I would have loved to have seen us rip out the handbrake and throw it out the window then sprint after Bayern Munich players from the first whistle to the last, crunching into tackles, playing high up the pitch and move the ball quickly. It would have been a great test but the reality is that to put that much input into a game you are going to pay for it. We know how much attention Arsene

From the murmurings floating about the place it seems as if Arsene Wenger has thrown on his pragmatic hat and has decided to abort mission impossible and instead opt for mission high speed chase. The match against Swansea seems to be the priority and I can fully understand the thinking behind it. I would have loved to have seen us rip out the handbrake and throw it out the window then sprint after Bayern Munich players from the first whistle to the last, crunching into tackles, playing high up the pitch and move the ball quickly. It would have been a great test but the reality is that to put that much input into a game you are going to pay for it. We know how much attention Arsene puts into sports science and it appears that two full days recovery isn’t enough, especially against a side who have been swinging back and forth in their hammocks all week.

@cyhmk from twitter sent me a very interesting article that goes into further detail about recovery time and I think it is worth a look.

We are facing arguably the form team in world football in their own back yard tonight who happen to have a two goal advantage over us. We have to score three goals against a team that have barely conceded more than that all season. We are not in our best form ourselves either plus Jack Wilshere is injured and Nacho Monreal is cup-tied. It is more than an uphill battle and I see our manager is getting pelters for not being ambitious enough, for not going for it.

I think the following tweet sums it up quite well.

@arsenalvision Hahah remember when we lost to Bayern and AW got slated for playing weakened team in FA Cup because ‘we would lose anyway.’

— uselessrightfoot (@goonerhead1) March 13, 2013

I read a few people criticising Arsene for not going for it yet said exactly what Goonerhead1 said above post Bayern in the first leg.

As I said above, I would have loved to have seen us go for broke but I fully understand the need to manage the squad and the importance of getting back into the top four places. I am wondering if Arsene has a little game plan up his sleeve just as we did the last time we went to the Camp Nou.

Defend for our lives, keep it tight, especially considering that Bayern have no need to go gung-ho in search of goals and then go into the second half on the attack. Throwing on Theo Walcott (assuming the rumours are true) against tired legs and bang on the door until we score 3 in the last 15 minutes. Ummm now I think of it.

Anyway, it will be great to see Kieran Gibbs back in the side. He has been a little forgotten about now that we have Monreal but Gibbs has been one of our best players this season. We would have beaten Bayern 5-0 with him in the first leg. Oh and we are likely to see both Rosicky and Koscielny playing tonight so that suits me down to the ground.

Mean Lean’s Predicted Line Up:

IHAVENTGOTABLINKINGCLUE

I do hope for a good game of football and who knows Arsene may be playing with everybody and we could see our best available side tonight. Just try and enjoy the game.