By Boris Mellor
February 20 2013

 Why Wenger believed that Arsenal had a “fantastic chance” to win the CL is beyond my understanding. The only reason can be is it is an attempt to cover up for throwing away the FA Cup. Ok if Wenger wants to say we had a chance ok, but don’t overdo it, and if he knows his players he would know that his cod attempt at Barcelona lite was going to fail against Bayern Munich. The tactics need to suit the players you have, not the ones you would like to have.   

You can’t give Bayern the space Arsenal did and get away with it, but Wenger has only one tactic. He can’t change things for the opposition as he doesn’t assess the opposition. That might be ok if you have great players, but not with the lack of quality that now exists at Arsenal.

Only two players would get a game with Bayern based on last night’s performance, the wonderful Jack Wilshere, and Theo.

I don’t think that Arsenal had a shot in the first half, if they did then it wasn’t on target. According to the BBC Arsenal had 8 shots to Bayern’s 17, only six of those were on target compared to 9 for the Germans. Arsenal only won 2 corners at home!

It is pointless reporting the match it was so one-sided that men against boys sums it up. Bayern have large physical players, the kind that Wenger used to have, they are comfortable on the ball, and know how to change tempo and tactics. Comfortably two nil up at half time they were in Kroos control, as soon as Arsenal equalised and put on the pressure they were on the look out to restore the two goal lead.  As Arsenal pushed forward their vulnerability was there for all to see, and in only 22 minutes Bayern were two goals clear.

I was clear at the time that all-out attack was a mistake (I sent a text to a mate saying so) 2-1 wasn’t the worst result to go away with, but Arsenal continued to push up high. Twenty two minutes later Bayern were 3-1 up. Three away goals! Can you imagine Arsenal getting that at Bayern? A team that lets in one goal every 8 games? Arsenal did very well to score one, most teams score zero against the Germans.

Arguing about team selection at Arsenal is akin to rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic, there is no Messi, no Henry, no RvP, no individual with the skill to turn a match like this. No doubt Wenger could have selected more wisely, but the overall problem is the lack of quality of the squad. More importantly is the poor quality of defence.

No defence

The past weighs like a nightmare on the minds of the living (K. Marx), and no doubt many a mind turned back to 5^th May 2009 and the CL tie v Manchester United. On that occasion the best atmosphere possibly ever was destroyed in minutes as a slip up by the Arsenal defence gave Utd the lead. Against Bayern it was déjà vu as once again a defensive error on 7 minutes gifted Munich a goal. History repeating itself, first as tragedy then as farce.

You can discuss all you like attacking permutations but if you can’t defend at this level you aren’t even in it. Arsenal had been the better team for six minutes, one mistake at the back and it was good as over. This is the error that Wenger, or his teams, just seem to be incapable of learning. As long as this team cannot defend forget winning anything.

Decline?

This may be only the third time that Arsenal have lost two successive matches at the Emirates Stadium (May 2009 & Nov 2010), but it has effectively seen Arsenal go out of two cups. Arsenal’s once proud cup record is in tatters, having gone out to two non-premiership teams this season, the last few seasons has seen the club go out in earlier and earlier rounds.

Sustainability

Some would have us believe that self-sustainability means that fans must put up with this decline, that somehow it excuses it. Do you want to be like Chelsea or Man City they ask? No, but I wouldn’t mind being like Bayern Munich. They have a total revenue of £317 per annum and are owned by the fans (82%) and are self-sustaining. They moved to a new stadium and still invested in the team.

Don’t blame the fans

The fans were up for it from the start, and even going a goal down didn’t silence them. “Arsenal's fans roared their team forward in raucous fashion, with no hint of dissent, but their plight worsened as they swiftly conceded another sloppy goal”, BBC. True there was some muted booing at half time, but more fans sang “We love you Arsenal” than booed. When the team came back out all fans cheered them back on. It’s time the excuses stopped and the solutions were found