What to make of that? (Positives Needs & Hopes)[ARS 2-2 BAY]

What to make of that?

An Arsenal blog from a coach’s perspective

I wasn’t expecting that.

After rattling off 19 reasons why Arsenal are wicked brilliant just a couple of days ago, we were not close to wicked and only showed baby flashes of brilliance. Perhaps I needed to watch Arsenal in the CL before I turned the TV on tonight. If we are being fair and honest, Arsenal have been a very different adjective in the CL than the PL. In the PL we have been ‘impressive’ and ‘very good.’ In the CL we have been ‘unconvincing’ and ‘inconsistent.’ Some very good results against, Lens, PSV and Sevilla and some poor performances and results against Porto, PSV and Lens.

That performance and result sat right in between those mentioned above. Not good, not bad, but definitely inconsistent and unconvincing.

I’d forgotten. I’d expected a continuation of the fantastic PL form and actually thought that two or three nil was actually the most likely outcome. I’m really not sure what to make of that.

My best guess is it’s mental. I like to have firm opinions ordinarily but that is based on evidence that I can see. To be able to state that the issue is mental is guesswork because unless the coach tells us it is, we cannot say as this is impossible to be sure of. Did Raya come out because he was edgy? Maybe. Did Gabriel give Kiwior a slightly inaccurate pass because he was panicking? Perhaps. Why did Kiwior play it first time? Is he ‘unsuited to bigger games.’ Not fair for me to say. Rice missed a tackle for the second goal amongst others. Is he too edgy on CL nights? Could be. He never misses those. I don’t mind to guess and I will but only if it’s asterixed by saying that it’s simply a guess.

I think that the team started well. As did Bayern. We settled quickly and deserved the lead. Then my guess is that there was a period where we looked like we were mentally sliding down an icy hill and needed to hit a rubbish bin so we could stop breathe and reconsider. I think that this started at the sliding doors moment in the game when Ben White missed a fairly simple chance. I think we started to doubt. Gabriel and Saliba looked edgy and then the first goal and its catalogue of ‘what’s going on’ moments saw the slide accelerate. I think Raya made Gabriel nervous who probably should’ve left it to Raya who was facing his team. Due to that, Gabriel got antsy and passed it to Kiwior before he had to. Both were off balance.

The same on the second goal. One mistake affects the mind of another as we continue sliding down the icy hill onto oncoming traffic. The traffic was a good way away, but we panicked. Again, one player’s mistake freaks out the next and so we continue skating down the hill when the accident didn’t even look possible.

I’ve come to this conclusion because I compare the edgy display of accomplished players like Gabriel and Rice to Jesus and Zinchenko. When they came on they didn’t have skates on. Their two adjectives were ‘comfortable’ and ‘fearless’.

I rarely say this but I think Mikel picked the wrong team.

Both of those players have far more CL experience and tonight was arguably Arsenal’s single biggest game for over a decade. Jesus in particular hasn’t just played without nerves, he has been one of the stars of the competition to date. He was likely chomping at the bit about tonight but was made to wait. It was Zinchenko, to establish control, or Tomi to cope with Sane, but not Kiwior. I think that the lack of control added to the nerves. Rice should’ve been moved to the base of the midfield much earlier to combat the 3 v 3 transitions that were frequent.

Arteta might honestly be well advised to bring in a sports psychologist before the second leg to give the players the mental tools to be able to transfer their PL form to next Wednesday.

Arsenal are, alongside Inter and Leverkusen, the in form teams in Europe. I don’t EXPECT Arsenal to win the CL but what an amazing opportunity we have whilst in such good form.

POSITIVES:

Jesus:

I’d be stunned if he didn’t start the second leg. Some players just come alive in certain settings. I remember thinking that Darius Vassell and Peter Crouch always looked better for England than in club football. Harry Maguire shouldn’t be playing for England because we can’t play a high line when he plays. He does however play much better for his country than his club. Same for Jordan Pickford. ‘

I hope Arteta recognizes that Jesus and Zinchenko need to play in Munich. I’d play Zinchenko next to Rice in a double pivot and play much like we did against City. Everybody including Bayern seems to find it near impossible to get into our box this season and without Boey, Davies and playing DeLigt and Dier, it would be wise to counter. You might remember what an absolute menace Jesus was in Seville when we countered.

Finally, his awareness of Trossard’s position when his head was down was top quality.

Saka:

He was our biggest threat. Against a defender just as fast and strong was a new challenge but he rose. His goal was inevitable for a clever player. I could see it before he hit it. A clever player was always going to use Dier as a shield to bend it around.

Trossard:

Leo Trossard is a very interesting player. He isn’t necessarily a first string player with Arteta or the fans, but look back at how many times he has been the difference. That word is actually the best to describe him. He is so often ‘the difference.’ He is also the best finisher at Arsenal. He is also statistically the most productive sub in European football.

If you wonder why he is so good under pressure it is because he has elite composure at times when others have elite butterflies.

NEEDS:

Kane:

I do not like that I have to ever cheer him on for England. My dislike for Kane is because he is snide. Snide people are worse than vicious people. Has he ever been sent off for his two snide moves? His first snidery is his cheating in the penalty area. Never booked, never sent off for diving. Never. He could easily have been sent off at least 20 times in his career for nearly breaking the neck of many a centre back by backing into them when they are in mid air. Finally, everybody who has watched Kane v Gabriel before knows that he deliberately elbowed him. In the days pre-VAR, refs would be excused for missing the Kane-glance. With VAR there is zero excuse. If a player looks over his shoulder then throws his elbow, me thinks he meant to do it. It doesn’t matter how hard he did it because you can throw a punch and miss and get sent off for violent conduct.

Penalties:

You may have seen this moment on social media. I didn’t spot it during the game and the ref was napping too. Gabriel thinks that Raya is passing the ball to him so he can take the goal kick when it looks like Raya has already taken it. This would’ve been the single strangest mistake/misunderstanding in the history of big games. Whether Gabriel is unaware or not, this is probably a PK. I do like that the ref is clearly using common sense though because Gabriel has no advantage by doing this so it’s obviously an honest mistake.

The Saka PK appeal…. Here is the bottom line. The VAR (if they checked at all) seemed to look awful fast. That was clearly an incident that needed time to evaluate. On one hand Saka looks like he is throwing his leg into Neuer. Then when you watch from Neuer’s point of view, he lifts his leg off the ground and moves it towards Saka. Was Saka trying to jump over Neuer and that is why he moved his right leg? He is probably aware that at this speed he could hurt him. Whatever the truth is there is one indisputable truth…the ref should’ve gone to the screen to look. Too important not to.

I think that he was made aware of Gabriel picking up the goal kick and was evening it up. I’d lean towards saying that’s a PK simply because I’ve watched Saka not dive for 5 years and never lose it with the ref for 5 years, either. Ever. Why was he so irate if he was guilty?

Also, did Sane deliberately trip himself?

Headers: 

Can we not head uncontested headers straight to opponents. Repeatedly.

Martinelli:

Should we have utilized his pace v Kimmich more?

HOPES:

Second leg:

I’m with Chris. Rice is needed for transition. Gabby J has to play and Havertz can play eight. Martinelli as impact sub with Trossard on the left.

5 days off:

We may have 3 games a week all of April  but we do have 5 days off before we play Villa.

Guerreiro and Gnabry:

Gnabry has a hammy and is out next Wednesday and Davies is banned. This leaves Saka against Guerreiro who is a fantastic footballer but not got pace or strength like Davies. They may play Mazraoui inverted as Saka would spend most time dribbling on to the defender’s strong foot.

Joao Gomes:

I’ve been thinking that ideally we need to have Rice at 8 and at 6. Clone him!! If this fails, I think we need to sign an eight who can play as a six. I think I’ve found a really interesting option. Joao Gomes at Wolves has a very similar skillset as Rice. An all rounder. Fast, strong, technical, can run with the ball, strong both defensively and offensively, tackles well and often and is a threat in front of goal.

You may have seen him start against England in March. He then played against Spain, also. Not just anyone gets to start for Brazil. Whilst I’m talking about Wolves, I think we may go for Rayan Ait-Nouri as a left back option too.

I encourage you to watch this…

FINAL THOUGHT:

After re-reading my blog, I wonder if the nervousness amongst the team and fans both was down to the fact that adversity disappeared at Christmas. We haven’t had to deal with it recently, did it freak us out?

Mike McDonald

Former Highbury regular. Moved to TN, USA in ’99. Married with 3 kids. Coached in UK and US for 27 years.
Mike McDonald Soccer Academy in Morristown TN, Olympic Development coach, Regional Premier League Champion.