Match Reaction: Bayern Munich 5 Arsenal 1

[Niall_Quinn]

We're calendar year champions so far and while that's as worthwhile as the top 4 trophy it shows a long, consistent run of form good enough to challenge.

In fact it doesn't show that at all. What it really shows is that when it really matters we don't drive it home. And it wasn't a good performance against Swansea, it was half a half decent performance with a couple of cameos from players we finally spent money on. Against a slightly better team we would have lost that game. That's what you get with Wenger's teams, the balance is just about tipped in favour of a win but when we lose it's straight over a cliff. Add in whatever fucked up training and fitness methods we are inflicting on the players and it's all way too hair trigger to build the sort of authority we'll need to win a title, let alone retain it. If some fans are ignoring these very poor cup performances which have come about as a result of spectacularly poor management then I hope at least people inside the club are paying more attention. What am I saying? Those bastards are falling over themselves to offer him a new contract based on what? Nothing.

[Niall_Quinn]

Whatever else, we better beat those spuds.

[Power n Glory]

It's not the result, it's the manner of the performance. The absence of any method from the manager to try and deal with adversity. And it came on the heels of another tragic performance in the Carling Cup. Doesn't matter much if we are in or out of that cup either, but the manner of the defeat mattered. People should care a lot about these games because they explain in detail why we won't be winning any title.

I switched off after the 3rd goal and just caught the highlights again. I don't think we approached the game any differently to the first tie. I think the difference is in personnel. We lost Kos and Bellerin plus you underestimate the importance of Theo and having a pacey threat up front that can draw defenders and lead the line on counters. We sat back deep again, didn't press but we made mistakes and were punished.

[fakeyank]

If we win the league, and i really think we can and probably will, then no one will care about these games.

What part of this season seems different than two seasons back or the one in 09/10 or 07/08? We have the same injury issues as all those years, the same manager and mostly same coaching staff. I really hope we can be competitive but IF I had to bet my house on whether we would win the title this season, I would not bet it on us!

[Letters]

Whatever else, we better beat those spuds.

I think that's something we can all agree with.

Do that and I won't be crying about losing to a very good Bayern side. All about the league this year, for me. The CL...well, that would be super-awesome but I think last night was an indication we're not quite at that level yet.

We're doing what we need to do so far to keep in the hunt for the title, for now that's good enough. I'm not happy about our CL form but so far it hasn't spilled over into league form. It would be typical of us to go and qualify anyway now.

[Letters]

What part of this season seems different than two seasons back or the one in 09/10 or 07/08? We have the same injury issues as all those years, the same manager and mostly same coaching staff. I really hope we can be competitive but IF I had to bet my house on whether we would win the title this season, I would not bet it on us!

Well, I wouldn't bet my house on it, that would be stupid!
Agree about the injury list, that is a problem which is starting to rear its ugly head again.
But the differences I see are the quality of player we have now - there's no doubt people like Cech, Ozil and Sanchez are making a difference, the ability to beat teams like Utd who we have a horrible record against and who are the sorts of teams we need to be beating if we're going to challenge and we've shown in the FA Cup we can finish the job in a competition - again, we beat Utd away in the Qtr finals last year, we wouldn't have done that a couple of years ago.

So I see a few signs of hope, despite early wobbles we haven't got off to a bad start like last year, if we keep up there or thereabouts I think we have a chance. Not sure I'd make us favourites but if we're in with a shout with 10 games left I have more faith in this lot than I would have a couple of years back for the reasons I mentioned. We are over-reliant on a few key players though and with our record that is a major concern.

[Niall_Quinn]

I switched off after the 3rd goal and just caught the highlights again. I don't think we approached the game any differently to the first tie. I think the difference is in personnel. We lost Kos and Bellerin plus you underestimate the importance of Theo and having a pacey threat up front that can draw defenders and lead the line on counters. We sat back deep again, didn't press but we made mistakes and were punished.

Precisely my point. If we had a manager with a bit of craft we'd have factored in the change in personnel and maybe not done something incredibly stupid like playing Campbell and Debuchy against pace. Nothing against Campbell because he tried, but he couldn't get near his man all night. Wenger eventually cottoned on after an hour of being battered. I'd like to see us hire a manager who can figure these things out before the game kicks off. And Bif completely isolated up top? How did the manager think that was going to play out? We didn't have Theo's pace, but we had Alexis.

[mastermind84]

Yep. Let's not forgot who we lost to in our opening CL games.

Or who knocked us out of CL last season.

[Power n Glory]

Precisely my point. If we had a manager with a bit of craft we'd have factored in the change in personnel and maybe not done something incredibly stupid like playing Campbell and Debuchy against pace. Nothing against Campbell because he tried, but he couldn't get near his man all night. Wenger eventually cottoned on after an hour of being battered. I'd like to see us hire a manager who can figure these things out before the game kicks off. And Bif completely isolated up top? How did the manager think that was going to play out? We didn't have Theo's pace, but we had Alexis.

I think with the amount of injuries we had, we were hamstrung with the team selection. Also, the team didn’t turn up. Too many mistakes and they didn’t fancy it. It just depends on how the feel on the night and I think that’s something Wenger has to address. He can’t leave it up to the players to mentally prepare themselves for every game because they’ll check out. I heard he went into one at half time but too little too late.

[Ollie the Optimist]

What part of this season seems different than two seasons back or the one in 09/10 or 07/08? We have the same injury issues as all those years, the same manager and mostly same coaching staff. I really hope we can be competitive but IF I had to bet my house on whether we would win the title this season, I would not bet it on us!

Several differences really. We have the same manager and mainly the same staff but there is a huge difference between those two years you have mentioned. We now have a plan B, we have won big games in this year alone. United home and away, city away, liverpool etc. We are beating teams that we struggled against last year, swansea, everton and looking comfortable. WE have a world class player in the four areas. Cech, Koscienly, Ozil and Sanchez. There is a huge difference between this year and five years ago. Injuries are starting to appear but if we can get a grip on them, and players return as scheduled after the break this month, we have a strong squad.

Chelsea and united look weak, city struggle without aguero and silva in the big games. We have a real chance this year, and Wenger has changed tactics to manage the squad and win the big games.