Arsenal had a no good, very bad, awful, terrible, rotten day in Bavaria. Bayern Munich were frustrated and they decided to not only punch Arsenal, but beat them until they were black and blue, missing significant teeth, and bleeding out of their orifices. It was ugly. It hurt watching the game from 4,000 miles away. I looked in the mirror after the game and found that I had a black eye. All I could do was mutter to myself “Thomas Muller…”
Arsenal are not eliminated from the Champions League, not by a long shot. Losing to Bayern Munich had to hurt the confidence a bit but this Arsenal squad is too good to stay down on themselves. They have a Premier League title to win after all. Plus, next up is Tottenham. Don’t make me play sound clips from Jack Wilshere.
But before we leave Bayern Munich’s heartless thrashing by the wayside, let’s dig into it. What did we learn? Every match teaches us at least five things and this one is no exception. How could a team that Arsenal beat 2-0 come back and dismantle us 5-1? Was it really just a matter of them switching on?
It was not the usual squad for Arsenal. Per Mertesacker and Gabriel were questionably paired together and Mathieu Debuchy was given a go as well. Joel Campbell found the pitch too but despite a hard-fought affair, the Costa Rican was unable to make headway. Then again, who was?
Arsenal struggled and in struggling, there are lessons to be learned. The same goes with failures. And this was a failure.
So let’s get started with the first thing we learned. The first one involves our little Spaniard.

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<p>Cazorla found himself in two pristine chances to score against Bayern Munich. The first one involved a brilliant flick-on pass by Olivier Giroud. Cazorla had only Manuel Neuer to beat as the defense was baffled. Unfortunately, Cazorla’s tame attempt was turned away by Neuer with ease.</p>
<p>The second was more embarrassing. Cazorla found himself waiting on a perfect ball into the box that he was going to take a hack at. Hacking is the best very to describe it. The Spaniard kicked it straight up and received mocking applause from the crowd.</p>
<p>Cazorla has not scored this year. Last year he scored seven times. Six were penalties.</p>
<p>The midfielder must learn how to score because he is turning into a liability in front of goal.</p>
<p>Next, we talk about more threats in front of goal.</p>
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<h3 style="font-size:34px;">4. Arsenal’s offense is actually very dependable</h3>
<p>Despite the scoreline, and I won’t repeat it (it hurts my eyes) Arsenal’s offense actually looked very threatening. I hate to do things like count missed chances, but if you consider Mesut Ozil’s shouldered goal, Cazorla’s two golden chances missed and Giroud’s actual goal, Arsenal had four legitimate chances. Plus a few that I surely missed.<div class="related-category right">
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<p>Arsenal’s offense stood up and gave Bayern Munich’s defense a run for their money. That is not something to be taken lightly. On the counter, the Gunners looked potent. Even the announces kept noting that it was Arsenal offense that has kept the game from looking like a completely on-sided beating.</p>
<p>What makes it even better is that Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez were not at the top of their game today. They were good but not world-beaters. Joel Campbell had a decent game too. But it was Olivier Giroud that carried the offense this time. For an offense like this to be able to diversify who they rely upon depending on the match is a tremendous resource to have.</p>
<p>To add a statistic to the awesomeness, Olivier Giroud and Mesut Ozil lead the Premier League as a duo of goal scoring domination (via <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2015/11/05/arsenal-vs-bayern-munich-5-things-we-learned/"http://metro.co.uk/2015/11/03/stats-show-arsenals-mesut-ozil-and-olivier-giroud-are-premier-leagues-most-potent-combination-5478663/">the Metro</a>).</p>
<p>Speaking of Olivier Giroud, let’s award him with a new adjective on the next slide.</p>
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<h3 style="font-size:34px;">3. Olivier Giroud is elite</h3>
<p>Yep. I said it. For about the seventeenth time, and <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2015/11/05/arsenal-vs-bayern-munich-5-things-we-learned/"https://paininthearsenal.com/2015/11/05/olivier-giroud-became-elite-for-arsenal-against-bayern-munich/" target="_blank">the second time today</a>. Olivier Giroud had a standout performance against Bayern Munich. No matter what criticism you heap on Arsenal from their atrocious affair, that heaping should not be heaped on Olivier Giroud. That is just too much heaping.</p>
<p>Giroud stood up to the Bayern Munich defense and held his own. Swapping blows with Jerome Boateng is no easy endeavor but Giroud came out the victor more times than not. He looked potent on the counter-attack, which had to have Theo Walcott sweating. He led the team in key passes, creating two of their five (via <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2015/11/05/arsenal-vs-bayern-munich-5-things-we-learned/"http://www.whoscored.com/Matches/1017506/LiveStatistics/Europe-UEFA-Champions-League-2015-2016-Bayern-Munich-Arsenal">WhoScored.com).
<p>Simply put, Olivier Giroud carried this offense and was the catalyst that made it look powerful even up against a Bayern Munich defense.</p>
<p>Next, we shift to the other end of the pitch, where the game was lost.</p>
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<h3 style="font-size:34px;">2. Arsenal’s defense is all about communication. </h3>
<p>The back line was composed of Mathieu Debuchy, Per Mertesacker, Gabriel Paulista and Nacho Monreal. That is a lot of talent and experience all mashed together. But that is precisely how it turned out, like a bunch of strangers mashed together.<div class="recent-posts ">
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<p>Right off the bat, it was mentioned that Per Mertesacker and Gabriel Paulista have not spent much time together. That became apparent from the start. The initial Robert Lewandowski goal was the result of Gabriel losing track of the most dangers man on the pitch.</p><div class="widget fs_ads"> <div class="fs_ad_widget-ad" style="margin:0 auto; width: 300px;"> <div class="fs-ll-ad" data-ad-type="minutemedia_slideshow_inline_300x250__desktop__tablet" data-vendor="minutemedia">
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<p>Mathieu Debuchy and Nacho Monreal were exposed a bit at times too.</p>
<p>Granted, a lot of that comes down to Arsenal having to press forward more when the game got further and further out of reach. But the fact remains the same. Arsenal’s defense is not composed of eight interchangeable pieces. There is a formula to this defense and it has to be the communication.</p>
<p>Finally we close with the man who was made to suffer from that defense.</p>
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<h3 style="font-size:34px;">1. Petr Cech can’t do it all</h3>
<p>Shocking. It is also shocking that we had to learn this but we really did. Sheffield United may have hinted at it but Bayern Munich really enforced the point. A world class, elite keeper is not enough to keep clean sheets. It sure helps. Cech has saved Arsenal numerous points already this year.</p>
<h4>Related: <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2015/11/05/arsenal-vs-bayern-munich-5-things-we-learned/"https://paininthearsenal.com/2015/11/04/arsenal-v-bayern-munich-player-ratings/" target="_blank">Arsenal vs Bayern Munich Player Ratings</a></h4>
<p>But without a cohesive defensive unit, even Cech can look helpless.</p>
<p>The Czech keeper had a really good game. The shots that hit the back of his net were fairly out of his reach. That will happen when you play a menagerie of world-class players in their front yard.</p>
<p>Arsenal being reminded of Petr Cech’s mortality could benefit them in the long run. The defense has to be more responsible following a massive lack of usefulness.</p><!—pageview_candidate—>">