Arsenal and Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United were fierce rivals for many, many years.
Arsene Wenger had his joy against the legendary Scot in his first decade as the Gunners boss, but it became a lot more one-sided later on.
Manchester United inflicted a few painful defeats on Arsenal – the worst of them all came at Old Trafford in August 2011.
The Red Devils beat Wenger’s side 8-2. It was such a bad time to be an Arsenal fan and it was probably even worse to be a player.
Former Gunner Francis Coquelin played in that game, and he even got a special mention in Ferguson’s autobiography.
Sir Alex Ferguson humiliated ex-Arsenal star Francis Coquelin
Coquelin joined Arsenal from Stade Lavallois in the summer of 2008, when he was just 17 years old. The Frenchman was viewed as a big talent, and Wenger brought him into the club’s academy.
The midfielder developed well in the youth side and made a few cup appearances in the following years.
Coquelin’s Premier League debut came in August 2011, at Old Trafford against Manchester United.
The French midfielder was not great at all against the Red Devils, and neither were any of his teammates. But, Coquelin came under the most criticism.
Sir Alex Ferguson felt the young midfielder was so bad that he even mentioned him in his autobiography, which was released in October 2013.
“Arsenal played a young boy in midfield; Francis Coquelin,” Ferguson wrote. “He was completely out of his depth. I had hardly heard of him, and he barely played again.”
Coquelin never forgot that, and he got his revenge almost a decade later.
How Francis Coquelin got his ‘revenge’ on Sir Alex Ferguson
Coquelin’s career at Arsenal looked like it was going to be over, especially when he was loaned out to Charlton Athletic in 2014.
But, Wenger recalled him from that spell, and the midfielder was an absolute revelation in the middle of the park.
Coquelin formed a fantastic partnership with Santi Cazorla and even helped the Gunners win the FA Cup in 2015.
In January 2018, Arsenal sold the midfielder to Valencia. Two and a half years later, he moved to Villarreal and helped them win the Europa League, beating Manchester United in the final.
After that, Coquelin said, as per GFFN: “It was a bit of revenge, because when I made my Arsenal debut, we lost 8-2 at Old Trafford, and Sir Alex Ferguson criticised me a bit in his biography, so it was a nice little turnaround to win the Europa League against them.
“Plus, I think he was in the stands as well, so lifting the trophy in front of him was nice. I was looking for him, he must have seen me.”
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