If we played to our best and went out to a narrow defeat I could accept it.
But whilst we’ve been edged out in a fairly close tie by a team with some individual quality and a good deal of experience to get them over the line, we barely showed up to the leg and we’re miles off our best.
Odegaard as ever was putting in the effort and trying to make things tick.
Martinelli wasn’t great but I think he had a positive outlook in an attacking sense. He doesn’t give in or look overawed by the occasion. Very poor defensively for their goal but generally did some really strong tracking back to help Tomiyasu out.
Saka to me looks like he can let the occasion get to him. I don’t see that same hunger and directness in him that I see in Martinelli. A lot of work defensively too, but for a talisman he doesn’t carry the same perception of threat the likes of Musiala or Sane do in games like this.
Havertz didn’t offer much and we need to move beyond him in midfield. I’m not one for tinkering about with lineups and mad formations but we’d have been better with him staying up top and Trossard or even Saka sitting infield.
Jesus and Trossard were poor subs and poor showings.
White just looks off colour to me. Unlike him to give their man the space and time to get the cross in for the goal, and Bayern played around him and Saka at times like very few other teams have been able to.
No impetus or desire in the second half. We were too slow and made it easy for Bayern. Played about in front of them and didn’t look to cause problems. One, two, three minutes to go and we’re still playing it across and slowly through White, Saliba, Gabriel, Rice. Shouldn’t have been lumping it in against three centre backs from there but we had to be sharper and get it wide.
Few get pass marks past Odegaard and the CBs for me, but it all comes down to Arteta. Team looks drained physically, fearful mentally and clueless when it comes to compete with teams on a more even, or better, technical level. It’s almost like when our usual plan A doesn’t work we get scared. People have been doubling up on our wide men for long enough now that the team, and individuals, should be able to react. That’s emblematic of our wider problems though.
And yet again, a mini spell of poor results. A draw followed by two losses. Arteta again unable to pick this team up and stop an initial poor result turning into a mini-crisis.
