Francis Coquelin: I thought my Arsenal career was OVER until Arsene Wenger called

SIR ALEX FERGUSON, Marouane Fellaini, even the telephone. Francis Coquelin has had an answer for all of them. Philippe Coutinho be warned.

Francis CoquelinGETTY

Francis Coquelin has been a revelation for Arsenal since being recalled from Charlton

Of the three, the most important to answer was undoubtedly the telephone. On December 11 last year, Coquelin was watching French TV with his girlfriend when his handset started to ring. It was the call that changed his life.

Arsene Wenger wanted him to end his loan spell at Charlton immediately and report the next day for training at London Colney - resurrecting a seven-year career at the club which even Coquelin thought was over.

"Obviously that thought was a little bit in my head," he said. "When my loan was finished after the first month, I could see the injuries at Arsenal. Mikel Arteta was out, Aaron Ramsey also. When they were happy to extend my loan in those circumstances, I thought: 'Maybe I won't get the chance now'.

"When you are in the last year of your contract and you are not playing regularly, you are thinking, 'That's a shame but it might be the end'.

"But in football, you never know what can happen. I went straight into the squad against Newcastle and played a few minutes against them and Liverpool. Then the West Ham game changed things.

"He [Wenger] started me, things went well and we got the points. After that, I played in most of the games."

Wenger coy on Arsenal's title chances [AMBIENT]

Indeed, so important has been what Coquelin describes as his "aggressivity" in midfield that he has missed just two minutes of Premier League action since then, with Arsenal winning 10 of those 12 games.

It has been a far cry from the impression Coquelin made on his Premier League debut. He was so poor in an 8-2 drubbing by Manchester United that, three years later, Ferguson still recalled in his autobiography that he was "a young boy in midfield, completely out of his depth".

"What can I say? We went to Old Trafford not long ago and won 2-1, so..." said Coquelin by way of reply.

"I always had belief in myself and there is always going to be criticism. At the minute it is all positive because we are getting the right results and I am putting in a performance, but maybe tomorrow it will be a different world.

"You always get criticism but you just have to get your head down, work and it all pays off. That is what I am doing in training every day and at the minute it feels like it's working."

That 2-1 win came in an FA Cup clash in which Marouane Fellaini caught him in the face, but Coquelin had the final say by winning the aerial battle despite the height difference.

"He was the one in my zone," Coquelin said simply. "It was a big battle. He's a tall guy, really strong, uses his arm quite well - on my nose as well - but it was part of the game.

"I like this type of game as well, it's a different challenge. Sometimes you play against small players, like at the weekend against a small player like Coutinho. Hopefully we will see me close to Coutinho again at the weekend."

Arsenal v Liverpool - Premier League Preview

That desire simply to be wantonly destructive has been something lacking in Arsenal players for far too long. A club that built its success on the strength of Patrick Vieira and Emmanuel Petit has been crying out for their successor, although it is a lesser-heralded former French midfielder that Coquelin models his game on.

"As a French person, you look at other French people," he said. "But there is one you haven't mentioned who I looked up to, even if he didn't play much for Arsenal.

"Lassana Diarra is a player I really liked. I think he is quite similar to the way I play: his 'aggressivity' is quite similar to what I'm trying to do."

Diarra managed just seven Premier League games for Arsenal; with a new four-year contract under his belt, Coquelin looks set for much, much more than that.

But what Arsenal fans want to know is: is he the missing piece of the jigsaw that has prevented Arsenal from winning the title for the last 10 years?

"I'm not going to say that I can't be that player," said Coquelin. "Obviously I want to be. I'm an aggressive midfielder. In front of the back four, I'm trying to do the defensive work for the players who play up front, try to give my best, get the ball as quick as possible to play it to the players who have got a little bit more ability than me.

"Santi Cazorla, Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez - we've got a lot of quality. I think we lacked a little bit of aggression in midfield and that's what I'm trying to bring to the team."

BLOB: Matchday Live with Fletch & Sav' is from 10am today on BT Sport 1 followed by Arsenal v Liverpool exclusively live from midday.

Would you like to receive news notifications from Daily Express?