Former Arsenal defender Matthew Upson has now taken aim at Mikel Arteta for the way he set his side up against Bayern Munich.
The Champions League quarter-final first-leg encounter between Arsenal and Bayern Munich on Tuesday night produced an interesting tactical battle.
On the whole, the Gunners will feel that they ought to have won the game. Both of the goals that Mikel Arteta’s side conceded were avoidable, and former Manchester United star Rio Ferdinand was shocked that Bukayo Saka was not awarded a penalty late on in the match.
Arteta will be frustrated that his side seemed to let the scale of the occasion get to them. Arsenal are competing at this stage in the Champions League for the first time in 14 years, and there were certainly nervy moments at the back for the hosts, especially in the first half.
How Bayern Munich punished Arsenal naivety
The German giants were ruthless in exploiting these errors, as they twice caught Arsenal on the counter-attack. In the first instance, a moment of confusion between Gabriel Magalhaes and David Raya led to possession being lost. Bayern Munich then quickly got the ball to Serge Gnabry who was able to find the back of the net against his former club.
Later on in the opening period, Leroy Sane beat Jakub Kiwior and Jorginho all too easily before being brought down in the box by William Saliba. Harry Kane buried the resultant penalty.
Things might have gotten worse before the break, too, but for Ben White’s exceptional recovery run and tackle on Sane in the box. White was the only Arsenal defender who seemed comfortable with the scale of the match in the first half.
All too often, when Arsenal were on the ball, they were over-eager to play forwards and advance in numbers quickly. This left them exposed and vulnerable to counter-attacks. With the pace of Gnabry and Sane, and the creativity and link-up ability of Kane, Bayern Munich were able to take advantage of these spaces as they opened up.
Arteta made changes after the break. The introductions of Gabriel Jesus, Leandro Trossard, and Oleksander Zinchenko helped the Gunners to settle and get back into the game. Trossard made Arsenal history with his goal. Arsenal fans were also impressed with the impact Jesus was able to have.
Matthew Upson questions Mikel Arteta tactics v Bayern Munich
Arteta may well now feel that he got some key tactical and selection decisions wrong ahead of kick-off. That is certainly the opinion of Matthew Upson.
Speaking on the BBC Football Daily podcast, the former centre-back said, “it was a bit of a different Arsenal, wasn’t it? You know, in all the build-up I was talking about how good they’ve been defensively, and then probably two mistakes, or two pieces of defending, that allowed the goals for Bayern Munich.”
“But I had a sense that the game almost suited Bayern…they could counter-attack, they’ve got players like Kane, and the wide players…I thought it really suited them and they countered brilliantly, looked a real threat. Arsenal wanted to dominate the ball, create all the opportunities.”