Could Francis Coquelin be the next Gilberto Silva?

Back in the summer of 2002, a rather un-Brazilian Brazilian arrived at Arsenal Football Club. His style of play was never flouted with any of those fancy flicks, tricks or samba skills we have come to associate with his countrymen; though, he will forever be remembered for the way in which he graced our shores with such a calmed elegance, confident solace and a grace which very few defensive midfielders have been able to emulate since. And, the rest as they say was history…

Fast forward nine years, though, and we are now in 2011 with a whole new generation of young guns ready to take the stage. While the current crop has had some notable apples that just weren’t quite ripe enough, one of the juiciest picks of the bunch has to French defensive midfielder Francis Coquelin. Those who follow Arsenal’s reserve and youth teams week-in-week-out, will be in no doubt of this boy’s talent. Composed, resilient and assured on the pitch, sound familiar yet?

Fresh from his man of the match performance against Tottenham, Francis will feel that this is a new beginning for him after a painful encounter at Old Trafford. Having played for his native France at every youth level, he will be looking to make himself a regular for club and country. While Coquelin is primarily very much a defensive midfielder, his versatility means that it certainly wouldn’t be a surprise to see him deployed at right-back in the coming months with Bacary Sagna out of the side with a fractured fibula.

The media always like to compare upcoming players, but could Francis Coquelin really be the next Gilberto Silva? Time will be the telling tale in this story, but Francis is very much his own player and should rightly be judged on his own merit. He has a fantastic future ahead of him and with the likes of Emmanuel Frimpong and Coquelin himself coming through the ranks, the future of Arsenal’s defensive midfield looks as promising as ever before.

WTTGT Writer: Jay James Waller