Arsenal were left “exposed” in the middle and down below. No balls.

Arsene Wenger’s tactical philosophy seems to be assembling his XI to show up just before a match, hand them the ball, and tell them to go out and play. And then watch as they embarrass themselves beyond belief. Or in their case the great escape with a brace when it looked like they were going to be ripped apart by anywhere between a half dozen to a dozen. Dortmund were playing too without the services of Marco Reus, Mats Hummels, and Ilkay Gundogan, all starters for Juergen Klopp’s side. But it didn’t matter if Pee Wee Herman had suited up. This Arsenal side were that pathetic.

Mikel Arteta had a shocker of a match. The man was like this scene from High Anxiety. And every time we begin praising Jack Wilshere, lo and behold, back again to his self absorbed masturbatory ways. But it wasn’t just them, it was the whole side. At this point, does Wenger know what to do with Mesut Oezil? How many more days do we give him the benefit of being an enigma? Or maybe we’re just too thick to see his genius? And more to the question, is Wenger the right coach to actually bring out the best in Oezil? Wenger’s biggest blind spot is his lack of tactics and/or inflexibility. Over the years, we see a number of players who’re perhaps further away from their desired development because Wenger has shown himself to be tactically agnostic. Walcott, Wilshere, and Oxlade Chamberlain come to mind.

So when it came to stopping Dortmund we could not because we were never in control of the midfield. Arteta gave up the ball again and again. Ozil was left out on the flanks cutting a forlorn figure. Sanchez had an off day and Ramsey was once again a non-actor. Welbeck did try and muster a semblance of a goal presence but it wasn’t happening. Somehow, all of Arsenal conspired to melt away. They were lucky that Henrikh Mikhtaryan had a nightmare when it came to putting away the ball missing 4 golden chances. But there was Ciro Immobile belying his name, a thorn, twisting and turning, and seeing off the impotent Gibbs and Koscielny to whip his shot past Szczesny to the far post just before the half. Immediately after Dortmund added another through Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

In Arsenal’s previous seasons, Led Zep could sum up the usual. Dazed and confused, ramble on, the song remains the same. This year it might be. When the Levee breaks, gallows pole, 10 years gone.

The lowlights: