Same old story as Gunners exit

Yet another round of 16 Champions League exit for Arsenal following a humiliating 10-2 aggregate defeat against Bayern Munich.

In many ways it felt like the same old story for my beloved Gunners as we always seem to give ourselves too big a task after a poor first leg, and then perform valiantly yet still exit in the second.

At 5-1 down at the halfway stage in the round of 16 tie it was always going to need some kind of miracle to turn things around.

We performed excellently in the first half of the second leg and probably should have been 2-0 up at the break, but a poor refereeing decision stopped any chance of that. We started well at the start of the second half, but then after Laurent Koscielny's bizarre red card it all went horribly wrong.

Playing with 10 men is never easy, especially against the likes of Bayern, but how we just rolled over was embarrassing! Yes, red cards can make a big difference, but how on earth did we go from a side showing so much hunger and passion in the first half to completely imploding in the final 35 minutes. It was simply not good enough and we are far too Jekyll and Hyde! Even if we had been given the penalty and gone 2-0 up and even added a third, I still think Bayern goals would have been inevitable.

To lose 5-1 at home is awful and simply embarrassing no matter who it was against and Arsene Wenger and the players need to take a long hard look at themselves. Could that have been Arsene Wenger's last Champions League match in charge of the club? Although I will never forget what he did in his earlier years with us, we just seem to be going backwards this season and maybe it's time for a change. As much as I have stuck by Wenger in the past and, when the time comes for him to go I will remember the good times, maybe this summer is the right time to pass on the reigns to the next manager.

Whether it is this summer or in a year or two that he actually goes there is no denying that there will be a hint of sadness at the end of an era, but all things eventually come to an end, so let's just focus on winning the FA Cup so he can end on a high. If he does stay I'll stick behind him or if a new man comes in I'll be 100% that guy too, but something must change and quickly.

Back to the second leg and if you look at the first half on its own we were excellent. Theo Walcott had a superb opening 45 minutes including scoring a goal to temporarily re-ignite the tie, but we just didn't take our chances well enough or respond in the right manner to going down to 10 men either. But regardless of this, when people look back at this tie in years to come not many will remember the good spells and will only really look at the result!

Arsenal had a chance to open the scoring after just 10 minutes when Walcott latched onto a superb long ball over the top. Unfortunately for the forward his first touch was slightly too heavy and allowed Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer to quickly come out and thwart him.

Chances continued to come and go for Arsenal as Olivier Giroud's header hit a post and went wide before Walcott's glancing header went out off Javi Martinez for a corner.

On another day we could have been a few up already, but we did finally get the break through after 20 minutes as Walcott thumped a powerful shot high into the net.

At the other end Robert Lewandowski was denied by David Ospina in the Arsenal goal, but it was the hosts who were creating the better chances. Arsenal were playing with a lot more hunger and urgency and maybe should have had a penalty when Walcott appeared to be fouled in the box by Xabi Alonso, but nothing was given. Had it been given and we'd scored to go 2-0 up the whole game could have been different, but we can't live for ifs and buts and that doesn't mask the fact of our poor first leg and how bad the final half an hour of the second leg was.

Walcott, who was excellent, latched onto a fine pass from Shkodran Mustafi before firing a shot into the side netting. Giroud sliced a shot wide and Alexis Sanchez's free-kick was comfortably saved by Neuer. Bayern also had decent chances in the first half, with Arjen Robben shooting straight at Ospina and Lewandowski somehow sending an effort wide of the far post when it looked easier to score.

At half-time I was delighted with the first half performance as we had shown great energy. We were playing as if we had something to prove, but unfortunately even at this point it was too little too late. We had given ourselves far too big a mountain to climb from the first leg.

The second half started brightly with Giroud heading over from Aaron Ramsey's cross, but the second leg all changed after 53 minutes. Laurent Koscielny was initially shown a yellow card following his nudge on Lewandowski in the box. I didn't have too much issue with the penalty, which Lewandowski scored, but my concern was with the unprofessional indecision of the officials. How the referee can give a yellow and then the decision change to red after consultation with other officials is ludicrous. It was all a bit of a mess and maybe if it had panned out differently we wouldn't have imploded quite as badly. Regardless of this there really can't be an excuse for what followed. We should have accepted the red card and focused on at least keeping the score down, but instead we just rolled over and got well and truly embarrassed for the final half an hour.

Ospina made a fine save to deny Lewandowski, but he could do nothing about Robben's close-range effort which put the result beyond any doubt. Lewandowski then hit a post before Douglas Costa curled in Bayern's third of the night. A cheeky finish from Arturo Vidal made it 4-1 before the Chilean tapped in his second to complete the rout.

Hector Bellerin came close to a consolation at the death, but his shot from the edge of the box and drifted just wide on what was a miserable evening for the Gunners.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Our Champions League dream is over for yet another year and, although it is possible to find some positives, it doesn't really provide any consolation for what was a woeful exit.

Two very credible draws with PSG and finishing top of the group should have given us more confidence than it did, but it was the same old story of a poor first leg that ended our hopes in an all too familiar fashion.

There is no shame losing to Bayern Munich, who are an incredible side, if we had played for the whole two legs like we did in the first half of the second. But we didn't and overall we were simply not good enough so the exit really was shameful, especially after conceding five in our own back yard.

MY FINAL THOUGHTS
How on earth do we react to a 10-2 aggregate defeat!? The season is fizzling out yet again, but the manager and the players need to remain professional and focus on the next game.

Champions League exits and poor league title challenges hurt, but if anyone says the FA Cup doesn't matter I'll argue against that point 100%. Yes we have a so-called easier tie in the quarter-final and yes it is against the city I live in, Lincoln, but if we were to lose this one I would be equally as gutted as I feel right now.

The League and Champions League are of course top priority and it is disappointing we are not doing better, but the FA Cup still matters to me a lot and I am expecting a massive reaction from the players.

Playing a lower league side can often be a potential banana skin, but without disrespecting our next opponents, who have a special place in my heart, there is absolutely no excuse for us not to produce a huge reaction and to win big at our own ground. Wenger and the players make sure you get us through to the semi-finals! No excuses!

COME ON YOU GUNNERS