Francis Coquelin.

What hasn’t already been said 100 times?

Arsenal cut the midfielder’s loan at Charlton short because they simply ran out of midfielders and nobody, not even the player himelf, expected that he would establish himself as immediately and comprehensively as the first-choice defensive midfielder at the club.

Sure, the other two are injured, but would you really start either of them ahead of Le Coq at the minute? Arteta, maybe, in some games.

Some.

Speaking to Arsenal.com, Coquelin explains how he just needed to get a run of games under his belt to be able to show what he was capable of, and he’s certainly done that.

Serving as a reminder to us all to never give up on our dreams, Coquelin said

“I never got the chance to have the run of games.

“The manager gave it to me and I can show for the first time what I’m capable of.

“It’s not to be big-headed, but I’ve always had confidence in myself. I knew I could do good things and he’s given me the chance, so now I can show it.

“Every footballer has been asked questions. Sometimes you’re down, sometimes you’re up and you need to grab your chance when it comes. That’s what happened with me, I’m very happy with it and I’m trying to keep my place in the team.

“We’ve got a lot to fight for. We’ve got a big game in the Champions League and we need to try and turn that one around. Everything is possible in football.

“The most important thing is that we’ve rebuilt our confidence now and we can go there and to Manchester full of confidence to try to get a result.”

Coquelin will certainly have his work cut out against Manchester United on Monday night in the FA Cup but, then again, he did alright the last time he vsisted the city.

I doubt it’s anything he can’t handle.