During a match against Everton at the beginning of March, Francis Coquelin suffered a blow to the nose. The player collided with Olivier Giroud during the Sunday game as they both went up for a mid-air header. Although he was briefly taken off so that the medics could attend to the injury, Coquelin was determined to get back on the pitch. After being given the go-a-head to do so, he was soon back in the game with his teammates. Unfortunately it was a second knock to the nose that resulted in the premature conclusion of Coquelin’s input for that day.
Arsenal’s manager, Arèsene Wenger, stated that he hoped it would not be too long for Coquelin to be kept out of action as well as tweeted that in order to be included in the next line-up against Queens Park Rangers, the player would have to ‘wear a protective face mask’. Francis Coquelin came to visit us at 109 Harley Street where we took the contactless 3D photograph of his facial features. The mask was 3D printed and couriered to the player in time for the game.
Apart from the physical protection, our masks give players the psychological confidence to become less wary of their injured area. This means they can become as engaged and involved in the game as if they were in perfect health, allowing them to retain the same level of impact for their team and against their opponents. In Coquelin’s case, the point was even made that ‘Coquelin’s unusal headgear, made by Cavendish Imaging, didn’t appear to hinder his performance’. Coquelin even said himself that he was happy to ‘get on with the game’ and after getting the ‘first couple of headers out of the way’ he was throwing himself into some well-judged tackles.
It might be that Coquelin chooses to wear the mask for a second time against United on Monday 9th March. For Cavendish Imaging, we are pleased to have been involved within the process to get Coquelin back into the action of Arsenal’s season.
To see some more examples of our sports masks and the players we’ve worked with then click here for our news and press page.
