smeg! Coquelin’s played beautifully this year and he and Cazorla really compliment each other.
* complement … damned autocomplete!
I’m sure both apply. I’ve got a lovely mental image of the two of them complimenting each other over a candle lit dinner.
There was a brief moment when Coquelin was on the ground in anguish, right before he came off, when I saw a hand come down and rub him sweetly on the top of his head. I was wondering who it was, and then recognized the tattoo on the wrist: Santi. Of course.
Petey, that is EXACTLY the image I got when I read what I’d posted! If I had any skill at all with Photoshop I’d put up a picture of it.
Oh yay, my penis is healthy!!!! Wait, that didn’t work…
Check with L’Equipe. In 3 weeks it might.
By 3 weeks they meant 3 months. The boss will eventually come back and say there have been a setback. Hoping for 3 weeks
Wow, so much good fortune for us since that defeat to Liverpool. Winning streak, penalties, grinding out results, injuries coming back sooner rather than later….
Hmm, maybe this could be our year….
Isn’t it wonderful that a) the injury appears to be short term and importantly b) we have cover that is not only adequate but world class?!
Excellent news.
We need BOTH Granit and Coquelin.
There are pairs to every position and each does things slightly different, gives us nuanced capabilities.
It’s not a zero sum game. We can rotate through both and we can play both through a match or even play them at the same time if need be.
The situation is the same in every position and that includes Ox on the wing, GIroud and Lucas up top in addition to Alexis.
Many ways to skin the same cat.
Thank fuck. He’s in brilliant form and really is a key part of our squad
Makes sense, it’s not November yet.
Wow!! Good news!!!
Great news if true. Come back stronger, Francis! ??
Elneny is the perfect replacement for coq in tbat position. neat on the ball with defensive sense
Hope this is true, but I am expecting it to be a while given our record on injuries.Thank goodness we have strength in depth this season.
As an early prognosis this is uplifting but we always err on the side of caution being Arsenal DNA we all know how previous injuries to our players goes, he’s had a set back,he has’nt responded well to treatment, it may need another couple of weeks,he’s still getting a little pain and has had a little operation,out come the crutches and 3 months later etc etc, but always hopeful after many years and the 30 million we have spent on the training ground that we see good results here’s hoping
Here’s wishing our coq a super strong and quick recovery ??
Coquelin = Gilberto Silva
He’s really starting to shine. Even if the other guys aren’t getting into the team, it’s because he’s feeding on the competition and is becoming better and better. Which makes the quality of the team ooze, like the center of a treasure chest filled of gold coins.
Arsenal! Back in Superstardom!
It’s been a number of years since there was this much disagreement about what our best XI looks like. Shows how far we’ve come. The trick now is to keep the competition for places high without losing the cohesiveness. At times on Saturday we were good enough to take the fight to any team in the world.
We need you, Monsieur Le Coq….! Even if he’s not on the park, we want him there training and competing with Xhaka, Elneny and Co. With our recent injury history, when the players start to queue up for the treatment table, then IT MUST BEGIN TO NAG AWAY AT MORALE. They must feel “we been here so often before” – just like we Gooners feel.
Next time we see our Coq is in three weeks !!! I haven’t seen mine for 25 years….. le sigh !!!!!!