Arsenal 0-2 Bayern Munich: deja vu

I still haven't gotten over what happened yesterday, so I'll split everything I have to say in sections.

Starting line-ups

I don't know much about Bayern, but I did notice Rafinha, Shaquiri and Muller were left out. Shaquiri is injured, but Rafinha was benched in favour of Lahm, who played much of the season as a DM. Seems Guardiola smelled the potential weakness of Rafinha at right-back and ploughed for Lahm. When Cazorla was taken off, Rafinha made his entrance.

Arsene gave a surprise start to Sanogo. The lad played the entire game and played well enough, but his attacking actions were restricted, apart from a burst of activity early on.

Ozil and penalty

Bar a 3rd minute shot (well-saved by Szczesny), we've managed to put pressure on Bayern and created a couple of dangerous moments. Sanogo saw his effort blocked and then a pass from Wilshere split open the Germans defence. Ozil got the better of whoever it was, then was knocked down. The ref pointed to the spot, Mesut stepped up and did the exact same thing he did earlier in the season. A short run, a weak shot, a save, this time from Neuer.

This is getting ridiculous. After the first miss, Ozil would have been the last man to take the spot-kick, if it was up for me to decide. I'm sure Wilshere would have had better luck. Maybe even Cazorla. It's high time we reconsider our pecking order.

Szczesny and a red card

After the penalty miss, Arsenal lost a bit of pace going forward and Bayern started to get back into the game. This resulted in a couple moments of danger, but we've dealt with these well enough.

Up until 37th minute. A lob pass split open our defence, Robben got a foot to the ball, sent it out for a goal kick, then bumped into Szczesny, performed a theatrical dive and went down like he's been shot. The ref bought it, pointed to the spot and sent Szczesny off.

This decision killed the game. Apart from the fact, that such double punishment is harsh (overly harsh, in my opinion) it made an interesting game boring as hell. By virtues of justice Alaba hasn't scored, but Arsenal were forced on the back foot for the remainder of the game. It was getting hard to fend off Bayern with 11 men, but having ten made it nigh on impossible. We held out till the break with the scores level, though.

Second half

It was boring. We got as many men behind the ball as humanly possible and tried with all our might to keep the German side at bay. They did manage to score on the 54th minute, but it was down to a brilliant piece of play, rather than poor defending.

Second goal

We then kept the score at 1-0 till the 88th minute. And just when it looked like we'll only have one goal to chase in Munich, some poor decision-making from us ensured we'll have to score at least twice at Allianz Arena.

Arsenal have won a free kick upfield and instead of playing it short or just lumping the ball towards Sanogo, we've brought Koscielny into the box. He got to the ball, lost it and Bayern flew forward. They've been waiting for an opportunity such as this all night and the fact we have given it ourselves is frustrating in the extreme.

Koscielny got stuck high up the pitch, Flamini didn't cover his position well enough, Muller got in-between the Frenchman and Mert and scored. The fact, that this was an entirely avoidable goal made it that much harder to swallow.

Conclusion

So, what do we do now? The same thing we always do after a defeat. Put the maximum effort into winning our next game. And when the time comes, we send our best squad to Germany and go for it. Like last year.
And I'll get back to you later. Tomorrow, maybe. Cause right now, it's still hard to gather my thoughts.

Bayern Munich preview: underdogs?

Hello.

Tomorrow night the second bout of Champions League football takes place and we host Bayern in an entertaining home fixture.

Most are of the opinion that Arsenal are no match for the defending champions. On top of a a last year's treble, Bayern are, by far, the best team in Bundesliga, with nineteen wins and two draws. Leverkusen trail them by 16 points, Borussia by 17. Their only loss came during the group stages of the CL, when City has beaten the Germans at Allianz Arena.

And yet there's also an air of confidence around quite a lot of people, Arsenal fans being the most prominent fraction. And I don't think it's based on belief in this side only.

Point is, Wenger rarely makes the same mistake twice, unless he has no room for manuever. There were a lot of examples of how Arsene learned from his mistakes down the years and only United and Barcelona (at their prime) managed to get two wins over Arsenal in the same year.

Even if we take some of the most recent games, Arsenal always responds in a positive way. Milan? Check. Bayern last year? Check. Liverpool right now? Check.

Moreover, this side has mental toughness to it than any other side since the Invincibles. We've been doing what we do for a year now and I don't see us suddenly break down.

In terms of team news, the press conference hasn't taken place yet, but there is word Vermaelen may return and if he really does, that's wonderful news. I got to admit, it's been a bit nervy to only have two fit centre-halves for a last couple of weeks. We were an injury or a suspension away from calling Sagna into action as the emergency central defender, which also would have meant Jenkinson on the right flank. I like Carl, but I still think he's not ready to play on a regular basis.

Apart from Vermaelen, I don't think anyone will return and, unfortunately, we lose Arteta through suspension, so Flamini will most likely be paired up with Wilshere.

Szczesny, Sagna, Gibbs and Giroud should all start, but the manager has an interesting dilemma on the flanks to ponder. Does he try and overload the centre of the park and pick Cazorla and Rosicky, or will he want to stretch the play and start Podolski and the Ox? Besides, there's also the matter of form and exhaustion level to ponder.

I suspect Arsene will choose the latter option. Not only are Podolski and Oxlade genuine wingers and will provide Giroud with plenty of service as such, they may also seek to exploit Bayern defensive weakness. In a piece I've read earlier, it is stated that Rafinha will most likely play at right-back and, given the fact he's not a true full-back, Podolski can make it count.

On the other flank, there'll be no Ribery (another bonus), so we can risk playing the Ox there. Not that he doesn't return to help Sagna out, but Rosicky is still a better option defensively.

An interesting call for the manager, anyway. I'm sure he's informed of any potential weaknesses and his teams' strengths better, than anyone else. Having played Bayern just a year ago helps too.

Not much else going on, so I'll leave it here. Should anything of note pop up, I'll be back tomorrow. If not, check back on Thursday for a review.

Come on you reds

Arsenal 2-1 Liverpool: into the last eight

Good evening.

Yesterday we've taken on Liverpool for the second time inside eight days and the encounter was the opposite of what we saw at Anfield. Arsenal didn't quite dominate the game (in fact, the Mugmashers had a better share of possession), but our defence found its old self.

Wenger made a whopping 7 changes to our midweek side, with only Koscielny, Mertesacker, Arteta and Ozil retaining their places. Among the surprising choices were Sanogo and Fabianski, but both showed they more than equal to their task.

We started the game rather slowly and could have paid the price twice inside the first four minutes, but for a fine save from Fabianski (a taste of things to come) and a miss from Sturridge when he should have opened the scoring. Not that I'm complaining.

After that the game settled a bit and Arsenal started to pour men forward. This resulted in a dangerous free-kick in the 16th minute. Arteta's first time effort hit the wall and the ball fell to Ozil. The German international found Sanogo in the box who chested it down and let fly, but Gerrard got in the way. Luckily, Oxlade-Chamberlain was on hand to smash the ball home to make it a massive 1-0.

This forced Liverpool to take the initiative, which resulted in a barrage of attacks and, though Koscielny and Mertesacker weren't as effective at stopping the opposition as always, that's the best duo in the league we are talking about. Whenever they failed to mop up, Fabianski did this himself, throwing himself rather spectacularly at every through ball.

However, it wasn't only Mertesacker and Koscielny who stepped their game: the whole team defended like hell, getting in the way of Liverpool's passing as much as possible. The way the players pressed men in possession reminded me of our midweek game.

We held onto our one-goal lead till the half-time whistle blew and came flying out of the blocks for the second half. Liverpool managed to conjure up an early chance, but Suarez effort only found Fabianski (or, rather, forced him into his most fantastic save in the entire game). Two minute after this we doubled our lead.

The Ox raced down the right flank, exchanged passes with Ozil and then cut the ball back for the onrushing Podolski. The German made no mistake and buried his chance.

This seemed to drown the Mugmashers. They continued pouring forward, but came up with a miss from Suarez and a shot from Sturridge (well-saved by Fabianski). Then, out of the blue, they pulled one back.

Suarez danced into our box, got surrounded by three defenders, waited for the slightest contact, fell, made it look like he was dying and the ref (Howard Webb) pointed to the spot. Gerrard scored.

This should have set a nervous ending, but it didn't. Liverpool seemed exhausted and only managed to set up Sturridge whose poor decision-making coupled with a brilliant piece of skill from Fabianski ensured we held on to a one-goal advantage.

A third goal from Arsenal would have ended it, but Cazorla (who came on for Podolski) sent his shot miles over the bar, when he really should have scored.

After that, the Mugmashers had come up with one chance only, but, mercifully, Agger steered his header wide.

There were some dodgy decisions from the ref, but they evened out in the end, so i think there should be no complaints.

After the game Arsene said:

"It was vital for us to respond to the disappointing performance we had against Liverpool last week. It was vital as well because we had an opportunity to go to the quarter-final of the FA Cup. I am very pleased with the intensity of our commitment and our response, our determination. You could feel there was a clinical desire in my team to take every opportunity to 'kill' them. That's why it was a great game between two good teams, and overall it was a fantastic FA Cup tie. Many people questioned the FA Cup but like today it delivers a great football performance".

He also touched on Mourinho's (that brainless twat) comments:

"I am embarrassed for him, honestly. First of all I would say that I didn't speak about him at all in my press conference, and I have no more to say… I am more disappointed for Chelsea than for me. I am not interested in the subject at all, and that is really genuine. If you are interested, and you have nothing better to do in your life, you are free to do it. But honestly, I cannot force my interest in things that are not interesting for me. I love football and I'm sorry to disappoint you, but what interests me is what happens on the pitch."

And on Sanogo (who played almost to the end):

"For a first performance he was excellent. He was always in the game, he was a handful for them. It's his first official game basically, he played one game in the reserves for 60 minutes. Considering the intensity of the game, he was absolutely excellent".

So, a morale-boosting win, a clear demonstration that our squad has more depth than people give us credit for and a home tie in the quarter-final of the FA Cup on top (we'll face Everton, by the way). What better way is there to get ourselves ready for Bayern?

Till tomorrow

Liverpool preview: not a second time

Hello everyone.

Tomorrow we take on Liverpool for the second time in eight days and I hope we'll see a marked improvement on our first outing.

In terms of team selection, the Mugmashers have the upper hand, as their schedule allows them to play their strongest side possible with no midweek fixture to worry about.

Arsenal, however, have to have one eye on the Bayern game, because it's absolutely necessary to carry an advantage (however minimal) in the second leg. So rotation is inevitable.

Question is, to what extent should we shuffle our squad? Too many changes to a rather successful formula may well lead to an even greater thrashing, something we'll be keen to avoid for several reasons, momentum being the most important in the long run.

However, I think there are a couple of subs, that could benefit our performance. Wilshere, for one, seemed off the pace in the last two games. For now, he cannot be that link between Arteta and Ozil, as he plays too far away from both of them. This prevents us from passing the ball around quickly, which, in its turn, has influenced two last results.

The Ox and Flamini seem obvious choices, but the former may be needed on the flank following Cazorla's illness. Also, Flamini provides a better cover for the back four, something that allows Arteta to play further up the pitch, linking defence and attack. The Spaniard is not your typical box-to-box midfielder, but given Ramsey's absence and the relative inexperience of Oxlade-Chamberlain, he's our best option. For this game, at least.

Also, I'd be tempted to play Podolski up front. He's been unconvincing, I know, but right now Giroud seems knackered (worrying, cause he's our main attacking threat), besides, the German provides a better outlet for Ozil. I've already touched on how we tried to involve Giroud as much as possible against United and when it didn't pay off, we ran out of ideas.

Ozil's bad form had been discussed at length by others (some of them went as far as to say he doesn't provide value for his money), but the fact, that the German international needs a different kind of man in front of him to get the maximum out his abilities seems forgotten. Giroud likes to play with his back to the goal (mostly) and this leaves Ozil in a difficult spot. Podolski may be the answer (again, at least for this game).

Besides that, I somehow don't think the manager will rotate much. Sure, we need someone to fill the void left by Cazorla (Wilshere?), and there's a Gibbs/Monreal dilemma, but apart from that, I don't see Arsene taking any risks. The FA cup probably remains our best chance at a trophy, so we can't take opposition easily, especially when they have showed they can beat us. Comprehensively.

In other news, Vermaelen seems to be on his way out. The skipper is not getting enough playing time, due to how well Mert and Koscielny learned to interact and probably would have left in January had he not been injured and we short on defenders. Coupled with Sagna's likely departure, were going to be very busy in summer. On the last day of the window, to be exact.

I'll leave it at that. Here's for a win and a good performance tomorrow, which can  jump-start our season.

Until later

Arsenal 0-0 Manchester United: a missed opportunity

Hi everyone.

So, yesterday we failed to capitalise on Chelsea's mistake and return to the top. It's hard to take this for granted, as we faced the weakest United side in years. I've already talked about this yesterday, but talking is one thing, while seeing it with your own eyes is entirely different. In the immediate aftermath this point seemed unacceptable. In the cold light of day, it makes a bit more sense.

It was obvious right from the start Arsenal tried to pull off a back-to-basics performance, focusing on keeping a clean sheet, rather than going for a win. United also didn't force the matter, since losing a second game out of three would surely have been disastrous. Thus we had to witness a rather tedious 0-0 draw.

Arsene made two changes to the side that was well and truly beaten at Anfield. Gibbs replaced Monreal and Rosicky came in for Oxlade-Chamberlain to set a frenetic pace right from the first whistle.

He managed to do just that. There were quite a few things not to like about our performance yesterday, but the way we played without the ball is not one of them. I cannot recall when was the last time we closed players down with such efficiency. As soon as we lost the ball (something that happened a bit to often for my liking), two or three players pressed a United player in possession at once. I cannot give you the total number of interceptions, but Arteta alone managed five.

However, it was the things we we did (or rather, did not) do after recovering possession that resulted in so few moments to kill the game.

Firstly, the pace. Probably United were just cautious going forward, but it looked like we didn't make the transition from defence to attack quickly enough. The weapon we utilised so effectively earlier during the campaign was rendered useless due to our own sluggineshness.

Secondly, and this surprised me most, our passing was a bit off. Though we had a whole bunch of quality midfielders from the first minute to the last, we seemed unable to produce that killer pass.

There's only thing, which was duly noted by the manager later, that can explain these factors, namely, nervousness. Our notorious handbrake was on the entire game and this prevented us from pulling United's defence apart.

We stepped up the tempo during the second half and should have scored that winning goal in the last 15-20 minutes, however, Giroud proved once again unable to make his efforts count during such an important game. Cazorla tried to fill this void and produced two wonderful shots, but De Gea was equal to it. Koscielny came closest to scoring (as has become his trait during important games in the last couple of seasons), but his shot was cleared of the line by Valencia.

Now, I have to say we could have conceded. The Dutch Skunk did his damnedest to upset us, but Szczesny seemed ready to die on the pitch, rather than allow him to score again. He has, once again, helped us to get at least a point, when the game could have either way. He deserved this clean sheet as much as everyone else on the team.

A couple of words about Giroud. I have been returning to him throughout the season, giving him credit where it was due, but last night he was that difference between one point and three. I hate to say this, cause I like the Frenchman a lot, but it was obvious the team tried to get him involved as much as possible. I've talked a lot how he needs service from his teammates to score, that he rarely can create moments of danger for himself and yesterday he was provided with plenty of service.

Which also brought out the second weakest fundamental flaw in his game: Giroud is not a clinical  finisher. He had at least two good chances from corners and a brilliant low cross from Ozil late in the game, but he failed to make it count. Giroud put both headers wide, when he should have buried at least one and, had he been quicker in the box, he only needed to put his foot to the ball in that low cross moment. He didn't.

Now, I have always talked up Giroud's other qualities. He's honest, hard working, a real fighter, is always ready to get back and help defensively. He's a good passer and is always ready to pass the ball to a teammate in a better position. On his day, he's a decent finisher.

However, his drawbacks were thrown into the light yesterday and never had I wished for us to have a different kind of striker on the bench more. We need a mobile, quick,  technical kind of forward, one who can make runs behind defenders. Who can thrive off Ozil.

Though I hate to say it, van Persie was good last night. He was provided with little to no service, but still conjured up a couple of decent opportunities and was a whisker away from becoming that difference between a draw and a win. We need to try and find such a guy in the summer. For now, we'll have to make do with what we have.

In the end, a draw was probably a fair result. We obviously wanted to win more, than United, but lacked the means to do so. However, we kept a clean sheet and it was a good thing psychologically.

This result leaves us in the second spot, as City's game was postponed. We now have to ready ourselves for another clash with Liverpool and then there will be a small matter of Bayern to keep us on our toes. As for me, I'll get back to you when something new pops up.

Until later