MotM - CL: Arsenal vs Bayern Munich | 09/03/05

[thierrys_girl]

Thierry's face says it all

Arsenal 1 - Bayern 0
(2-3)

Goal: Thierry 66

A great goal from Thierry wasn't enough to take us through to the next stage of the competition. We played much better in the second half and produced a great defensive performance. Lehmann pulled off a great save to keep a clean sheet on the night. Unfortunately the second goal that we needed never came and we were left to ponder another CL campaign that hadn't quite gone our way.

There is always next year and the important thing now is to focus on what we have left to play for this season. FA Cup match againest Bolton on Saturday is very important if we want a trophy this season and it is realistic to think that we can get on top of Utd to claim second posistion and direct qualification to the CL next season.

Anyway, who was our MOTM? Vote and leave a comment before Friday.

MY MOTM: Senderos or Thierry. Both had good games on either side of the pitch. The future looks bright for Phil and Thierry is edging ever closer to the record.

tg, disappointed but looking to the future.

 

[Gazza Martinez]

Phillipe Senderos, no doubt. One-man defense.

 

[jamble]

Naturally I'm very disappointed with the result and the fact that once again we've failed in Europe although to be honest I've now reached the point where I don't expect us to do that well anyway so any positives are a bonus.

The BIG positive last night was the stunning performance of Senderos. I really think he came of age last night and showed the world the potential everyone sees in him. Apart from a very tired back header near the end (understandable given his massive effort for the whole game - and how good was it to see Henry tidying up!) he was immense. Won every header and tackle and distributed the ball very well.

It's tough to go out but to see such a performance from a young player really takes the edge off being knocked out.

 

[Jasper]

No contest. Is this kid Phil good or what? He single handedly marked and closed out Guerrero man for man. His positioning and awareness was excellent. Physically he was unmovable by their strikers, but was fast enough to cover for our other defender's mistakes. He cleared everyball that was remotely near him. Very good game. This was a CL match against a major European powerhouse. This was not a fluke! More greatness is to come.

Henry: Well the goal meant alot, but he could have done better. I saw many mistakes by him. Many bad passes, positioning, and judgement errors. Clearly number 2 MOTM.

 

[Aussie]

Senderos was immense. Keep it up and he will go far at Arsenal.

 

[praghisa]

bitter as it is 2-3 ... we will be back next year

phil just outstanding 8)

 

[Soler]

Sendo, easily. T'was like a young Tony Adams (not that I know what a young-ish Tony Adams looked like ).

 

[Gunner4Eva]

Phillipe Senderos for my MOTM! He was a brick-wall...whatever the Bayern Munich attack threw at him, it bounced back.

 

[Spartan]

senderos easily...was outstanding

 

[Ratinho]

Senderos, by a mile. Like a brick wall. Pizzarro and Guerrero had no idea what to do.

 

[dsurg]

Without a doubt! Phillipe Senderos!

Maybe thats why Arsène didnt bother too much about a defender last summer.

This kid is going to be amazing.

Very disappointed about the result but not the performance. Its one of those games that chances would be few and you've got to take them when they come. We had a few ( not many like we would do if we were playing Fulham or Norwich) and we took only one and it wasnt good enough.

But at least we know that Senderos and Kolo can play together and we can get rid of Cygan ( though he hasnt been playing too badly recently and I would not say he is terrible player I would just say he isnt good enough for us)

 

[sabret00the]

Senderos, he's had my complete faith since he got here and he got Wenger's for this game, now i hope he's earned that of all the fans, he was amazing. Every high ball he was there to deal with, every low ball he found a way to get the ball. I'm not sure if he was just that good that the rest of our defenders seemed invisible or if he was that good because the rest of our defenders were invisible. But wow, if we're gonna be producing players like this left right and centre theirs nothing to worry about, he kept us in the game almost singlehandedly. What a hero!

 

[Anonymous]

i no all of you are saying senderos but to me it was lehman. Yes senderos was amazing but he had nothing to do. Lehman has been benched most of the year, bagged by the media, and then has to line up behind a shakey defence and try to prove that he is better than kahn. If you ask me he was amazing. He made the right descison for every cross, pulledd off an amazing stop from ballack and then the way he saved senderos near the death was superb. Absolutely amazing. He was down well and read the play brillantly. TO me it was his best game this season

 

[sabret00the]

senderos...had nothing to do

@ me going all tabloideque with this.

but what are you on about had nothing to do, if it weren't for him doing 'nothing' we'd have been down about 4 nil by the 45th minute.

 

[Gooner83]

Lehmann as he never made one mistake.

 

[arnoldi]

The man From the Swiss Alps

Phillipe Senderos

 

[James]

Phillipe. There was alot of doubt as to Senderos being a liability, but he proved to be our strongest player. For a 20 year old stepping into his first Champions League side, a few mistakes were to be expected, but he recovered in time to make great tackles and blocks, and even carried the ball out of defence. Won everything in the air, which is alot more than what can be said for Kolo, and always looked strong. Let's hope he gets a run in the side for the rest of the season, like Fabregas and Flamini have been given

 

[awooga83]

Has to be Senderos, outstanding performance

 

[baccy_man]

senderos was the best man on the pitch last night and i would rather see him playing than cygan

 

[ozgooner]

got to go with "big" phil Senderos, As i said after his full prem debut against villa this kid is going to be an arsenal champion. so strong on the ground and in the air and reads the game so well. Not sure if u will all agree with me but to me the spine (thierry, pat, big phil, and mad jens) all had strong performances tonight, it was the outside runners (bergs, freddie and lauren etc) that didnt give us the run that we normally would get from them.
what i found rather ironic from the last few games is that from all the awful displays from our keepers this season we have now kept 3 clean sheets in a row, 1 in each comp and almunia kept us in the fa cup and lehmann kept us in the game last night right up to the final whistle with a few great saves. why couldnt this happen earlier in the season :idea:
The future looks bright though just remember reyes, van persie, flamini, cesc and big phil are all under 21 or close to that and all now have big game champs league experience....