By Boris Mellor
February 25 2005

According to some reports Wenger was going to go for all out attack, and to others that he was going for cautious defence. In the end Arsenal did neither, well leastways not to any effect. Perhaps the Arsenal players were confused by the press previews, I know I was.

Perhaps it was mind games by Wenger to fool Bayern, if it was it certainly worked, but it affected the wrong team.
For the first four minutes Arsenal allowed Bayern to set the pace – at the speed of a snail. Slow tempo does not suit Arsenal, and just like a pantomime, I felt like yelling out "behind you" as the sucker punch was clearly coming. And on four minutes a Bayern grateful for any gifts planted a miss header by Kolo firmly in the net. Lauren had looked, on leaving it all to Kolo. It typified the night, 11 individuals, no one partnering anyone else. The midfield rarely found the front men, the front men never found each other, and the wide men (if there were any) never found the backs. It is the most dysfunctional performance I have seen in a long time.

True for forty to fifty minutes after the goal Arsenal played without fear, that was mainly because there was nothing to be afraid of, Bayern had returned to Mogadon mode content to let the game be played once again at the speed of a tortoise on tranquilizers. Arsenal could move the ball around, but could find no way through the packed last third.

Further Bayern goals on the 57 and 64^th minutes seemed to put the lid firmly on it. With three-quarters of the match gone Wenger finally broke out of the Mogadon trance, that Bayern had created, and finally acted, putting on Mad Frankie (Van the Man). At last the team got the message, they had to attack. With only two minutes left a Vieira close range shot rebounded off the post and Toure crashed the ball through a crowded penalty area. A goal any striker would be proud of, and perhaps a touch of redemption for Kolo who was implicated in two of the conceded goals. For a brief moment it could be seen that a lot of players in the box could shake up what had appeared to be an impenetrable defence.With one minute to go the Gunners started looking urgently for more goals. And as we know goals mean prizes, but the realisation of this had occurred to the team far too late.

However that goal could be priceless, in 1970 Arsenal were 3-0 down at Anderlecht in the first leg of the Fairs Cup. In the closing minutes Ray Kennedy headed home the precious away goal. As we trooped back for our Dan Air flight fans began to believe we could still win our first trophy in 17 years, in the gap between that match and the second leg the Arsenal Team also became convinced that they could win, that the away goal would see them through. They were right 3-0 to Arsenal at Highbury gave the Gunners a 4-3 victory. I remember celebrating that trophy more wildly than any trophy won since. In those days you could celebrate on the pitch without being banned, mind you banning 10,000 fans for being on the pitch is difficult.

Finally congratulations are in order for the referee and the travelling Arsenal fans. Referee K. Milton Nielsen had a brilliant game, was not taken in by diving of either side, did not let things get out of order, and still kept the game flowing.

And at 3-0 down the Arsenal fans could be heard above the noise of the Bayern fans. They deserved that goal more than anyone.