Arsenal: Francis Coquelin Hoodwinked Wenger Out Of N’Golo Kante

By now everyone knows that Arsenal deemed N’Golo Kante as “not enough” so how did Francis Coquelin get into the team? We investigate.

Arsenal had been on a steady diet of Mathieu Flamini and Mikel Arteta for a few years. Arsene Wenger was pretty adamant about not wanting an actual defensive midfielder. It was back in 2012 that he sold Alex Song and replaced him by dropping Mikel Arteta deeper. He claimed that there were no defensive midfielders.

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It was then in August of 2015 that Wenger bizarrely stated that Arsenal do not buy “defensive players” which probably meant defensive midfielders.

So it makes sense why the Gunners looked at N’Golo Kante and shrugged, believing he didn’t have enough. He was a defensive player, the type that Wenger shirks (and continues to shirk to this day).

Obviously, getting caught up on how Arsenal missed out on yet another player is frustrating. Especially seeing Kante becoming the human wrecking ball that he is at our Blue rivals. So, naturally, we want answers. And if the “defensive embargo” explanation wasn’t enough, and it wasn’t for me, then you may want more answers.

My question on reading the Kante report was pretty simple. If he wasn’t enough then, then why did we want him this past summer and, along those lines, how did Francis Coquelin, the same kind of player, work his way into the team? And did he have a part to play in any of this?

The short answer is “yes.” The long answer is as follows:

Francis Coquelin returned to Arsenal in an injury crisis just months after being loaned out to Charlton Athletic. Wenger had no one else at midfield, so he had to do something with the resources he had and recalling Coquelin, a purely defensive midfielder who had had several previous attempts at first team football, was one of the only options.

I think it’s safe to say we were all kind of surprised by how nice it was to have a defensive wrecking ball in the middle of the pitch, winning the ball back. It was such a foreign feeling and, back then, Coquelin was one of the best at doing it.

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You could even say that Wenger was just as surprised, because he has unflinchingly utilized Coquelin since that initial breakthrough, even as his effectiveness has decreased.

After that big season of ball-winning and improving, the summer came when Kante was dubbed “not enough.” It’s plausible to think that Wenger looked at Kante as another Coquelin and understandably looked away. He never wanted that type of midfielder, but now that he had an effective one, he most certainly didn’t want another.

So Kante went to Leicester City that summer, won the league and Francis Coquelin began his decline. It just wasn’t a good situation. Which was made worse by the revelation that Wenger could have purchased Kante but missed out.

Then, this past summer, with Coquelin’s effectiveness well in the rearview mirror, Wenger tried again to purchase Kante, clearly signaling an end to what belief we should have in Coquelin. And this attempt failed.

What happened then, is that Coquelin inadvertently hoodwinked Wenger into not buying Kante because we already had a Premier League ready Kante in the ranks. Who would have thought that in the following year, the stock of Kante would skyrocket and the stock of Coquelin would plummet?

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Hindsight, that rogue, has struck again. Optimistic statement of the day: Granit Xhaka will grow to be far more impacting than Kante.