There can be no excuses after such a dismal, disheartening and pathetic second half performance from Arsenal as they were thrashed 5-1 on the night and 10-2 on aggregate.
A match against Bayern Munich presented Arsene Wenger and his side with an opportunity to salvage some pride, but instead turned into a repeat of the first leg result. Ten goals conceded in 180 minutes and seven consecutive seasons of failing to get past the last-16 in Europe’s elite competition confirms the Gunners’ mediocrity while providing further evidence of the gap between Bayern and Arsenal.
Protests before the game were targeted at Wenger with fans demanding that a contract offer for the Frenchman be withdrawn by Arsenal’s board. Tuesday night’s result certainly could sway Wenger’s decision not to sign a new deal and will go down as one of the worst nights of the manager’s career.
The attitude of the Arsenal players should also be questioned, with the likes of Alexis Sanchez seen smirking on the substitutes bench alongside Petr Cech. Everyone asked whether these players had it in the tank, and they duly obliged in confirming their tank is going on empty.
Carlo Ancelotti gave no mercy to Wenger’s side with the full strength line-up he selected but Arsenal’s excellent first half provided more of an illusion than a reality of their qualities.
The open spaces which Aaron Ramsey and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain were able to run into gave them ample opportunity to score and it could have easily been two or three-nil at the break if Olivier Giroud and Walcott converted their chances. Once again, Arsenal’s lack of finishing in the final third would come back to haunt them.
The turning point was Laurent Koscielny’s withdrawal, this time via a sending off rather than injury. There can be no complaints about the decision but the way in which Arsenal imploded will prompt those repetitive questions over how a team can fall apart so easily when changes occur in the game. Arsenal are lacking so much mentally and tactically and producing little on the pitch in 2017 - Wenger has to look at the situation and realise that he has taken the team as far as he can.
No ‘plan B’, no fight and no leaders. They may start to sound like cliches if you’ve been following Arsenal over the past few years, but this is a manager who is clearly running out of time to salvage some pride in what looks like the final weeks of his 20-year tenure. From one of the most competitive clubs in Europe to relative mediocrity, it's been a sad demise for a man who brought so much to the English game.
[Wheatley/Goal]
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