Arsenal were spooked by Brighton defeat and have reverted to type - they won't beat Bayern Munich, says Paul Merson

The defeat to Brighton has scared Arsenal. After winning the league, they came out and played some entertaining football, but then that result happened and they’ve gone back to being an efficient machine.

It frightened them and they've reverted to type. And the type is that they won't let in any goals, and they'll make an opportunity to score a goal, and that's exactly what they did at Nottingham Forest.

I don't think I've ever seen a game where a team has that much possession and still doesn't look like scoring a goal in a month of Sundays. It was as bad as it gets.

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It's unbelievable how you can have that much of the ball and not look like scoring. I used to watch Arsene Wenger's teams and they would have 30 shots from that amount of play.

Other teams have seen the blueprint to play against Arsenal: sit back and defend. It's not hard. It's not like they're going to make 20, 30 chances. The wingers don't go past anybody. No one runs beyond the ball. The ball isn't being held up. There's no real movement.

I was blown away watching their performance against Forest. I know they won by not playing well, and that's a great sign, but at the same time I thought the shackles would be off this season and they would really start playing. Bruno Guimaraes has got to play in every game. He's the one who can pass the ball.

Arsenal won't beat Bayern

I just can't see how they beat Bayern Munich this week. If I was Bayern, I'd just open the game up and just say you have a shot, we have a shot because there'll only be one winner. Can Arsenal outscore teams?

This is a massive football match. This gives you a marker for where you are in the Champions League, because you just don't know how strong these leagues are.

I like Kai Havertz. He's a good footballer. But when the Bayern Munich centre-halves go to bed, is he giving them a sleepless night? Are they awake worrying that they're playing against Havertz?

X factor is what wins a Champions League and I don't see that at Arsenal. I don't see Havertz or Viktor Gyokeres as the difference-maker.

It's fine when you're playing against lesser teams, but it's different when you're playing against Europe's big boys. I still see Arsenal winning the league because I just think they just need one goal. I feel Manchester City need two goals every football game to win. Arsenal just need one and they'll win.

Eze might not make it at Arsenal

I've played for big teams and I've played for teams that weren't big - it's a different game. Eberechi Eze is a prime example. It's so, so different.

He was substituted at half-time against Forest, but if he played like that for Crystal Palace, he would still be on the pitch.

You've got to perform at Arsenal. You've got to play in a shape. You can't just play your own game. You can't be a free spirit at big clubs anymore.

At Palace, the team talk is 'give the ball to Eze, everything goes through him and then we'll work from there'. You go to Arsenal, there are four of them. Give the ball to Bruno. Give the ball to Bukayo Saka. Give the ball to Martin Odegaard. Give the ball to Declan Rice.

At Arsenal, he gets on the ball, and he's got to make things happen in the 25, 30 times he's touched the ball instead of the 100 times he touches the ball at Palace.

I've seen him try to nutmeg people on the edge of his own box at Crystal Palace and lose the ball, but it's alright. That's no disrespect to Palace, but it's just different playing for a big team.

The pressure is on week in, week out at Arsenal. They can win at Forest and they'll still get criticised by people like me. That's the difference.

I remember Aston Villa away last year. Eze falls asleep at the far post, Matty Cash scores and he gets subbed at half-time. He started only one league game in the next two months.

The lad can play. He's a lovely player, but I don't know if he'll be lovely for Arsenal. I don't know if he'll get the chance because as soon as he doesn't do well, he's off.

Arsenal have too many players on the bench, so it's easy to take him off. That's the problem.

(c) Sky Sports 2026: Arsenal were spooked by Brighton defeat and have reverted to type - they won't beat Bayern Munich, says Paul Merson