Arsenal 1 - 3 Bayern Munich: Dispatched by a vastly superior team

That wasn't an enjoyable experience.

It's one of those occasions where all you can do is admit that you were outclassed by a better team, as painful as it may be to do so. Bayern played with the sort of quality and efficiency you'd expect from a top side in the form they're currently in, whereas we didn't turn up and didn't make it at all difficult for them, which is perhaps the most disappointing thing since we were the home side with a point to prove.

First Half

Nobody likes seeing their team dominated on their own patch and it happened tonight. It was very reminiscent of the Barcelona game in 09/10 when they managed 83% possession in the opening twenty minutes. Whereas then we managed to survive until half-time, this game was, effectively, over inside twenty minutes.

It's difficult to pinpoint exactly where we went wrong for the first goal. Initially, we lost the ball in our own half, which is always asking for trouble, and were then slow to prevent Mueller from crossing the ball in when the ball is worked over to that side. There's a slight degree of misfortune here as Ramsey has positioned himself pretty well to intercept a cutback, but Mueller's cross is scuffed so it just misses him by millimetres. Kroos runs onto the ball quickly and gets good contact on the ball.

The second goal is just poor marking from set-pieces - again. Van Buyten makes a run in front of Mertesacker, who doesn't go with him, and gets the run on Ramsey at the front post. Here, there's nothing Ramsey can do to get ahead of van Buyten. His header is straight at Szczesny, but he commits the worst Goalkeeping sin of deflecting the ball straight back into trouble, where Mueller's waiting to bundle it in.

Our response was muted. Bayern kept a very solid shape and pressed us at the right moments, making it difficult for us to build any attacks. As a result, our front three became isolated from the play and whenever we tried to get the ball forward, we had no one to aim for.

This is where, perhaps, Wenger made a miscalculation with his team selection. Walcott was chosen to play up front with the intention of exploiting space that Bayern would leave behind with their highline. Bayern countered this by ensuring that our backline and midfield were always under pressure and unable to play balls in behind. Walcott managed to get a run at their defence once during the entire half. The only other times he saw the ball was when the centre backs lumped passes up to him in hopes he can somehow get the better of Dante. It might have been better had Giroud started, as at least then we would have had someone who can hold the ball up. That's just hindsight talking, though.

Moreover, we didn't look like we had much of plan, bar the whole Walcott playing down the middle strategy. Bayern often had an extra man on either side with Lahm and Alaba pushing up, as neither were tracked by Cazorla or Podolski. Going forward, there was a lack of support for people on the ball. Vermaelen is clearly uncomfortable at left back and doesn't get forward well at all, while Sagna was often penned in and simply lacked the technical ability to cope.

Second Half

Things didn't really change in the second half.

We managed to get a large slice of luck when the ref awarded us with a corner when it should have been a goal kick. Bayern completely switched off and allowed Podolski plenty of time and space to score.

For a brief five minute spell, we looked better. Wenger threw on Rosicky and Giroud and they immediately involved; Rosicky did excellently to turn his man and play a great pass to Walcott. Walcott's cross was just as good and Giroud managed to get a good volley in. Unfortunately, it was straight at Neuer. Either side and it was a goal.

After that, though, we didn't rattle Bayern at all. Usually, when a team gets a goal back like that, they grow in confidence; they start winning the 50-50s, getting to the ball first, and force the opposition to make mistakes. I didn't really see that from Arsenal. The backline were still playing poorly, being slow to react to just about everything, while there still wasn't any contribution from the frontline. Bayern were comfortable soaking up pressure and hitting us on the break.

The third goal practically killed what little resistance we had. Robben broke away with the ball and played in Lahm, who wasn't tracked by Cazorla. Lahm played the ball across the six yard box, where three defenders failed to intercept it, and Mandzukic manages to get in front of Sagna enough to get the ball in.

Conclusion

A very disappointing night, all in all. Bayern were very well organised, worked hard, kept the ball well and took their chances and just, in general, were the better side. By stark contrast, I thought we were lacked a spark; Wilshere kept trying to provide it, but one too many players failed to perform and the team, as a whole, just didn't show up on the night, despite it being the perfect opportunity to do so.

Keeping things in perspective, there was only so much we could have reasonably expected from tonight. I feel we can rightfully feel let down by the performance, especially after the Blackburn defeat last weekend. We needed a response but didn't really get one.

It's important now for the team to put these two bad results behind them and ensure that they get a good win this weekend against Villa.

Simple. Just not good enough.

wenger chose a poor team today, ramsey should not have played, and walcott upfront was poor, giruod was better. tbh if there is no changes in the summer. then the fans need to protest.

we need to bring in players and build a team around jack wilshere, he is our best players by far

Wenger flopped tonight, although you must credit Bayern... they'll probably win it all. Too good.

We lost to the better team. Can't blame Arsenal. Thought Arteta was pretty poor. He isn't CL level.

bayern werent too good, we have faced better teams this season. we were just too poor defensively and wenger picked a poor team. bayern are good but i cant see them winning it. going on this performance i think there are better teams out there in the cl.

. Our defense is an embarrassment. It's not like any of the goals they scored were too good or that they outclassed the defense. It was simply horribly poor defending by poor defenders backed up by a poor goal keeper

arteta is ALWAYS poor in the cl. he is a squad player at best i have ALWAYS said this.

My time zone sucks. Have to wait hours before its acceptable to start drinking

VendettaRed07 wrote:. Our defense is an embarrassment. It's not like any of the goals they scored were too good or that they outclassed the defense. It was simply horribly poor defending by poor defenders backed up by a poor goal keeper

agreed, i have been thinking this for a while. szny is mentally too week in big games. he is the best gk we have had in 5 years, but thats not saying much at all tbh. he's average atm

Arsenal were taken to kindergarten by Bayern . Likw Wilson7 said earlier, very few teams in the world can live with the marriage of pace, power, and quality of this bayern team, they are unbelievable . it would have taken an immense defensive and counter attacking game to beat them .

Perhaps Wenger did get the selection right, its just that Arsenal did not have the quality to execute the game plan

tbh i see promise in this team, but we need a managerial change, thats the only way we are going to flush out some of the overrated players we have in the team. we need a better coaching staff and manager, wenger simply needs to go in the summer.

We actually had more possession and only one less shot on target, but in the end, our front and back lines were just not good enough. I wasn't too impressed with some of the team selection either. Same problems time and time again.

Also, why must we always get scored on first in important games? We started well for 5 minutes, then just completely crumbled for about 20 minutes the moment they started to be dangerous. God dammit it sucks to be an Arsenal fan these days.

We won't win anything with Vermaelen as a starter. Also Mertesacker might have been our best CB this season but he shouldn't be a starter next season

What did you guys expect ? They were the favorites and they won it. Our squad is not good enough to challenge for major trophies.

RealGunner wrote:We won't win anything with Vermaelen as a starter. Also Mertesacker might have been our best CB this season but he shouldn't be a starter next season

that wont happen with wenger in charge though, can u really see wenger making the drastic changes of removing verm from captaincy and making him a sub

urbaNRoots wrote:Wenger flopped tonight, although you must credit Bayern... they'll probably win it all. Too good.

Wenger didn't flop, he did what was expected, in other words, lost to a better team.

Our so called leaders are a joke. Arteta, Mert, Vermaelen and Sagna should be shamed off themselves. Their performances in big games are just embarrassing really

Art Morte wrote:

urbaNRoots wrote:Wenger flopped tonight, although you must credit Bayern... they'll probably win it all. Too good.

Wenger didn't flop, he did what was expected, in other words, lost to a better team.

rubbish, he did flopped. he could have chosen a better team that would have performed better. not saying we would have won but we would have performed better simple as.

Don't know how Arteta can be criticized when he is put into a role which never was natural for him along with the fact that he has no defensive part to pivot alongside of him. His performances in the group stage last season and 2nd leg vs Milan was good enough.

The not good enough is just an excuse. Tactically this was just a mess with players unprepared, everything complimenting Bayern, no one ahead to overlap with the fullbacks, Vermaelen playing a LB role, Aarron Ramsey once again pushed into a psuedo-wide AM role, Walcott being crossed to (LOL) and not leading the line.

This match simply was an amalgamation of poor squad selections and lack of preparation. Arsenal simply made Bayern look better than they are.

Wenger will be prepared at the Allianz, this I know it.

Art Morte wrote:

urbaNRoots wrote:Wenger flopped tonight, although you must credit Bayern... they'll probably win it all. Too good.

Wenger didn't flop, he did what was expected, in other words, lost to a better team.

No Wenger flopped once again, poor team selection and poor defensive tactics lost us the game in the first 20 minutes.

urbaNRoots wrote:

Art Morte wrote:

urbaNRoots wrote:Wenger flopped tonight, although you must credit Bayern... they'll probably win it all. Too good.

Wenger didn't flop, he did what was expected, in other words, lost to a better team.

No Wenger flopped once again, poor team selection and poor defensive tactics lost us the game in the first 20 minutes.

This. The attitude that "we" lost to a better team is pathetic and lazy.

art morte doesnt no jack about arsenal, just ignore him.

Arquitecto wrote:Don't know how Arteta can be criticized when he is put into a role which never was natural for him along with the fact that he has no defensive part to pivot alongside of him. His performances in the group stage last season and 2nd leg vs Milan was good enough.

The not good enough is just an excuse. Tactically this was just a mess with players unprepared, everything complimenting Bayern, no one ahead to overlap with the fullbacks, Vermaelen playing a LB role, Aarron Ramsey once again pushed into a psuedo-wide AM role, Walcott being crossed to (LOL) and not leading the line.

This match simply was an amalgamation of poor squad selections and lack of preparation. Arsenal simply made Bayern look better than they are.

Wenger will be prepared at the Allianz, this I know it.

i have a feeling we will play better at the allianz aswell, still go out but i think we will play better