This "Wenger doesn't know how to motivate players" bullshit is bullshit.

[AKBapologist]

This sums it up for me.

What Tuesday night’s loss made me realise is that I’ve totally misjudged this Arsenal side. It’s not that I believed they were world beaters, but I had been labouring under the misapprehension that they were a quality side struggling with consistency. Now I see how badly I’ve overrated them. Bayern Munich are among the best in Europe and the way they comfortably handled us on our ground is a clear measure of how far we’ve fallen from the top of European football.

Many supporters will console themselves with the knowledge that few teams in Europe could beat this Bayern side. But as far as I’m concerned, that’s an unacceptable excuse. If Arsenal expect to be taken seriously as a Champions League team, then we should have a squad that is capable of competing with whomever we draw. Being beaten by Bayern is not unforgivable. Being swatted aside with relative ease in our shiny new stadium is hard to take. And it’s hard to take because the decision has been made that this squad is strong enough as it’s currently constituted.

We have every right to expect our team to fare better than this against any opposition. Arsenal managed a draw and a win at the Emirates against arguably tougher Barcelona teams. And those results were achieved by mostly disappointing Arsenal sides. But the erosion of quality at the club seems to have well and truly caught up with us. We now find ourselves neither able to focus enough to dispatch lesser opposition, nor possessing the quality to handle the top sides. On Tuesday night we got a first hand look at what a potential Champions League winner looks like, and we saw just how far we’ve fallen from that standard.

There were so many players found wanting on Tuesday night that it hardly seems necessary to name them. Unlike disappointments of the past, there can be little argument that this was essentially our strongest XI. Left-back aside, the manager had every player to choose from and the players he chose were overmatched. It’s fair to point out that Thomas Vermaelen’s struggles deputising at left-back were a huge problem in this match. But the fact that he was the only player available for the position is every bit a crisis of our own making.

What this match made me realize is that the players we consider mediocre aren’t even that good. And the players we consider quality are mostly mediocre. In the humdrum existence of a midtable Premier League side, players like Lukas Podolski and Mikel Arteta and Per Mertesacker may seem like world-class talents. But when confronted with a truly talented opponent like Bayern, it’s easy to see that they are far from what’s required if we ever hope to be the best.

The best players are daring and confident in the face of any opposition. But most of Arsenal’s players hid from the spotlight on Tuesday night. According to opta stats tweeted by @orbinho, Mikel Arteta completed 29 passes to Per Mertesacker. All game long the midfield and defence passed the ball back and forth between one another, unsure of how to attack Bayern. We lacked the cunning, the courage and the class to do it. We failed to muster a shot on target in the first half, and only managed a goal thanks almost entirely to comical refereeing and even worse goal-keeping.

http://www.arse2mouse.com/post/43579373506

[IBK]

This sums it up for me.

http://www.arse2mouse.com/post/43579373506

Wenger signed them. Some are so-called replacements for our best players whom Wenger sold. If our best 11 are shite then its down to our manager.

[hobson's choice]

The same thing I got from the game, Bayern weren't anywhere near great, we've been spit roasted before and last night's game wasn't one of those games. Last was more embarrassing, it was an opponent, that realized they didn't have to play anywhere near their best to beat us.

And that's just sad, and what irritates some of us Arsenal fans, and former players, who have been labeled bitter, miserable, negative, etc. This is exactly what some of us were weary off, and warning would happen 3/4/5 years ago.

[LDG]

Yep. Top blog that one.

Exactly right.

Manager and Board at fault, obviously.

GB will surely shed more light on it, being a Hockey fan, but it does bare a familiar likeness to the Colorado rapids, fallen from grace that kronke owns in the US.

[fakeyank]

Yep. Top blog that one.

Exactly right.

Manager and Board at fault, obviously.

GB will surely shed more light on it, being a Hockey fan, but it does bare a familiar likeness to the Colorado rapids, fallen from grace that kronke owns in the US.

Rapids never had grace... they have been shit since the beginning!

[Kano]

Like all this ridiculous ‘laughing stock’ nonsense, this over dramatic ‘mid-table’ guff is complete and utter panty wetting. If we were midtable we’d be, well, midtable. We’ll finish where we are now. Is that great? No. is it cause for midtable mediocrity? No. a new manager could soon at least get us back into the top based on the players we have, as long we were able to be more adaptable to opposition and actually start games at the kick off.

Can wenger motivate his team properly week in, week out? No, clearly he can’t. if he was able to, we’d start games in the first minute, rather than the 46th after we are a goal or two down.

[AKBapologist]

Wenger signed them. Some are so-called replacements for our best players whom Wenger sold. If our best 11 are shite then its down to our manager.

They're a bunch of bargain basement shite afiak. Outside of the English market, player valuation seems to be more accurate than ever, which is bad for us because it means outside of end of contract deals, we'll get what we pay for. And given that the £30mill mega signings of old are now £60mill. But then again, undrilled zonal marking, overly optimistic appraisals of player fitness, selling to buy, selling and failing to replace, thread bare senior squad numbers, no natural wingers, basic shit that's completely unforgivable.

[Xhaka Can’t]

Rapids never had grace... they have been shit since the beginning!

He means Colorado Avalanche. I nearly posted Rapids by mistake myself.

The Avs were an awlsome side worn down year after year under Cranky's stewardship.

That said, even under this ownership, the money that has been spent has largely been wasted.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

It's a hard balance, on one hand the players don't look like they are putting 100% on the field, they look leaderless and disorganised...on the other hand this is the poorest Arsenal team in terms of quality for twenty years and I think it would be hard for any manager to markedly improve our league standing

[Özim]

Wenger has never been a motivator, when we've needed a result badly when we've been under pressure we've never come out of the blocks with all guns blazing. Seeing your team come out closing down every opposition player and chasing every ball when a match starts shows they are up for it, all we seem to do is start games like we always do, without a care in the world.

If you're playing superior opposition, you've got to make it as hard as you can for them tactically, close them down to give them as little space as possible to play and try to force mistakes.