Asked for a signature to embellish the dressing room wall of the Arsenal Hub, the brand new community centre which has been built to support local folk, Francis Coquelin does not just grab the pen for a quick scribble. He thinks for amoment. He wants his message to be meaningful. He begins writing, carefully and neatly. The sentiment is absolutely him: “The most important thing in life isto never GIVE UP.”
当被要求在阿森纳新成立的社区中心写上几句时，科克林并不敷衍。他认真想了一会儿，希望自己的话是有意义的。然后他开始写，仔细而整齐，而他的话绝对是他的真实写照：“生命中最重要的事是永不放弃！”

If anybody at Arsenal embodies that impulse, it is this persistent Frenchman. Ever since he arrived at the club as a 17-year-old on a week’s trial, and felt the inimitable wrath of Jens Lehmann when he did not understand someone behind him yelling: “Keeeeper!” and kicked the ball away before th egoalie could grab it, the pathway has been demanding. Coquelin has faced challenges that might have provoked more fragile characters to throw in the towel. He is no giver-upper, however, whatever the circumstances.
在破厂，要选谁是“永不放弃”的代表，法国人当之无愧。从他17岁初次来阿森纳试训一周时，他就感到这股斗志——他记得试训时，有人在他身后对着莱曼喊“抓住”，而他将球踢飞使莱曼根本抓不到，莱曼暴怒的样子，这时“永不放弃”就植入了他的内心。科克兰面对的艰难和挑战，会使无数性格脆弱者折腰，但他没有放弃，永远向上，无管处于何种境地。
PS：红字部分理解不了，请英文帝来纠正。

Since returning to the Arsenal line up as an emergency option to cover for a spate of midfield injuries, Coquelin has become the surprise answer to the balance question which had nagged for years. His expert interpretation of the Claude Makelele role has underpinned a progressive 2015 that has the clubeyeing second place in the Premier League and the FA Cup final. The way he sees it, it is all about the blend between his interceptions and Santi Cazorla,Mesut Özil and Alexis Sánchez’s creations. “If I can take away 10% of theirdefensive duties then they can have 10% more to attack and score goals and winus the game and I’m delighted,” he says of the team’s improved equilibrium.
自从因为破厂伤病不断而回归破厂后，科克兰意外地解决破厂平衡问题，成为破解阿森纳这几年腰无力的“正确答案”。他成为破厂的马克莱莱，支撑着破厂在2015年一路高歌，现在破厂的目标是联赛第二以及足总杯卫冕。他的踢球方式，就是拦截，抢下球权，为三弟、272和374这帮创意型球员提供后勤保障，“如果他们少去10%的防守责任，那就多了10%的进攻能量，这样就能得分，赢下比赛，我也会很高兴。”他说球队的防攻平衡已经改善许多。

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“I remember Zidane and a lot of great players saying when you took out Makelele you took out the heart of their team,” Coquelin explains. “I think players who play this position don’t want the spotlight. They like to do their job and then they leave the bling-bling for other players.”
“我记得齐丹和许多伟大的球员说过，如果把马克莱莱拿走，就等于球队少了心脏。”科克兰解释说。“我想，打这个位置的球员并不想着在球场上高光，他们热爱自己的工作，他们成就了其他球员的星光闪耀。”

This status, as a vital player, has been a long time coming. Perhaps he just likes being fashionably late. He only came to football at around 10 years old. Before that his grandmother took him to judo and he was keen on tennis. “I couldn’t serve properly and I remember we had a tournament and at thesemi-final this guy beat me. It was the first game I lost and I stopped.” He went off tennis abruptly. A friend told him to come and join his football team,so Coquelin gave it a try, just for fun.
科克兰主力地位的确立，来得有点迟了，也许他真是个大器晚成的球员。他在10岁左右才开始足球生涯。之前，他的祖母带他去练柔道，而他自己喜欢网球“我记得参加了一个巡回赛，在半决赛输了。这是我第一场失利，然后我就不打了。”他中止了自己的网球生涯。一个朋友叫他来参加他的足球队，然后科克兰去了，试了试发现还蛮有趣的。

性格决定命运，有了基本天赋，后天努力才有未来。

He returned to Laval without great expectations. “I had missed a week ofschool and everyone was asking how it was at Arsenal. I was in my class and myphone rang and I looked at it. It was some weird number +44. I couldn’t answerthe phone so they left a voicemail. It was the boss. In France he used to dothe commentating on TV so obviously everyone knows his voice. I was listening:‘Hello, Francis, how are you?’” Coquelin passed the phone to his amazed school friends.
他回到拉瓦勒，并没有抱很大希望：“我缺了一周的课，每个人都来问我阿森纳怎么样。当我在上课时手机响了，我看了一下，是个很怪的号码+44，我没有接，然后对方就留了一条语音信息。那是温格的声音，在法国他经常去电视台担任评论嘉宾，每个人都认得他的声音，我听到他说：‘你好，弗朗西斯科。’”科克兰把这条语音信息给所有的小伙伴们听了一圈。

He is a big believer in opportunities, considering how his were not themost straightforward. His debut was harrowing – he was part of theinexperienced group humiliated 8-2 by Manchester United at Old Trafford in 2011, and namechecked by Sir Alex Ferguson as a playerout of his depth. Even then he was an emergency measure, rushed back fromplaying with France’s Under-20 team in Colombia. “The team was not ready for agame like that,” he recalls. “It was basically the reserves playing. To behonest they could shoot from anywhere that game, it was going top corner. Itwas one of those games you want to forget.”
考虑到他不怎么顺的职业生涯，科克兰是个坚定的机会信奉者。他的处子秀是场灾难，在老特拉福8-2惨败，他是那支青年军中的一员，赛后还被狒狒公开奚落，拿他作例子说破厂阵容缺乏厚度。但之后，他马上满血复活，去了法国U20，在哥伦比亚贡献自己的力量。“球队还没准备好”他回忆说“基本上就是预备队拉上去打，坦白说曼联可以在任何位置射门得分，比如球门上角。这是一场你永远不想回忆的比赛。”

His loans were character building. In particular, a spell with Freiburglast season tested him to the limits. “Very tough,” he says, exhaling. “Ididn’t get on with the manager, I was played out of position all season, leftwing or right wing.”
他的租借之路也不顺遂，特别是上个赛季他在弗赖堡的租借，限制了他的表现。“真的很难，”他吐了口气说“我和主帅相处不洽，我打在不擅长的位置上，左边锋或右边锋。

试了试，发现还蛮有趣的。。。

破厂的马克莱莱