Arsenal went into half-time with a 1-0 lead and were playing very well, but just ten minutes into the second half Francis Coquelin decided to execute a crazy challenge on Harry Kane and got a second yellow to add to his first half caution. Within another 10 minutes Arsenal were 2-1 behind!
Arsene Wenger revealed that he had spoken to Francis at half-time. “We have big regrets because we were in complete control before we went down to 10 men,” Wenger said. “It’s difficult to take.
“We told Coquelin at half time [to be careful] because he had a yellow already. It was a mistake and he knows that but he wanted to do well.
“But I think Dier deserved a second yellow as well. That could have changed the game, but overall we have to look at ourselves.”
This raises a few questions. Firstly, if Wenger was worried about Coquelin being hot-headed again, why did he not substitute him? Could it be that Wenger didn’t think that Flamini could do as good a job as the younger Frenchman?
Of course this will also then bring up the question of why Wenger didn’t bring in a much better DM either in the summer or winter transfer windows? When Coquelin got injured earlier in the season we were left toothless in midfield, and now in situations like this we needed an equal player to cover when Coquelin gets carded. Now, even worse, he won’t be able to play in our next game either!
Why Oh Why didn’t you listen Francis?