Oh So Naive

The Good – The first 30 minutes of tonight’s match was excellent.  You really felt like this was going to be a classic match from an attacking point of view.  Arsenal came out the gates strong, and really took it to the Bayern.  It took a little bit of time for Bayern to get into the match, and at one point Bayern looked rattled and eventually gave away a penalty.  As an Arsenal supporter, I was instantly optimistic, watching the first 30 minutes.  I started believing Arsenal would not only get a result but they could actually win.

Arsenal’s defense when they went a man down and then one goal down was tremendous.  I commend them, they worked hard for each other, and the whole team was switched on and down for the cause.   You could actually feel and see that “good team spirit” Wenger’s always bloviating about after losses.

The Bad – Ozil’s attitude after the missed penalty was so disheartening.  You could see it in his “lizard boy” eyes the disappointment and I don’t think he ever recovered from the miss.  I thought Wenger should have taken Ozil off instead of Santi because Ozil was crushed mentally after the miss.  I felt Santi would’ve help out poor poor Monreal on that right side more effectively than Ozil.  I like Ozil, I still think he’s world class, but the poor guy looks completely drained physically, and its clearly starting to effect is play.

The Red Card was a bit harsh, and ruined what could’ve been a classic match.  I thought Robben’s touch was heavy and Sagna would have got to it.  Was it a clear goal scoring opportunity?  What if Robben scores with that touch, does the ref wave off the goal, and still give the penalty and red card? Can we make an argument that Ozil had a clear goal scoring opportunity?

The Ugly -   Arsenal’s Naivety was again on display late in the second half.  Jack took an early free kick from damn near the center circle; after his team had just been ran ragged for the whole 2^nd half.  Jack proceeds to kick the ball to the only person on the team crazy enough to go after it and take on Bayern defense by himself (Koscielny).  The worst part about this free kick is that Jack kicked the ball straight to Bayern’s Keeper (Neuer).  Koscielny is now out of position, running around like a mad man trying to win the ball back by himself, instead of getting back into position.  Bayern then simply avoid Koscielny’s one man press, and calmly and methodically pass the ball around and score that crucial 2^nd away goal.  Its déjà vu all over again, Arsenal give up a needless goal late in a Champions League knockout match trying to score a goal they didn't need.  Losing 1 nil to the defending champions with 10 men would’ve been a great moral victory for Arsenal, especially after what happen last year in Munich (Munich 0 – 2 Arsenal).  It was naïve for any Arsenal player at that stage in the match, after what happen last year, to think about anything else other than defending.

Final thoughts   if you watched the first 30 minutes of tonight’s match, then you know how good Arsenal can be at times.  At times Arsenal can be extraordinarily scintillating, a joy to watch, and then at times Arsenal press the proverbial self-destruct button, usually in big matches against big clubs.  The gap in talent between Arsenal and Bayern is not wide.  Arsenal can match up with any team in the world physically, it’s mentally where Arsenal are still having the hardest times breaking through and winning things.  The difference in mentality between the clubs is Arsenal was naïve and switched off for about 2 minutes and gave up the 2^nd away goal.  Whereas Bayern knew it would’ve been naïve to think a 1 goal lead was safe to take back to Munich.  Bayern knew it would be naïve to attack recklessly and potentially give up a counter attack goal to Arsenal, so Bayern probed and prodded, kept the ball and calmly and patiently waited for an Arsenal mistake to pounce on and score the precious 2^nd away goal.  

Peace Out,
Blanco