Ever since Mills explained to us all how the concept of luck is one we ought to abandon I have attempted to remove it from the arsenal of verbiage which I bring to bear on these pages. The problem I’ve discovered is, as with all proscribed words, one simply finds new ways to say the same thing. As much as we can philosophically and logically dismiss the very existence of fortune we still perceive it weaving an arbitrary thread through our lives.
Allow me one illustration if you will. As I sit and write these words I am listening to the rain coming down in a steady, relentless effusion. This downpour was just getting into its stride as my daughter and I crossed the threshold of her driveway having taken our dogs on their morning constitutional. We had walked for the best part of an hour in unseasonally warm and above all dry conditions and agreed that we had dodged a bullet, been, if you will, extraordinarily lucky.
Yesterday evening, coming home from a valiant attempt to present a radio show through a stifling head cold, I wondered at the hand fortune has dealt Arsène this season. The brickbats he has received in the past for finishing second in the group stages of the Champion’s League have been as hysterical as they have been unwarranted. The simple fact is you have to beat some good teams to win any cup competition regardless of when you meet them.
So this season he delivers the first place finish demanded of him by the snotty nosed ingrates among his ‘fan’ base and what happens? The runners up in his group go on to meet the mighty Barcelona who, on last night’s evidence at least, appear a mere shadow of their former mighty selves. The one year when finishing second and facing the Catalans might have been a desirable outcome he has the rank bad luck to steer his side to a two legged tie with the wholly more efficient German champions.
Let’s pull no punches we have not been in the best form of late. As ever injuries and international duties have created instability at the heart of the midfield, these, combined with Xhaka’s suspensions are, I would hazard, at the root of our problems. We have, in spite of these issues, managed to grind out enough results to keep us in contention but against the real form team were found wanting.
So what does this all mean for tonight’s game? Clearly we can’t rely on luck but it would be nice and indeed useful to catch a few breaks this evening. We’re playing one of the tournament favourites at their own ground whence very few foreign teams return victorious. Bayern have, in their last five matches conceded only one goal and scored eleven. No one is underestimating the scale of the hill we need to climb tonight.
So let’s look on the positive side. They can be beaten. Dortmund, Rostov and both the Madrid sides have done so this season. Arsenal has beaten them in this very competition and in Munich to boot. Olivier Giroud scores against Manuel Neuer for fun. When facing two legged tie I always feel happier playing away from home in the first match. Come back with a goal and then a draw or a narrow defeat is anything but a disaster.
Whatever happens banish all thoughts that it might have been us thrashing Barcelona last night and remember that this is only the preliminary. Nothing will be decided after the final whistle, we shall be at half time with everything still to play for on March the seventh.
Above all remember that no matter how unconvincing we’ve been in the league recently we still possess some of the finest players in the world and one of if not the finest manager in the world. No one gave us a chance in any of the great historic European nights in our history so why should we pay any attention to the negative ninnies who write us off before a ball has even been kicked? Remember these are the same voices who predicted with total confidence that we had blown our chance of topping the group in the first place. They were wrong then and they can be wrong again tonight.
If you are travelling to München or have already arrived then may I recommend the Augustiner Keller which can be a whole lot of fun even in the cold weather. If like me you can’t manage to get away to watch the match in person then you can always recreate the atmosphere by having your family members dress in shorts and braces and splash you with Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissebier while delivering a lusty chorus of Hände zum Himmel. If nothing else it might drown out or at least distract you from the awful commentary in which BT Sport so prides itself.
Wherever and however you are watching I hope you have an enjoyable experience and that the result sets us up for an exciting second leg. My prediction is a three nil away win with Ospina saving a penalty and Giroud scoring all three goals. Whatever the score though, I won’t be unhappy to see a return to ‘Lucky Arsenal’ in tomorrow’s headlines. Has a certain ring to it don’t you think?
Positively Arsenal 
HT: Real Madrid 1-1 Napoli
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I agree with Ranty that was fun!
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afcstuff@afcstuff
No Arsenal player made more tackles in the first-half vs. Bayern than Mesut Özil. [@jamesbenge] #afc
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Positively Arsenal @Blackburngeorge 3m3 minutes ago
Danny for Iwobi and ElNeny for Coq, would be my subs on 55 minutes.
Easy job managment
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Ospina has been shot
Gabriel on for Koscielny, big loss
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Gibbs is now captain
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far too fucking easy for bayern, 2-1
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Come on you Gunners!!! Hang in there!!!!!!
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3-1, fucks sake, out of nothing, everyone ball watching,
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need elneny and welbeck on now.
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COYG your still the come back kings this season…
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Xhaka booked
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all over the place at the place at the back,
bayern whinging like little bitches too
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ospina makes a fine save at a corner.
if we are not careful we will be out of this tie before the second leg. Need to dig in
as I write Bayern make it 4-1, shot deflects in off xhaka, falling apart here
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we need changes before its too late.
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F*ck
Losing Kozza a bit of a blow there,
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shit!
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They’re quite good at the moment
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65 minutes – Walcott on for Iwobi
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If only Eddie Hapgood was still available
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COYG!!!!! think of the away goals…
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another Arsenal goal would totally change the look of this tie
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we can’t string three passes together, lost count of the number of times we have overhit simple passes
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75 minutes – Giroud on for Coquelin
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Arsene Wenger FC @theiconic14 6m6 minutes ago
In 70 minutes Coquelin has completed 5 passes. You are reading that right, 5 passes. That’s less than everyone else including Ospina
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we can’t make a simple ten yard pass, awful stuff
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ospina with a good save
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lahm booked and out of the second leg
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good run by walcott, gets a corner
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pathetic defending, a complete shambles, ox fucks up on edge of the area, loses the ball, and its 5-1
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Have we thrown the towel in then?
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FT: 5-1
pathetic performance, riddled with mistake after mistake, especially in defense. Everyone of the goals involved major defensive mistakes.
Sadly as skilled as these players are, they can not cope with the pressure and crumble too easily when things are going poorly for us. So many simple passes went astray under no pressure.
the team have let the club, the manager and the fans down.
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We didn’t pressure their midfield at all. Ozil was absolutely awful today. What a shame that this is the way we end our CL campaign. After this, I don’t know how Arsene stays. What a fucking disaster. Sad, sad day.
It’s time the team did a little spring cleaning as well. Ox and Ozil need to find greener pastures. I don’t want to see either of them dressed in an Arsenal shirt next season.
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WTF
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Coquelin never made a tackle and only completed 5 passes in the 70 minutes he was on the pitch.
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The thing that makes me really sad is the pressure thats now on the Sutton game. Poor Arsène. How is he going to deal with all this and turn it around? Hes going to be the scapegoat as always and the extremists will be out in full force tonight,–personally I hope we thrash Sutton ten nil and go on too win the FAC.Bugger the romance of the cup and what the owners of the Sun want.
Tough night for all Arsenal fans, the lads and the manager.
I thought we might stay in the game after HT, and certainly once Kos went off we were like another side.One Ospina will certainly want to forget…
Oh Fickle Fortune! We know what thou art…
COYG!!!!!!!!!
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It’s astonishing how they carved us apart just by playing Alonso and Vidal a bit back. Alexis kept on screaming for support in pressing, but Ozil and Ox just chilled back. That’s not good enough. They let Arsene down big time.
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sadly big changes needed at Arsenal, be that players, manager or both. But it has to change. we are not able to handle the pressure. For me the players are the biggest problem, they are not as good as we thought they were, and probably not as good as a lot of them think they are. That game was handed to Bayern, for several seasons now, especially in the big games, once things go wrong, the players lose their heads and a game goes from one down, to an embarrassing defeat.
our players bitching at each other, while not one of them was playing well enough to cast the first stone, was shameful. We even had Mustafi bitching at Bellerin and when he looked back he himself had missed the run of a bayern player who scored.
for once wenger should throw the players under the bus tonight. call them out on it publicly, what has he to lose at this stage.
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Positively Arsenal@Blackburngeorge
In the end it has to be Arsene. If the players are not good enough to play his style, he should adapt it. But he hasn’t.
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edu, everybody like to have a go at coq just like they do to ramsey and ocasionally, iwobi. why? they didnt cost us a fortune. coq was in the game. he was the one being fouled by bayern, he didnt hide and did cover spaces. but what about our luxury players? those that cost millions. coq should just find a new club and lets see who comes in to save the club!
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from the amount of bitching at each other I very much doubt many of our players would acknowledge that it was there fault, and that they let the club down. It was everyone else’s fault.
Wenger should have walked after the second FAC, and not stayed for this shower of knobs to let him down so badly.
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we had a chance to go 2-1 up at the end of the 1st half. what happed? we missed it! no one will talk about that because it wasnt coq or giroud.
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Good God even here? I don’t despair of the team but I certainly do of its fans.
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There will be no towel throwing here
Battered by a very good Munich side tonight who emphasised the difference between the PL and the best in Europe – unlike PSG earlier in the CL they took their chances.
Regroup, focus on the next game, recuperate, get on with it. When you find yourself going through footbal hell, keep going.
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layksite, coquelin fucked up big time on the first goal, where was he going, we have been watching Robben cut inside on to his left foot to shoot for over a decade now, and coq, goes for the right. Coq won no tackles, and made only 5 passes, that is passenger levels.
Yes layksite, our big money signings let us down too, ozil and alexis were poor, mustafi was whinging at ox, while an attacker strolled into our area to score. ox awful, xhaka poor, iwobi lost, bellerin and gibbs not near their best.
Ospina about the only player who was at the level needed, and that despite 5 goals let in.
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Positively Arsenal @Blackburngeorge 18m18 minutes ago
OK, there really is no point Arsene staying, the team needs major surgery, Let someone else wield the knife.
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every big games that arsenal have won in recent years, coq has been key, bayern, city, chelsea, name it. but just because ox has done ok in just two games, english media went to press condemning coq.
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Oooospina ?
Bloody hell – what an evening – he had probably not had a busier 90 minutes, made better saves, or ended up on a 5-1 beating.
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edu, what did ozil do on the first goal? coq was the only player shadowing robben. what happen whenever alexis have the ball in such position? two players cover him. ofcourse ozil is beyond blame right. coq and other second class players are suppose to do the dirty works right? i get it.
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seemingly Ox was the only Arsenal player to go to the AFC fans after the game, he gave his shirt to one of the fans.
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