Ahh Monday’s, the vindictive and evil brother of the lethargic Sunday, how much more tolerable you seem to be when The Arsenal have had a good game. I suppose, given that you are also followed by a matchday Tuesday as well, that I should find you a little bit more agreeable. 

It almost feels like we haven’t had time to bask in Saturday’s 3-0 glow, doesn’t it? After all, thoughts are immediately turning toward the visit of Bayern tomorrow and the possibility of not only staring at the best striker in the world right now in Lewandowski, but also the prospect of our Champions League campaign being reduced to nought but dead rubbers. 

Perhaps, like the Capital One Cup North London Derby, I am trying to convince myself that this game doesn’t matter because if we lose then we can focus on the league. But deep down, I still dream that Arsenal can win the Champions League this season, so whilst I am trying to appreciate the value of no European football (we better hope Arsène throws the other games in the group because there’s no way the Europa league is a preferred option to none at all) distracting our assault on the league, I still would like us to defy the odds and qualify from the group stage.

I suppose the benefit of the stupidity of performances in our first two games, is that it is really quite clear what is needed tomorrow, with Le Boss stating as much by talking about how we have to be attack minded tomorrow night. Heh, I love the idea that Arsenal would be anything but under Wenger at home, but at least he’s made it abundantly clear what he will set out his team to do against the German Champions. The challenge will be to ensure that there are no headless chicken moments defensively and that we approach the game with enough balance between attacking fluidity and defensive solidity. If we can approach the game in the same smash and grab way we approached the United game, I’d be more than happy, and I’ll wager you’d feel the same too.

Just don’t hit the ‘go gung ho’ button on the team Arsène, because we’ll end up being ripped apart, and nobody wants to see that.

We have the ability to start quickly against Bayern; we’ve done it before a couple of seasons ago when Özil missed a penalty before Robben dived to get Szczesny sent off, so we know we have the tools to have a go at Bayern. We just need to show it.

Let’s hope the form of some of our star players comes off. We’ve got a few at the moment. Özil will want to impress against many of his international colleagues, Ramsey has found his scoring boots and Alexis will be Alexis. I’d expect Theo to get more time against a Pep Guardiola team and so he will look to find more pockets of space like the United game, whilst our fullbacks have been great all season. Monreal really is the epitome of consistency and I’ll bet Gibbs is cursing his luck at the moment. On the other side, Bellerin has been nothing short of a revelation, because his speed and prowess going forward is beginning to be matched by his improved defending. He’s managed to get through a few games now where Arsenal have been on the back foot and that has only been a good thing for his development. He’s always been good going forward, but it is those games against better opponents that he’s needed to convince everyone of his ability to be the long-term choice for Arsenal. He’s probably effectively ended Debuchy’s Arsenal career, but that’s life at a big club, so we have to accept that the Frenchman will be offski in January or May at least. But in Bellerin we will have a player who will mean that Debuchy’s absence is hardly felt at all. Tomorrow night is another chance for the Spaniard to test himself against some of the world’s best and I’m sure he’ll succeed in his endeavours.

Anyway, more of my before Bayern bleating tomorrow, so I’ll take my leave until then.