Why dropping Mesut Ozil might be Arsenal’s best chance of getting a result at Bayern Munich
Uncertainty reigns at Arsenal as they prepare for their latest Champions League meeting with Bayern Munich tonight.
Will Arsene Wenger sign a new contract, and what about the futures of Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez?
At the heart of it lies the fate of the manager, but it all feels a little unanswerable at the moment.
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Even if he has decided to leave in May, he can’t let on and risk Arsenal capitulating as Manchester United did when Sir Alex Ferguson floated his retirement in 2001-02.
The Gunners only seem to be one defeat away from a crisis, so the trip to Munich is huge.
They could do with taking some heat out of that situation, especially as the FA Cup tie against non-league Sutton is their only other game until next month.
Beating Hull at the weekend was a good result, after successive defeats to Chelsea and Watford, but it wasn’t a dominant performance.
Knives will be sharpened for Wenger if they lose badly at Bayern. All Arsenal can do to distract from all the uncertainty is to get results on the pitch.
Demanding Arsenal fans
Some of the criticism of Wenger has been harsh. Arsenal fans must be among the most demanding in the Premier League.
Losing to Watford was a costly blip, but it doesn’t take much to slip out of the title race, especially this season when Chelsea have been so strong.
Wenger has not let on whether he will stay at the club after this season (Source: Getty)
Would Gunners supporters be reacting similarly if a different manager – say Juventus coach Max Allegri, one of the favourites to succeed Wenger – had overseen the results of this campaign?
The margins are fine. You have to be careful what you wish for.
Bayern have fitness advantage
Wenger has also been unlucky to draw Bayern in the Champions League knockout stage for a fourth time in five years.
Arsenal’s squad is stronger now and there are lingering doubts about how this Bayern side matches the teams of recent seasons, but for all that they are seven points clear in the Bundesliga.
The Germans are also likely to be better in condition, having had a winter break, so I’d expect them to be feeling pretty good.
What tactics should Wenger use?
Arsenal need to be rock solid if they are to get something tonight, so Wenger has some tactical quandaries, not least whether to pick Ozil, who has waned lately.
This feels like the kind of game that could pass him by, and Munich isn’t an easy place to rediscover your form.
There’s a case to be made for dropping Ozil and switching to a 4-5-1 – packing the midfield with the strength of Granit Xhaka, Francis Coquelin and Mohamed Elneny to protect the defence from Bayern’s attacking riches – and countering with the pace of Sanchez and Theo Walcott.
Gunners can rise to occasion
I expect Arsenal to lose yet stay in the tie, but a draw would be a great result.
These players have risen to the occasion against Bayern before, beating them twice in recent years.
With huge implications on and off the pitch, how Wenger could do with them doing so again tonight.