CL:Arsenal vs Bayern Munich 19:45pm Tuesday 19 Feb ITV

[celestis]

We don't even know how strong Munich is because of the way we were set up . Giroud should have played through the middle just because he brings Cazorla and Podolski more into play . We aren't a good enough passing team to feed Walcott .

Not saying we would have won mind but we wouldn't have been so toothless .

 

[evoh_1]

The fact that we were long shots at home is just as bad a problem as the performance yesterday, issues with the build and coaching of the last few squads we have put out for the season.

 

[Penn_]

Return leg at the Allianz is going to be painful. They've put 3 past us at home I don't think the fans will stomach conceding 4 or 5.

Last year Basel beat that in the first leg at home 1-0 but crushed 7-0 at the Allianz, what us having to go all out attack, it's not going to be pretty.

 

[HollandGooner]

I'd have to say Barca have taught us a harsher lesson previously than last night. The first twenty minutes against Barca the first time we played them was downright scary. So much so that our players said it was like playing against a playstation game. And that was against a better arsenal than what we currently are. It's fair to say that Munich are defensively stronger

That's not taking anything away from Bayern last night, who were everything that we are not. Well drilled, focussed, efficient and professional

I was impressed with Bayerns pressing game when one of our midfielders did receive the ball, we were always forced to play back to on of our defenders. excellent gameplan, because we were never dangerous because of that.

 

[Cruisio]

The only thing that surprises me is that some people were surprised at Bayern's superiority. They are everything we're not. We haven't been outplayed at home like that by any side since Deportivo La Coruna in 2001. Bayern were toying with us.

Like one or two others have said I thought Schalke gave us a pretty bad beating earlier in the season as well

 

[eye4goal]

It's not men against boys. It's a group of the best footballers on the planet vs. a group of distinctively average players.

Nothing to do with naivety or efficiency. It's a lack of quality.

Why do we have so many average players though? The club is under-achieving in the scouting department. We are 7-8 players short of this level despite the wages we pay.

We spent some decent money on Mertesacker, Arteta and Vermaelen, but they just don't belong to this level. We need to learn from this and bounce back

 

[SomGooner]

Think this Bayern team is the most solid European team iv ever seen us play, with the Barca games you felt we would create good chances but this Bayern set up barely gave us a sniff, I couldn't see us scoring.

The mistake we always tend to make is judge teams/players based on their performance against us which is absolutely deceiving.

Norwich City shut us down, Aston Villa managed to hold us 0-0, Swansea played us off the park at home, Bradford and Blackburn both dumped us out two trophies, does that mean they're the best in europe too?

This Arsenal team is so average that it doesn't take a whole lot to out play them, shut them down completely and beat them because even when you're having a bad day, they'll still present you with few chances that you'll be rude not to accept.

We made Daniel Van Buyten look like the greatest CB in the world ffs. Doesn't that annoy you?

And oh yeah we created 'chances' against Barca because our team then were million miles better than the current one as we've had Cesc, RVP and Nasri who all had a great game against Barca when we beat them 2-1 but do you honestly think our current team would even string two passes together against the current Barca let alone coming from behind and beating them?

 

[eye4goal]

Looking back at the game, its obvious Rosicky and Giroud should have started. I think we lacked a dribbler in the team too in the wide areas. I know Gervinho is hopeless, but I thought Alaba and even Lahm were shaky defensively and we didn't attack them enough times

A wide player like Di Maria should be one of the priorities for us in the summer. Ribery didn't have the best game, but he created lots of space by running with the ball and drawing players onto him

 

[SomGooner]

Borussia Dortmund is far more lethal and better footballing side than Bayern Munich especially now that they've got Sahin back who's slowly beginning to regain his mojo.

Defensively I'd take Hummels/Subotic over Dante/Van Buyten or Boateng/Badstuber combination any day.

 

[eye4goal]

I'd say this Bayern team is better than Borrussia. Its close, but Bayern have a better squad and Martinez and Dante have been excellent buys for them. I'd love to see them meeting later on in the competition

 

[jones]

Think this Bayern team is the most solid European team iv ever seen us play, with the Barca games you felt we would create good chances but this Bayern set up barely gave us a sniff, I couldn't see us scoring.

The mistake we always tend to make is judge teams/players based on their performance against us which is absolutely deceiving.

Agree with this. Can't see how Bayern were so solid, they were rocking for about 20 minutes in the second half, if Giroud had scored from that Walcott corner I'd put money on us winning the game. That Podolski goal was the most ridiculous goal I've seen in a long time.

Also, we've played Barca at their ground with a side that had RVP, Cesc, Nasri and the likes all in them and didn't manage even one attempt at goal. Bayern are obviously a good notch better than us in every department, but yesterday, we lost because we weren't good enough, even in this abysmal season we've had better performances home & away.

 

[kofigunner]

I don't think anyone understimates us in the CL. Somehow we generally get far. It will come down to our mental attitude. This is our last chance at a trophy and we are playing at home against a perennial powerhouse. Will the players relax and play to the best of their ability? Or are they all going to reflect Wenger's nervousness and play with the handbrake on and make silly mistakes? I think we have a good shot at winning this.

Well we didn't win it and we fell back into what I was afraid of.
Unfortunately the whole mentality of the team is very weak at the moment and we paid for it.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21513315

Wenger added: "We played against a very good team who took advantage of every opportunity they created in the first half. We were a bit nervous, Bayern were full of confidence and we paid for it.

The team needs some serious hypnotizing to get their mojo back. Wenger looks nervous and half the players look scared and panic easily. We don't have bad players by any stretch of the imagination, but at the moment the team is poor, both from how they're being organized by the manager and also from a swagger point of view.

 

[redanddread]

Borussia Dortmund is far more lethal and better footballing side than Bayern Munich especially now that they've got Sahin back who's slowly beginning to regain his mojo.

Defensively I'd take Hummels/Subotic over Dante/Van Buyten or Boateng/Badstuber combination any day.

Dortmund certainly look more entertaining but Bayern's defensive displays this season are outstanding. Last night was the 1st goal they have conceded in 2013. Bayern are showing ALL the credentials that European champions do. Dangerous up front, hard working and a mean defence.

Either way the Bundesliga can be very proud of these two representatives.

The next round should throw up some mouth watering match ups.

 

[HeinrichII]

It's just that curse that we are being affected now these days, Arsenal does not know how to start games, always shaky, scared....come on! we have lots of internationals in the pitch and we're still starting shaky and scared like noobs? Please...

This problem is a psychological problem on our players, we have not found a remedy for this in a while and it's due to poor management from Wenger.

Bayern Munich wasn't the best Bayern Munich I saw, but there was a huge difference due to our poor performance, actually any CL team could have beaten us yesterday.

Bayern just had to press really hard on the ball, defend well and even on the 2nd half they just gave us the ball and see what we could do, oh yes, there were times that all 10 were just waiting on their field to see us attack, which never happened.

 

[Warship]

The only thing that surprises me is that some people were surprised at Bayern's superiority. They are everything we're not. We haven't been outplayed at home like that by any side since Deportivo La Coruna in 2001. Bayern were toying with us.

Barcelona in 2010 in the CL.. the first half at the Emirates was the best I've seen that Barcelona team play. Even Guardiola said he was shocked and thought it was like watching a video game. Somehow Almunia came up with 3 or 4 huge saves..

This game reminded me of that, only Bayern weren't as good as Barca were on that day. Bayern can still improve in the final 3rd in the return leg.. The Kroos finish was nice but all of their goals were a result of Arsenal's sloppy defending.. we did defend okay at times and Vermaelen/Kos each had a few last ditch blocks which is something the team needs from more than just them, and more than just the back four.

 

[outlaw_member]

It's no surprise that we looked nervous in the first half, when our manager had blown his top off on the eve of the match. Make no mistake about it, Wenger's lack of composure filtered down to the players. Nonetheless, I've been saying it for over half a decade now, that Wenger has absolutely no idea how to adequately prepare his players for the big games. He just doesn't have any ****ing idea. Our record in the big games since 2008 has been beyond pitiful. Couple that with his poor team selection and we expectedly crumbled.

You realise just how well Bayern were prepared in comparison to us, when you consider how well they exposed our flaws. They stood off our back 6, knowing full well that Koscielny and Mertesacker were very poor at bringing the ball forward. They would then press vigorously only once one of Arteta or Ramsey were in possession, whose collective indirectness only further compounded our inability to progress the ball forward. We on the other hand, did little to expose Alaba's youth or Van Buyten's lack of mobility.

 

[Hunta]

It's no surprise that we looked nervous in the first half, when our manager had blown his top off on the eve of the match. Make no mistake about it, Wenger's lack of composure filtered down to the players. Nonetheless, I've been saying it for over half a decade now, that Wenger has absolutely no idea how to adequately prepare his players for the big games. He just doesn't have any ******* idea. Our record in the big games since 2008 has been beyond pitiful. Couple that with his poor team selection and we expectedly crumbled.

You realise just how well Bayern were prepared in comparison to us, when you consider how well they exposed our flaws. They stood off our back 6, knowing full well that Koscielny and Mertesacker were very poor at bringing the ball forward. They would then press vigorously only once one of Arteta or Ramsey were in possession, whose collective indirectness only further compounded our inability to progress the ball forward. We on the other hand, did little to expose Alaba's youth or Van Buyten's lack of mobility.

Spot on outlaw, wish we had a tactically astute manager.

 

[mo50]

Why did Wenger play Cazorla wide and Walcott through the middle in such an important game? Once again the boss comes up short in the tactical department, an all too familiar scene this season. He's been doing things like this for years, the difference is we no longer have the individual quality to overcome these idiotic decisions.

This was the type of game where Wenger had to step up and earn his 7m. Up against a superior team we should've made life difficult for them. No freebies, no stupid defensive mistakes. Instead we let them cut us open and we had no clue what to do when we were attacking.

To make matters worse we don't even play our only outlet in the form of Giroud. He would've relieved some pressure and could start attacks from a single long ball. He could also have been useful in corners.

For me, Wenger has to take the blame for this. How the **** can the tie be over in 20 minutes? Bayern weren't even that good, they were just excellently organized and didn't lose possession through low percentage passing and laziness.

 

[RandomHero84]

Why did Wenger play Cazorla wide and Walcott through the middle in such an important game? Once again the boss comes up short in the tactical department, an all too familiar scene this season. He's been doing things like this for years, the difference is we no longer have the individual quality to overcome these idiotic decisions.

This was the type of game where Wenger had to step up and earn his 7m. Up against a superior team we should've made life difficult for them. No freebies, no stupid defensive mistakes. Instead we let them cut us open and we had no clue what to do when we were attacking.

To make matters worse we don't even play our only outlet in the form of Giroud. He would've relieved some pressure and could start attacks from a single long ball. He could also have been useful in corners.

For me, Wenger has to take the blame for this. How the **** can the tie be over in 20 minutes? Bayern weren't even that good, they were just excellently organized and didn't lose possession through low percentage passing and laziness.

This sums up how i felt. You can nullify walcott by defending deep with good organisation. Its very hard to nullify a big man with an aerial threat, and in doing so walcott may have gotten some joy as a result. We could have always scored from a set piece had Giroud started. We just took away a dimension.

Idiotic tactical decision that nobody seems to have understood.

 

[bingobob]

Naivety, lack of belief, lack of quality, call it what you want overall it was a very poor showing and we are very lucky to be in even with a sniff of qualification considering how the game played out. Yes we turned it on in the second half but it wasn’t enough nowhere near enough and for anyone to hold the second half up as a blueprint really does not understand the concept of football or more importantly winning. You can create chance after chance, analyse the missed chances until you are blue in the face but doesn’t change the fact they were missed and Bayern virtually dominated the game in terms of shots and most importantly goals.