Podolski's Arsenal redemption vs Bayern Munich – Time to unleash Lukas

After a shaky start and the predictable doom and gloom hysteria at the Emirates, a very new Arsenal team seems to have finally stabilised. In the past, no matter what was going on in the league, Arsenal have always looked different in Europe. Now however, with this new group of players, this is their first real chance to show their European hand. Bayern on the other hand are very firm favourites and for good reason. They’re flying in the Bundesliga, and with a 15 point difference and more than double the goal difference between them and second place Dortmund, the title, bar a miracle, is going to Bavaria. Having witnessed their fiercest rivals win back to back titles and finish second in every competition they entered last season including a home Champions League final, Bayern came back with a few minor additions from the transfer market, but also with a killer desire and a ruthless attitude.

Lukas Podolski must start this game. Podolski was once one of the brightest talents in Europe, and at the age of 21 secured a move to Bayern Munich. After getting off to a decent start, injuries saw him move down the pecking order, and eventually Podolski had to leave Bayern after mustering a measly 15 league goals after 71 league games. He moved back to Koln, and is even to this day much-maligned in the media for his spell at Bayern, with some even citing this as evidence while suggesting that he would flop at Arsenal. They branded Podolski a failure and suggested that he could never fit in at a big club. Whilst the man himself has played down the link and not commented much on his time there, after starting on the bench for the last three games Podolski must be chomping at the bit for a game, and it seems like Wenger may have planned this one out perfectly.

Despite our apparent problems at the back, Bayern’s list of viable centre-back options is not very long either. It will be difficult for their coach Heynckes to finalise a strong back line. With Badstuber out for what seems to be the remainder of the season, 2 out of Boateng, Van Buyten and Dante have been playing in the league. However, with Boateng suspended for the Arsenal game after receiving a straight red in the final game of the group stages, Hynckes may opt to play Javi Martinez at centre-back and plug Luis Gustavo into midfield. Whatever Bayern decide to go with at the back, it certainly won’t be totally familiar to them, with 2 first choice players missing. I think we all saw in the England vs Brazil game that Dante is not the strongest, and Van Buyten, at 35, is certainly not the player he once was. The challenge for the Gunners is to be at their best from the first whistle, and play with pace.

Unlike at the back, the options are there for Arsenal in attack, and one of them would be to start Aaron Ramsey in place of Mikel Arteta. It’s a risk given the defensive stability Arteta adds, but there doesn’t seem to be much of that around at the Emirates any more. Arteta’s focus and determination seems to be to his detriment, as his focus is on being in the right defensive position, while his less-risky approach with the ball is sometimes a hindrance. Aaron Ramsey is more forward thinking, and is an iron-lungs type of player, meaning he can contribute to the team in attack but also have the pace to get back and be in the correct defensive positions. This will be an important for Arsenal on Tuesday, as Bayern are much more comfortable controlling the play and having more possession. So it’s imperative that Arsenal attack Bayern from the off and ensure that they play football that is uncomfortable for their opponents and force them to try and counter.

Counter-attacking is not one of Bayern’s strongest points, as they have players who are much more suited to having the ball and lots of it. In the Bundesliga so far, they have had 63.9% possession and have only scored 8 of their 57 goals on the counter. However, if there’s anything we’ve learned about Arsenal in the past week, it’s the fact that they are unpredictable. Having been knocked out in two competitions by lower league opposition despite being comfortable favourites, it remains to be seen how they handle the tag of underdog.