Theo Walcott highlighted the importance of being patient against top quality sides like Bayern Munich.
The Gunners defeated the Bavarian giants 2-0 at the Emirates on Tuesday night for their first win in this years’ UEFA Champions League, after an uncharacteristic, yet convincing performance that has perhaps put to rest claims that Arsenal do not approach important games “tactically”.
It was just one of those days when we had to be patient. We knew we were not going to have a lot of the ball and we had to go at them on the counter-attack.
The north London giants are often accused of focusing on their own game & disregarding opposition’s strengths & weakness – but the England international claims they did their homework before welcoming the German visitors.
You can’t just chase them – if you chase the ball you just get passed around and you are going to lose so much energy. There is no need to do that. Everyone did their jobs really well and I have to say Petr in goal was fantastic and made a number of very, very important saves.
Everyone worked really hard and deserved it.
Post-game statistics revealed that Gunners only enjoyed possession for approximately 30% of the entire game. Absorbing pressure when Munich were with the ball & reacting promptly to opportunities was part of the game plan, Theo reveals that it was all about timing.
You just have to bide your time. Once they lose the ball they pressure quite quickly. If you can counteract that first pressure you have a chance.
Walcott underlined the importance of victory over their highly rated opponents in what was essentially a must win game; that a win bodes well for the Gunners’ chances in Europe.
There was a lot of pressure on us, we knew we couldn’t lose but a win was a massive ask. The confidence is just flowing through the team at the moment, you can see that. Results show that and if we continue this you never now where it is going to take us – we are looking really strong.
