Despite not exactly shining against Hull, Francis Coquelin was actually reasonably solid.

The midfielder received one of the higher ratings on WhoScored (85) and completed the second-most passes (53/62), with Shkodran Mustafi and Theo’s new nemesis, Harry Maguire, with the joint most. 10/17 were in the final third.

coq passes hull

What’s more is that some of Coq’s passes weren’t sideways OR backwards. They were forwards. Plus, joking aside, although not all of them came off, he did attempt some long-ish, Xhaka-esque passes up the pitch.

This is why that although Coq usually has a high pass accuracy rate of 88%, this is usually high because he’s only passing sideways to players who are close enough for him to safely reach without messing up. Against Hull, he was at least trying to create chances, which meant that some didn’t come off and this brought his accuracy % down, despite him probably being more useful to the team.

Coquelin also attempted a shot, created two chances, recovered the ball five times, won 5/6 tackles – the second highest amount – made three interceptions, two clearances and only committed two fouls. He also suffered two himself.

alexis hull influence

Overall, although Coquelin hardly had the game of his career, he had a pretty solid match, especially when compared to his bizarre display against Chelsea.

Positionally, he still has a lot to work on but considering most of our players weren’t great on the day despite the 2-0 scoreline, I’ll cut him some slack.

Sources: WhoScored, Squawka, Statszone app.