Arsenal 2-2 Bayern Player Ratings and Match Reaction

[HCZ_Reborn]

Raya 3.5 - Shit the bed


White 7 - Best defender on the night


Saliba 4.5 - Looked nervous and lost his head


Gabriel 4.5 - Blind pass, he’s had a tendency for these


Kiwior 4 - Not a left back and it shows


Jorginho 5 - Lacked the pace and physicality to assert himself on the game


Rice 6 - Doesnt look quite ready at this level


Odegaard 6 - Started well but faded


Martinelli 5 - Isolated on the left


Havertz 5 - Also anonymous


Saka 7 - Looks more and more lively, not sure if it was penalty or not at the end. Seen them given, seen them not



Subs


Jesus 7 - Looked like the player we had at start of last season

Trossard 7 - Lovely finish

Zinchenko 7 - Looked more composed and controlled than Kiwior

Partey 6 - Still a bit rusty


Tonight showed why Arteta is not a top coach, the performance was naive and the set up was naive…played into Bayern’s hands. Can blame individual errors as much as you like but fact is we set ourselves up to be taken apart by raw pace, and if Bayern were any good there’s no way we’d have got that equaliser.

We love to revert to type, all the attacks coming down one area of the pitch from us making us incredibly predictable.

For the money we’ve spent, we don’t look like we belong.

[Letters]

To be fair, while we have spent big, teams generally don’t spend a load of money and then immediately sweep all before them. There’s usually a few years where they’re building and maturing.
It’s our first time back in the CL for a while, getting to the quarters for the first time in 14 years is pretty good. Bayern have been there year on year and also spent big on Kane.

So while I don’t entirely disagree with you, if it does end here then I won’t be calling for Arteta’s head. We do look to have matured this season, we need to run to the line in the title race. I hope we stand up in the second leg of this tie too, we are perfectly capable of winning out there.

[Marc Overmars]

Quite disappointed really but that’s also a testament to how much we’ve grown over the past 2 years.

Started well which Saka capped with a nice finish but what happened immediately after was a harsh reminder that we’re still a bit undercooked at this level. We lost our heads which was a little out of character considering how strong and composed we’ve looked recently. Happy we salvaged the game of course but even then Bayern took control after our equaliser and could have won it. I thought we were second best for most of the game and played into their hands.

The tie is very much alive but we’ll need a monstrous effort to go through now. If we were a decent counter attacking team I’d be more confident but we struggle to find outlets when pinned back.

Anyway, better dust ourselves off quickly for Villa this weekend. They’re all must wins now.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Getting to the 1/4 finals wasn’t just getting a medal for participation, it was about testing ourselves against the best (not that Bayern qualify on that score anyway) and we’ve been found desperately wanting

No money doesn’t guarantee overnight success but the money hasn’t been spent overnight, we’ve had more than enough time. And not to labour the point but, this wasn’t coming up against superior opposition this was explosive molten effluence on our part by thinking we could just turn up dominate possession.

Even mid table German teams have proven less naive than us last night

I called April a bear trap for good reason, and we were so overconfident having avoided the first one against Brighton, we’ve just wandered heedlessly into this one.

[Letters]

No money doesn’t guarantee overnight success but the money hasn’t been spent overnight, we’ve had more than enough time.

Have we, though? Chelsea were taken over in 2003 and started spunking money around like it was going out of fashion. They didn't get to a CL final till 2008 and didn't win it till 2012.
City only won it last year having been taken over in 2008.
Last year's title challenge came out of nowhere, no-one expected it. We did expect it this year and so far we've shown a maturity that was lacking last year, standing up in the big games and getting results, doing the business in potential banana skins like Brighton. I didn't expect us to be sweeping all before us in the CL this season. Bayern are not suddenly a bad side despite their domestic woes this year, they have far more CL experience than us. That said I do think we showed naivety last night and I do hope there is no hangover at the weekend.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Have we, though? Chelsea were taken over in 2003 and started spunking money around like it was going out of fashion. They didn't get to a CL final till 2008 and didn't win it till 2012.
City only won it last year having been taken over in 2008.
Last year's title challenge came out of nowhere, no-one expected it. We did expect it this year and so far we've shown a maturity that was lacking last year, standing up in the big games and getting results, doing the business in potential banana skins like Brighton. I didn't expect us to be sweeping all before us in the CL this season. Bayern are not suddenly a bad side despite their domestic woes this year, they have far more CL experience than us. That said I do think we showed naivety last night and I do hope there is no hangover at the weekend.

We aren’t talking about winning the champions league, that was never an expectation from this season. But we are at a point of the season where we can’t afford to make any mistakes let alone the glaring ones we made last night. The naivety of thinking we could just overcommit and that their pace players wouldn’t give us problems. It’s outrageously stupid

[IBK]

I think you're being harsh, HCZ. It was disappointing to gift Bayern 2 goals in the way we did, but (1) Bayern are one of the world's best teams and 6x winners of the CL (all this talk of them being a fading force because of their Budesliga position was a load of hot air - the CL is their season now, and they were always capable of raising their game for this), and (2) its been 14 years since we were in the CL Quarters. For me talk of winning the competition was always fanciful. We are a callow team and it showed, but I don't think its unexpected that an inexperienced team and manager will make mistakes at the highest level. That said, Arteta can only pick the team, and it was not down to him that we spurned clear chances or mistakes were made for their 2 goals. Nor that Kane should have walked for his elbow and we would have had a pen at the death on another day.

So while we were naive, we are still understandably learning and gaining experience at this level. Given our history with Bayern, a draw is not the end of the world. We will learn and improve from this. I don't really expect us to go through, but calling for Arteta's head is IMO an over reaction.