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With all the mind game nonsense that Arsene Wenger’s had to endure from the artist formerly known as the Special One of late, you could be forgiven for thinking the Arsenal boss is actually looking forward to facing one of the classiest manager’s on the planet in Pep Guardiola.
While you may not have to endure silly slights when you face a man like Guardiola, the problem is you do have to face one of the best football sides on the planet, something that Wenger may not be relishing quite as much as the post-match niceties.
Beating Bayern Munich isn’t impossible, Manchester City can testify to that, but it is difficult and if Arsenal want to avoid the sort of lesson Manuel Pellegrini’s men endured at the Etihad rather than at the Allianz Arena, then they’ll need some of their best players to produce their very best performances.
Here’s three Gunners who need to be firing on all cylinders- sorry, that was awful.
Arsenal shook up the world of football and no doubt their bank manager when they spent over £40 million on one of the most influential attacking midfielders in Europe. Ozil is arguably one of the few Premier League players good enough to play in Bayern’s midfield and while the likes of Toni Kroos, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Arjen Robben are among the best in the world, so is Arsenal’s German playmaker. Ozil has played his part in Arsenal’s progression through the Champions League group stages where his creativity has been paramount.
Per Mertesacker
“He’s too slow, he’s not cut out for the pace of the Premier League, Arsenal will never win anything with Mertesacker in defence.” These are the sort of quotes we’ve heard from some fans- mainly rival ones- regarding Arsenal’s German defender.
Maybe we should pay more attention to what Bastian Schweinsteiger has to say about his national team mate.
“Per has made them one of the most defensively solid teams in England – and they look to have addressed their problems,’“It was always going to take Per time to adjust to a new league.
“But now we see him for what he is which is one of the best central defenders in Europe with fantastic positional awareness and real leadership qualities.”
It’s not hard to see why Schweinsteiger raves about the Arsenal defender, Mertesacker has been outstanding for the Gunners in both the league and in Europe, where his passing in particular makes him a huge asset to Wenger’s side.
Mathieu Flamini
With Mikel Arteta suspended and Aaron Ramsey injured, Flamini could be one of the key midfielders for Wenger’s side. Flamini has been something of a revelation since returning to the Gunners and offers the defence the sort of protection that’s been missing, practically ever since he left Arsenal in 2008. The defensive midfield role is crucial against Bayern’s attacking forces and Flamini will need to show the same effective discipline he displayed in the Gunners win over Marseille at the Emirates in the group stages.
