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.
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“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”.
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“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.”
