Arsenal’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, upon speaking with the clubs’ website, has lavished praise on fellow midfielder Francis Coquelin, stating that the Frenchman would be ‘the first name’ on his teamsheet.
On returning from a loan spell at Charlton Athletic towards the end of last year, Coquelin appeared to be drafted back as cover for copious injuries within the Gunner midfield, however the forgotten Frenchman grabbed his opportunity with aplomb, and has since become a mainstay in the heart of the North Londoners side, appearing almost 30 times and solving a headache for Arsenal boss, Arsene Wenger, in the defensive midfield position.
The Ox, who has recently be sidelined through persistent injury, has noticed the 24-years-old’s contribution to the team ahead of the plethora of attacking threats in the Gunners side, Chamberlain said; "At the moment he’s the first person I’d put on my teamsheet, I love watching him play and it’s not often that you tend to say that."
"You love watching the Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Özil's of the world play, and someone who does the work which goes un-noticed you don’t really appreciate."
"I watch all the games and when I’m playing alongside Francis, there’s nobody better to play with. He brings that security and confidence that you have someone like that who can pick the ball up, intercept balls that should never be intercepted, win tackles that you don’t think he can win, and he’s also a quality player on the ball as well."
"You can never take away his technical ability and that goes unnoticed at times because he just does his job, but he’s probably one of the best technicians in our side as well."
Oxlade-Chamberlain, who himself was a stand-out performer in Wenger’s team before succumbing to further injury woes in the Gunners’ impressive FA Cup quarter-final victory at Manchester United, appreciates the defensive duties of his team-mates and also found time to praise fellow defenders, Hector Bellerín, and Laurent Koscielny.
The Ox said; "The boys that score the goals usually get the headlines and rightly so, but I think there have been a lot of boys in the team who have been tremendous, Hector Bellerin has come in this year and he’s been phenomenal for his first season and run of games in the first-team. He’s been brilliant at such a young age as well. Laurent Koscielny has been brilliant [too]."
Gunners boss, Wenger, confirmed yesterday in a press conference that Oxlade-Chamberlain is nearing a return to first-team duties but will not be ready in time for the visit of Sunderland this evening, alongside Danny Welbeck.