Joel Campbell Could Be Arsenal’s Secret Weapon Against Bayern Munich

Joel Campbell had a fantastic match against Swansea City, earning a man of the match from Pain in the Arsenal. But is the Costa Rican capable of producing an encore in Germany? It may seem highly unlikely but Joel Campbell would be the perfect candidate to build an attack through.

In preparing for a match like facing Bayern Munich in the Allianz Arena, a lot has to go through your mind. How do you stop Robert Lewandowski, Arjen Robben and Thomas Muller and how to you outfox Manuel Neuer. It seems impossible. Arsenal managed to do it in North London but going into Germany is a different ball game.

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One thing is certain though, the confidence is there. Not only that, but Bayern Munich seem to almost feel entitled to a goal or two against the Gunners and that could come back to bite them.

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But Arsenal are going to have to bite at some point and in order to do that, they are going to need a vicious attack. Bayern will be well aware of the threat that Alexis Sanchez poses, especially when coupled with Mesut Ozil. Behind them is Santi Cazorla. It makes Arsenal’s left side incredibly loaded with firepower.

It had also left the right side a bit weaker. With just Hector Bellerin widening the pitch when Aaron Ramsey was healthy, the Gunners had to rely on their lopsided left side to do the majority of the attacking.

Against Swansea, it was completely different. With the left side slipping and falling, it was Joel Campbell and the right side of the pitch that controlled the game. Campbell looked superb throughout the exciting match and he capped it off with a goal that had to absolutely drive his confidence through the roof.

Joel Campbell looks to have another opportunity against Bayern Munich. The Costa Rican has had one good game and while the Germans will be well aware of it, the fact that they tried to dismantle Hector Bellerin last time makes me wonder if they will be amply prepared for Campbell this time.

With Juan Bernat as their regular left back, Bayern have a steady foot on the ball, a good dribbler and passer and a pretty solid reader of play. But his tackling is not his strong suit. If Giroud can occupy Jerome Boateng, he will allow Joel Campbell to isolate himself with Bernat. From there, the Costa Rican can assert himself into the Bayern goal box with his dribbling ability.

That is, if everything goes perfectly.

Campbell is still largely unproven. His confidence is going to be overflowing. But the same had to be true against Swansea and he controlled himself and looked wholly responsible on the ball. Duplicating that against Bayern Munich, which is by no means easy, would add another dimension to this Arsenal attack that Bayern could not have been preparing for.

Surely they will be aware of what he did against Swansea but they will not have planned to key off on shutting Joel Campbell down. He will have a great opportunity to prove that Swansea City was no fluke. Bayern will be wanting to shut down Alexis and the width that he provides. In the process of which they may lose track of Joel Campbell from time to time. Those are the times that the Costa Rican must capitalize on.