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.

[HCZ_Reborn]

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.

Firstly you’ll have to point towards where I’ve directly called for his head. I said he’s not a top coach and that’s consistent with a long established view of mine. I can’t guarantee I won’t be calling for his head but that depends on whether he meets the criteria I set out last month - which is that we either still need to be in the champions league or be competitive in the league come May 1st. The latter he’s on track to do, the former well I just don’t see how we repair the damage from last night.
I don’t buy into the oh well we’ve been out of the competition for so long stuff, bollocks to that…we are here to show we belong not to shit ourselves to an inferior Bayern team. No I don’t expect us to win the competition. What I saw of Bayern Munich lately…it was well within our capability to take them apart at the joints, but Arteta’s hubris and psychological weakness on the part of the players (which is ultimately attributable to the coach as well) has shafted us in one of the two competitions and it’s not even mid April.

[Mac76]

Was there last night and also just watched the highlights again

Our lack of a proper LB really hurt us last night, I assumed Tomi would start and while a fan of Kiwior he did struggle in what is not his natural position against a very good player in Sane. I wasn't surprised Kiwior was subbed at HT but again was expecting Tomi not Zin, who was typically awful, offering little in defence and equally as little in attack and giving the ball away frequently as usual - it surely means Tomi isn't sufficiently fit or even has excabeted his injury issues, which seems typical for him

Our LB position is one which Brighton (unsuccessfully) and Bayern (successfully) identified as a weakness and surely every team will do the same - it shows the folly of letting Tierney go

Brilliant goal from Saka but more generally it was another CL game where it felt ike the CL itself is something which makes us nervous, we never seem to be at our best

Raya on the first goal totally cocked up and it's disappointing when you consider he's supposed to be a safer option than Ram

Bayern's pel was a little soft but the Saka one wasn't really a good shout, it looks like he deliberately tripped himself up over Neuer's leg

I agree with whoever said somewhere here that Trossard and Jesus should start the away game, they have an assurance and confidence some of our other players seem to lack in these games plus are fresher.

We can still do this and if we can stay level in the away leg until near the end, we just keep it ultra tight then seek to win on pels

[Letters]

Raya on the first goal totally cocked up and it's disappointing when you consider he's supposed to be a safer option than Ram

I've heard people criticise Raya but I don't really think it was his fault.
His positioning was admittedly odd - way up the pitch when he didn't need to be - but I don't think that's what caused us to concede.
I'm more annoyed about the second one - we just let the player run and run, then chopped him down in the box. Then Raya went down so early all Kane had to do was pass it in. A mess all round.