MINI SCOUTING REPORT ON KEY PLAYERS
Arsenal vs Bayern Munich. A top of the Super League afternoon. Arsenal win and we are on 15 points, enough to qualify for the latter rounds last year, giving us three games to accrue enough points to finish in the top eight and miss that really annoying pre-round that hits in February.
It was not the best of evenings for English teams last night. Man City fell to Bayer Leverkusen, which was a real shock. Newcastle were beaten by Marseille, two goals from Auba. Spurs play PSG this evening, a game that could be a real spanking. Liverpool play PSV, a game they might have a chance in.
The Arsenal game, without doubt, is the most watchable of the evening. It is quality top to bottom. The best striker in the world right now against the best defensive unit in existence. The football will be exciting. Bayern do not actually know what a back five is and there is no way their fans would tolerate anything outside an all out attacking blitz. Not many teams come to play Arsenal these days, not even Man City, so it will be interesting to see how we duel with them.
I am looking forward to seeing how we overpower them physically. It is underrated how beastly Arsenal are man for man. I think we will have more power in almost every position. I am also interested to see how we approach them from an open play attacking perspective.
If Bayern have any weakness, it is from set pieces. Harry Kane is whining about the trend in the media before the game.
“Watching the Premier League is probably a little less enjoyable than what it has been in recent years, to be honest, but that is kind of the evolution of football.”
“Sometimes it comes in like this and that is the case this year. Arsenal have capitalised on that and are a really strong set plays team.”
I honestly cannot comprehend how any fan is like, damn, I hate that every free kick, corner and throw now has a higher potential of resulting in a goal. So boring. Wouldn’t it be better if those set pieces were worse?
Man played under the sufferball of Mourinho and Conte and wants to cast insults at how Arsenal play? Give over my friend. You would love to play in this current Arsenal system. It would be a feast. I truly hope we give them nightmares this evening with long throws, low punched corners, and dastardly free kicks from distance. I loved those Bukayo free kicks the other night. Diagonal crosses disguised as shots. Some real two for one magic there.
Bayern were dreadful for the opening 20 minutes against Freiburg at the weekend. The German minnows had scored 54 percent of their goals from set pieces and scored two early on and nearly landed a third. The first one was a near post flick to the back post. They had a free kick looped in that was totally missed by Upamecano and Tal, then they conceded a second with a simple, unchallenged back post header.
But Bayern did go on to score six goals as a response. Pretty harsh. Though it is always worth reminding people that the financial difference between clubs in Germany is far more pronounced. The have nots really have nothing. Freiburg’s shirt deal is €5m a season, Bayern’s is €60m. Bayern spend €430m on wages, Freiburg spend €88m.
What I am trying to say here is Bayern are not often pushed by the smaller teams in the Bundesliga. It is not as competitive. That gives them more freshness compared to us in my opinion, which is something we do not really talk about. But needless to say, they have some good players.
A few years back we were glazing the Gnabry hype machine with wonderful thoughts of reuniting him with his home club. He was a €90m player at his peak, now he is 30, he is worth €22m and he is not the hot property he once was. They have two players we are going to have to keep quiet this evening.
The first one is Michael Olise who, as we know all too well, is very f*cking good. I knew he was talented, but I did not think he was capable of the world class levels he now demonstrates at Bayern. He has 12 goals and 12 assists in 23 appearances so far this season. He is irrepressible. Great on the ball, a tight space machine, and pure bang BANG.
They also have their very own version of Max Dowman. Seventeen year old Karl Lennart. The attacking midfielder who can play centrally or on the right has been lighting up Germany. He is fantastic on the ball, he has a strike on him, he is very quick, and the Germans are going nuts for him.
We will have to keep this man under lock and key this evening. Bayern have surrounded Harry Kane with tricky technicians whose main job is to find a slower Kane once over 90 minutes so he can contribute his standard goal a game.
It will be Jonathan Tah and Upamecano at the back for Bayern. No doubt, good defenders, but it is not at the level we are used to at Arsenal. I suspect Arteta will enjoy probing those two for weaknesses this evening. Being a Bayern defender is easy. They are rarely tested. I hope we go in for the kill and rattle them.
I suspect Arteta will rest Calafiori and maybe Trossard for this game. Outside that, I cannot see him wanting to let someone he coached get the better of him. This game is personal. Bayern have bullied Arsenal for years. He will want to kill our euro boogeyman and send out a warning message to the rest of Europe.
Cannot wait for the game. We will be going LIVE after with me and Matt Kandela. Sub up if you want this podcast in your ears. This one is just for members. x
Blog## ⚡ ON THE WHISTLE | 🇩🇪 BAYERN MUNICH (H) | 💥 NORTH LONDON DERBY | MEMBERS
Pedro
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3:35 PM
⚡ ON THE WHISTLE | 🇩🇪 BAYERN MUNICH (H) | 💥 NORTH LONDON DERBY | MEMBERS
It’ll be a delicious evening of Arsenal analysis via Pedro and Matt Kandela.
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