Arsenal‘s Francis Coquelin believes that he is the most defensive minded midfielder at the club, but has insisted that he is not taking his starting place for granted.
Coquelin has started 11 of Arsenal’s first 16 league matches this campaign while continuing to establish himself as a powerful force in front of his defence.
The Frenchman’s play going forward has been limited in the past as his main role is to protect his defence and quickly pass the ball to the more creative players in the Gunners’ XI. But in the last few months, Coquelin has started to add more to his game.
Coquelin said, as reported by Arsenal‘s official website: “I don’t take anything for granted. Obviously we’ve got a massive squad with lots of quality players, so I’m trying to do my best every time I’m out there on the pitch. At the minute I’m the one starting quite a lot of games, but you never know, maybe tomorrow it can be someone else.
“The most important thing is that the team perform and get the points and if it’s me, perfect, and if it’s someone else, so long as it does the job – that’s the most important thing. I think I’m probably the most defensive-minded player in the middle, so if I can give the balance to the team then that’s what I’m trying to do. Hopefully I can carry on doing that in the coming games.”
With Aaron Ramsey out with a hamstring injury and Santi Cazorla still recovering from an ankle issue, Coquelin is expected to start alongside Granit Xhaka in the crunch clash with Manchester City.
Mohamed Elneny started alongside Coquelin when Arsenal last visited Manchester – a 1-1 draw against United – but that midfield pairing delivered scant success as the Egyptian struggled to get tight to his opponents when his side needed to stem the home side’s flow.
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