Gabriel Martinelli has had a sensational start to his life as an Arsenal player as the Brazilian has gone from a new signing to playing for the side regularly inside eight months.
You could argue that the rest of the forwards, bar Aubameyang, have been lackluster. But to shine in a forward line consisting of Lacazette, Pepe, Ozil and others, shows the supreme talent that Martinelli possesses.
Fellow new summer arrival, Kieran Tierney, echoes those very same thoughts. In an AMA on Reddit, he was asked which Arsenal player impressed him the most in the first few training sessions.
Tierney had no qualms while claiming that Martinelli was that player. He also mentioned that Martinelli’s intensity of play was so good that he used that as the standard he needed to be at if he wanted to play for the Gunners.
A screenshot of Tierney’s reply on Reddit, Image via Twitter
To see someone who’s only 18 years old receive that sort of praise from a player with more experience is an attestation of Martinelli’s ability.
The Brazilian has already proven to be a shrewd acquisition. His teammates can stand to learn from his work rate and passion if they want to remain at Arsenal.
The Gunners fans will hope that he continues to inspire his teammates the way he has inspired Tierney.
When you’ve got a player of Aubameyang’s quality, it’s only natural that the player would have some big expectations from the team and the club as a whole.
The Gabonese international has been an indispensable figure for the Gunners ever since his arrival from Borussia Dortmund in a £56 million deal and has had an incredible rate of return with 49 goals and 10 assists to his name in the Premier League.
The same, however, could not be said of Arsenal as their overall lacklustre display has seen them fall down to 10th place in the Premier League.
Having already been knocked out of the Europa League, there seems to be little to no chance for Auba to play Champions League football next season if he decides to continue in Arsenal’s colours.
This has been one of the main reasons that negotiations with the Arsenal captain stalled, with several reports pointing towards a move elsewhere.
A glimmer of hope, however, has appeared out of nowhere for the Gooners as Kevin-Prince Boateng requested Aubameyang to extend his Arsenal contract during a live video session on Instagram.
The former Schalke star apparently left Auba completely bamboozled by the request. Caught off the heels on camera, the Arsenal striker replied with an unassertive ‘uhh…Yeah’, followed by a pretty unconvincing ‘Sure’.
Realizing the awkwardness of the situation, Boateng tried to play down the talks, having a quick word of humour about him switching places with Aubemayang at Arsenal.
Arsenal fans seem to have found an unlikely hero in Agent Boateng as the Besiktas forward expressed his desire yet again, stating, “you are a great captain.. and I think the captain should extend his contract at Arsenal” because “You cannot leave”.
Kevin Prince Boateng has certainly won some fans at the Emirates despite not kicking the ball even once for the Londoners.
The Gooners would hope that Boateng’s words help Arsenal to turn the tide with respect to their captain’s contract as the current deal is set to expire in 2021.
Mesut Ozil is one of the best playmakers that there is and when he is on song, he glides around the pitch blessing his fellow teammates with passes that only he can see.
Along with his ability to unlock defences, his goalscoring exploits generally goes under the radar. Recently he revealed the favourite goal of his career.
Yes, you guessed it right. He is talking about THAT goal he scored against Ludogorets.
We were blessed by this absolute brilliance piece of skill and pizzazz in the 87th min of the tie when Arsenal travelled to face Bulgarian side Ludogorets in the group stage in 2016.
Arsenal were considered overwhelming favourites coming into the tie after demolishing Ludogorets 6-0 at Emirates, but the tie didn’t pan out as the majority expected as the Gunners were down 2-0 after just 15 minutes.
Arsenal fought back and at the end of the first half, the tie was delicately poised at 2-2. In the dying minutes of the match, after some good defensive work from Giroud, the ball fell to Mohamed Elneny who released a through ball over the two centre-backs who were trying to maintain a high line, and who was chasing that ball – you guessed it right, Ozil.
He controlled the ball and charged forward, the keeper was out of his line to thwart him, but Ozil who was in sensational form that season remained composed.
He calmly chipped the onrushing keeper, faked as if he was about to shoot which completely sold the two centre halfs that had made ground.
They dived to stop the shot, but the shot never came, instead he dribbled the ball calmly past them to slot the ball in an open net.
No one could really believe what just happened, did Ozil really pull that off? He made a mockery of that Ludogorets defence and won that tie for Arsenal which ultimately took them to the last 16 stage of the Champions league.
His recent form has been a worry for the Arsenal faithfuls but Ozil belongs to a dying breed of playmakers that are hard to come by especially in the modern game. This goal is the reminder that when he is in the mood, his magic and brilliance with the ball at his feet is not to be questioned.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been an indispensable figure up front for Arsenal since his arrival at the Emirates from the Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund back in January 2018.
The Gabonese striker coming up clutch in difficult phases of the game has been a recurring theme in Arsenal’s season.
The stats provide further evidence of Arsenal’s reliance on the African star with over 30% goals coming from him in the Gunners’ sum in the Premier League. Aubameyang has increased his tally up to 49 goals in the Premier League while registering 10 assists to date.
He’s our most important player.
Stats wise, there’s no question about the impact that he has on this team.
Mikel Arteta on Aubameyang
However, the Arsenal boss admitted that a star with such potential and stats would look to demand more from his team and the club.
With the emergence of new rumours linking Auba with a move away from Arsenal, the Gunners faithful are slowly grasping the fact that they might have to let go their beloved striker come the start of next season.
However, this recent report stating the possibility of the Gunners replacing the Gabonese ace with the Burnley striker Chris Wood has had Arsenal fans convulsed with laughter given the absurdity of the rumour.
On paper, this seems quite a mismatch in stature, or at least that’s what the fans think given their reaction on social media.
Let’s get real for a second, and try to go behind the scenes to see if this rumour is really that ludicrous as it seems in the first look.
Woods has scored 11 goals in 26 games this season in the Premier league, of which, five goals came from set plays which are more than any other player this season.
Meanwhile, Arsenal are one of the worst if not the worst team in the air in the whole Premier league, only Newcastle United have conceded more attempts from dead ball situations than the Gunners. He’s got a decent chance conversion rate of 1 in every 4.8 [chances] compared 1 in every 6.5 for Lacazette.
Woods plays for a Burnley side, whose playing style was branded as “anti-football” by David Luiz back when he played for Chelsea. Burnley play by far the highest percentage of long passes of any team in the Premier League – 23.5 per cent in total, so it’s safe to say Woods plays a crucial role in this.
He may allow Arsenal to play a different style, to be that serious option in the opposition area, maybe perform the role that Giroud used to play.
Many people will scoff while listening to these rumours, surely Chris Wood isn’t “The” replacement if Aubameyang is to say goodbye to the Gunners. While Chris Woods being the direct replacement of Aubameyang certainly raises some questions, the Clarets star surely can prove to be a handy option to bring in from the bench given his proven track record in the Premier league.
Arsene Wenger is one of the most respected men in the world of Football. He has been instrumental in revolutionizing English football, and his Arsenal teams of the 1990’s and 2000’s were the teams to beat. He is Arsenal’s most successful manager and he remained at the North London club for the best part of last two decades.
Recently, he was pictured strolling in London, during the coronavirus pandemic. He was wearing the navy blue shorts from Arsenal’s 2016-17 kit, which was the last time they won a trophy.
Wenger’s fashion sense has never been in question, as he has been one of the sharpest dressed men in Football. After retirement, and despite currently being aged 70, he can still rock a pair of shorts, while also showing where his allegiance lies.
And to top it off, he had also worn a cap, which had “Take It Easier” written on it. This was a message that could be effectively used in the current, coronavirus-hit world. It is important to note that Arsene Wenger is 70 years old, which makes him a part of the demographic that is the most affected by coronavirus.
He recently appeared in an educational video, alongside former Tottenham manager, Mauricio Pochettino and other stars. The video was released by FIFA, regarding the precautionary measures that need to be taken in order to reduce the spread of the virus.
On Feb 19th, in an interview with Talksport, Wenger said that “I believe that the priority for the Premier League is to finish the season. That could mean pushing the fixtures back until the end of June, but they have to do that”.
Arsenal remains in contention to win the FA Cup this season. Wenger, even in his new role as FIFA’s Chief of Global Football Development, would be rooting for the Gunners to bring their first piece of silverware post his retirement. Gunners fans would definitely be pleased to know that their former manager still has their back.
The Europa League tie against Olympiakos Piraeus marks the end of Arsenal’s European adventure as Mikel Arteta’s men were sent crashing out of the competition by a 119th minute winner from Youssef El-Arabi in disheartening fashion.
The Greek side came to the Emirates with a plan and duly frustrated the home team by sitting deep inside their own half, disrupting the free flowing game that Arteta would’ve wished to see. They even got a goal to show for their efforts which came via Cisse’s header in the 53rd minute.
Meanwhile, Arsenal were complacent in their defending, particularly on set pieces, and were limited to 0 shots on target all way way up till the 77th minute.
As the match went to extra time, Aubameyang emerged with a sumptuous bicycle kick goal to put the Gunners ahead in the tie.
However, the joy was short-lived, as Youssef El-Arabi capitalized on yet another defensive lapse from the Arsenal defence, this time on a half-cleared corner.
But the contest was far from over, and still had one last moment of action as the Gabonese striker found himself with a gilt-edged opportunity, six-yards out from the goal in the very last minute of the game.
It wasn’t to be though for Auba and Arsenal as, with the goal at his mercy, he dragged the shot wide.
No one in the stadium, including the Olympiakos defender Ousseynou Ba, could quite apprehend how the striker failed to put the ball in the back of the net.
The number 24, stood in disbelief, with hands on his head, summing up the reaction from the Gooners.
Although it was relief that followed the defender, for Aubameyang and the home fans, it was sheer agony.
“It hurts“, said the Arsenal boss after the match and it indeed does, in more ways than one.
Fingers are now being pointed out at Arteta for the lack of rotation in the team and other in-game decisions as Arsenal might have just lost their best shot at the Champions League spot for the next season.
It’s no secret how Arsenal fans would cherish the return of their former prodigy, Serge Gnabry.
The German ace has experienced a meteoric rise in his career ever since his move to the Bundesliga after a disappointing loan spell at West Bromwich Albion.
Following a stellar season at Werder Bremen, German Champions, Bayern Munich pounced upon the talent to replace the ageing Robben and Ribéry.
Those were big shoes to fill in, however, Gnabry stood up to the task brilliantly, scoring 13 goals and providing 9 assists in his first season at the club.
Although he hasn’t looked back since, London still seems to play a role in his career.
With a brace in the 3-0 win at Stamford Bridge last night, the German has now amassed 6 goals in two tantalizing displays against London clubs in the Champions League this season, which includes the famous four-goal haul against Spurs back in October last year.
And it wasn’t just the fans who celebrated, as current and former Arsenal players thronged to Serge Gnabry’s Instagram post which simply read, “London still red..” –
Needless to say fans loved how Wilshere, Bellerin, Chambers, Ox and Jeff Reine-Adelaide reunited to represent one big Arsenal family at the expense of Chelsea.
Arsenal maintained their unbeaten run in 2020 as the fans at the Emirates stadium witnessed their team put up a scintillating display in the 3-2 comeback win against Everton.
The Gunners saw themselves fall behind in the very first minute of the game. However, the belief in the team did not diminish as academy product Edward Nketiah brought them level just before Aubameyang momentarily put Arsenal ahead.
Despite conceding a late first half equalizer, the home team came roaring back into the lead as Aubameyang again slotted the ball in the back of the net just after the restart, which proved to be the winning goal.
Besides amassing 3 points in a bid to secure the Champions League spot for next season, another reason for the fans to be euphoric is the growing partnership between Eddie Nketiah and Bukayo Saka, who linked up together to score Arsenal’s first goal in the game.
The connection between the two was evident on the field and off of it as well as both Saka and Nketiah went pun-crazy in their celebrations after the win on social media.
Arsenal fans would have loved how both the players used jargons one generally uses while talking about mobile phones connectivity as they celebrated combining for the goal and the overall win against Everton.
Check out this to & fro between Saka and Nketiah below –
The goal also saw them break Arsenal’s 12-year old record of a Premier League goal being scored and assisted by two under-21 players, previously held by Nicklas Bendtner and Denilson.
Saka & Nketiah have known each other from their time in the academy and the duo could prove vital as Arteta’s men hope to see the rest of the season off by providing the fans with some beautiful football and hopefully a Champions League spot in the process.
Here at Thick Accent, we’ve covered a variety of concept and fan made kits before – be it this smashing Spurs kit made off of the famous Nigeria jersey, or a polarising Arsenal one that was made by inverting the colours of their current home kit.
Today, however, we’re taking a look at an illustration that was made by a Gunners fan and is causing genuine excitement within the Arsenal fan community.
This one is unique in that it is simply the fan’s visualization of what is already pretty much confirmed to be the Londoners’ kits for the 2020-21 season.
The design for the new jersey has been leaked by Footy Headlines – a leading expert in the field – and is currently making the rounds on the internet.
The leaks show patches of the Arsenal jersey that are nearly identical to the current ones, with the exception of some uniquely shaped patterns added in.
The patterns look like arrowheads with alternating dark and light red colouring. They are present on the crimson shirts, with the white sleeves looking pristine apart from the sponsorship logo.
While changes might feel incremental at first glance, the jersey is very easily distinguishable from the present kit and looks unique – a tough ask in today’s world considering design palettes have become highly saturated.
Twitter user @LacaZte decided to breathe life into this new template and photoshopped the patterns onto a photo of Arsenal midfielder Nicolas Pepe.
While the patterns will probably look slightly different when the official jersey actually comes out, the visualization is clean and the design looks very appropriate for the kit.
The overall package, one must say, looks solid, with Twitter also reaching the same consensus. Gunners fans can hardly wait for the kit to be introduced.
The Bilbao International Football Summit (BIFS) is an annual gathering of footballing talents and executives from the Basque region.
It acts as a showcase for Athletic Bilbao’s ever present philosophy (the club is known to only have Basque players on its teams). The event has only grown in stature throughout the years, and yesterday, at BIFS 20, it decided to honour one of its most famous natives – Ernesto Valverde.
Now, Valverde is nothing short of a legend in Athletic, having played a hundred and seventy league games for the club and having scored forty four goals for them.
The man played a big role in the club being a sizable threat throughout his time at the club from 1990-96. Therefore, even with his dubious managerial tactics during his tenure at Barcelona, his legacy as a player alone makes it completely understandable that the summit would award him for his services to football.
What piqued the curiosity of a lot of people, however, was the other, arguably just as famous Basque resident invited to the function.
That man was Unai Emery, recently having undergone the ignominy of being sacked by Arsenal and now a managerial pariah in the world of football.
They even managed to meet and have a friendly conversation, both being in a unique position where they can actually empathize with the other’s misfortune. The meeting was not a formal occasion, just one that happened at the spur of the moment on the sidelines.
While at the summit, however, the two gave out rather contrasting statements to journalists about their time at their former clubs.
Valverde was calm and measured, looking upon it as a great experience and refusing to focus on the negatives such as the allegations that he was not treated well.
He instead looked forward to his next job that he claims will be “off the beaten path” and something very unique.
Emery, on the other hand, has been far more vociferous in recent times about his fate at both Arsenal and Paris St Germain.
The Spaniard has insisted on fending off criticism about his tactics, instead claiming that he was stifled by the clubs’ boards.
In an interview with France Football, Emery claimed that Arsenal were “already on a downward slope” before he came in and refused to take any of the blame for their abysmal performances.
It remains to be seen how the managers go about rebuilding their shattered careers from here on out, but their statements provide an adequate signal about their intent; one man looks at the future while another dwells in the past.
Former striker and a Gooner through & through, Ian Wright could do nothing but admire as the Arsenal legend attended an event at Spurs’ brand spanking new stadium yesterday.
Appearing on behalf of Football Beyond Borders, an educational charity for underprivileged youth, Wright took some time interacting with budding footballers before taking a look around in the massive arena.
Even as an Arsenal man, he had to admit that it was absolutely “magnificent”.
Three grudging admiration was justified, considering he was given a view of the beautiful stadium when it was fully lit at night.
The man was, of course having a hard time admitting that Spurs now had a home ground on par, if not better than the Emirates.
It was quite refreshing, honestly, to see a former player sticking to his loyalties yet being light hearted and keeping his opinions blunt and matter-of-fact.
👀 @IanWright0 reacts to seeing Tottenham’s brand new stadium for the first time:
“Jesus, the jealousy is so bad. Oh my god. Well done Spurs on your new stadium…”pic.twitter.com/wDoZVIrPXN
Arsenal have come a long way from the days of the Invincibles, when a combination of sporting talent, solid work ethic and masterful managerial strategy from Arsene Wenger produced an absolutely stunning season where they went completely unbeaten back in 2003-04.
Studded with absolute gems like Bergkamp and Henry up front, Robert Pires and Freddie Ljungberg marshalling the midfield and Ashley Cole, Sol Campbell and Kolo Toure making up the backline, it struck fear into the hearts of every Premier League team then. Yes, even Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United team.
Yet, even this assortment of superstars would have failed miserably had it not been for the sheer cohesive force that is Patrick Vieira.
The Frenchman, playing as a holding midfielder, captained the team with decisiveness to glory. It absolutely did not hurt that he had a fantastic set of skills as well, an acute defensive mind being one of them.
In the present, however, the Gunners are anything but invincible, having fallen prey to a lackadaisical managerial board along with gaffers who had the wrong sort of vision for the team.
This has led to a massive slide in quality till the present, where they are now stuck all the way down in middle of the league table. Yet there seems to be signs of sustained recovery under Mikel Arteta, the former Gunner sparing no expense and scouting out players that he believes might fit the Arsenal philosophy.
Lately, it seems that he might have found his muse: Pape Gueye.
Now, Pape Gueye is far from a finished product: he is barely twenty one years of age. While he has not played a minute of top flight football, having been a midfielder with AC Le Havre, his style of play has earned him many plaudits from scouts around France.
The fact that he comes from the same club academy that produced stars like Paul Pogba and Dmitri Payet only proves as a point in his favour.
In fact, there are quite a few who draw similarities between his game and the great Vieira’s, which could only serve to excite Arsenal fans even more.
Papa Gueye looks an exciting prospect. Some of that control looks very Patrick Vieira.
Explosive over short distances, good range of passing, a potential bully.https://t.co/yKmU2ldG7V
Now, with there being an almost-confirmed bid from the Gunners of £5 million, an atmosphere of anticipation seems to be building for the arrival of this guaranteed future star.
Things got even more exciting when fans of Arsenal midfielder and compatriot Matteo Guendouzi found that Gueye had posted a comment of appreciation under his latest Instagram post.
Now, it remains to be seen if Gueye can have even remotely as much of an impact as someone like Vieira had, if the lad decides to make the Emirates Stadium his home.
There is, however, no arguing over the fact that he definitely has a touch of class about him and would definitely be a handy inclusion in the Londoners’ rebuilding process.
Check out the reaction below –
Papa Gueye to Arsenal. Could be the Vieira esque player we’ve been missing all these years #AFC
One undebatable advantage of the Guendouzi experiment is the pull of new young talents and their confidence that wherever you come from you will get a chance at Arsenal Football Club. (Papa Gueye's comment in the picture which may mean nothing but resembles a certain recurrence). pic.twitter.com/KQU0WcdmvC
If there is one lasting legacy still remaining from Arsene Wenger’s time at Arsenal, apart from his stingy ways in acquiring players for the club, is the amount of emphasis he put on his wards’ off-field regimen.
Yes, there were full time coaching staff and trainers that took care of players long before his reign, but the level of intensity and the amount of money and time invested into developing players stands out. Indeed, one could say Wenger modernized training regimen tactics.
And now, though his time at the club is but in memory, his methods are hardly forgotten, continuing to find new takers, more staff that take inspiration from his ideology and make sure that the players are, physically at least, on par if not better than those from the rest of the league.
This ideology was made very clear when twitter user @afcevan posted a compilation of sorts on Twitter. Presented in a before-and-after style format, it shows photos of players like Martinelli, Tierney, Nicolas Pepe and Willock from about six months ago compared to how they are now. And oh boy, there is a stark difference alright.
As one user quipped in the comments, all of them seem to be on that (Wolves player Adama) Traore juice. Considering how much the players have gained in the past half year, it would be hard to disagree with that statement.
Of course, full credit must go to Shad Forsythe, long time head fitness coach for the Gunners and all the staff under him. The man has stuck to his mentor’s philosophy and the results pretty much speak for themselves.
Now, the amount of bulking up that they have done will surely go hand in hand with an increased physicality and presence on the field.
Hopefully it leads to more favourable results for the Londoners in the coming days, and fans get something more to cheer about.
Ever had a low-quality stream, your team scores and you aren’t able to identify who did? We have all been there as football fans.
Although, when it comes to officiating, cases of mistaken identity are few and far between in football.
One of the rare instances of mistaken identity involved the infamous sending off of Kieran Gibbs for a handball committed by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain back in the 2013-14 Premier League season.
The bogus decision from the referee Andre Marriner came in Arsenal’s match against Chelsea as the Blues downed the Gunners to a 6-0 defeat which proved to be costly for Arsenal in the title race.
Arsenal fans are recovering the shades of those memories as new signing Pablo Mari and Ceballos look eerily similar.
Although the loan signing from Flamengo is yet to play a game for the Gunners, fans around the globe got to catch a glimpse of him at one of Arsenal’s open training sessions.
Consequently, the spectators were left deceived by the looks of the new signing Pablo Mari and Dani Ceballos with only the kit numbers being helpful to differentiate between the two.
Some suspect that a similar mishap as in 2014 might repeat itself, this time involving the two Arsenal loanees but the possibilities are rather slim with the advent of VAR in the Premier League, which is specifically involved if there is a case of mistaken identity.
However, considering many erroneous decisions from VAR throughout the season, nothing can be excluded.
Also, it’s going to be one hell of a task for the Arsenal followers to recognise the two of them through their TV screens and from the back of the stands if Mikel Arteta decides to put both of them on the pitch together.
The chance to prove himself might come sooner for Pablo Mari, as Mikel Arteta eases the centre-back into the team during the winter break and deems him ready to get going against Newcastle United.
Could a Jack Grealish – Arsenal link up be within the realms of possibility?
Fans of both the Gunners and the Aston Villa talisman certainly seem to think so, with their hushed whispers and fervent prayers only growing louder as the season has progressed..
Things have taken a significant turn in the past few months, with Grealish putting up an Instagram story about how the Emirates Stadium was his favourite in the league and how it was a pleasure for him to play there.
With the story having cropped up after Villa last played there, all the way back in September, and with there being no further match-ups between the two clubs for the rest of the season, Grealish was well within his rights to praise his otherwise rival club.
Then again, was there any chance of the footballing world looking at it that way?
When presented with such a strong set of circumstances, the fans naturally went in to a tizzy, frantically speculating that he could be joining the Londoners soon, possibly this summer. But could something like this actually be on the cards?
Let’s start off with the facts, first considering the player in question. Jack Grealish is barely 24 and is already only now showcasing to the world his enormous repository of talent.
Don’t get us wrong, the lad has always had the potential to be one of the greats, but his abysmal off-field behaviour and work ethic had brought his temperament into question.
That has, however, taken a massive turn for the better in the past three years, with Grealish mellowing out and coming into his own as an attacking midfielder.
In fact, Grealish, with seven goals, five assists and a monumental on-field presence in his twenty three Premier League games this season, has somehow single-handedly kept the Lions from dropping into the relegation zone, even if by a very marginal point difference.
That leads us to the next aspect; Grealish’s ambitions. For crying out loud, the man is already jostling for Gareth Southgate’s England Euro 2020 team (the Irish will never forgive Grealish for that).
A player of this calibre definitely deserves to play European football, and he might just get the chance to do that with a steadily improving Arsenal.
Plus, with the Gunners’ first team being in bit of tatters at the moment, Jack would more than get the adequate amount of playing time that he craves for.
Some fans are, of course, highly sceptical and believe the post to be nothing more than one of appreciation, yet the evidence is too strong to be dismissed.
The Arsenal faithful would absolutely love to see the lad connect with Aubameyang and Lacazette up front, and with the current state of things, who knows? Only this summer transfer window will tell.
Check out what the Arsenal fans are saying on Twitter –
Personally, as weird as it sounds, I wouldn’t resign Ramsey if the opportunity arose. Yes, he was a great player for us but he’s not the answer to our problems & also let’s not forget his injury record.
Among all the clubs in the Premier League, Arsenal is perhaps the only one whose kit colours have stayed constant for the longest time.
Ever since the beginning of the seventies, the gunners have stuck to a tried and tested colour palette: a predominantly red jersey with white sleeves, except for the 2007-08 season, when they mysteriously went for a ox blood/maroon kit (it was short lived, of course), and from ’08-10, when they went for a completely crimson jersey.
That is, all things considered, a period of nearly fifty years without having had a major change to the kit.
And yes, while it has developed into something iconic, the colour scheme becoming almost synonymous with the Londoners, the monotonous nature of the kits will have, quite naturally, left some fans ruing what could have been had the club decided to explore other avenues when it came to redesigning the shirts.
In the present day, of course, tools such as Photoshop have allowed supporters to breathe life to their visions of a new kit, and sometimes, the results are, well, interesting, to say the least.
Reddit user dziumbryla decided to answer a simple question using the popular photo editing tool – how would the current Arsenal kit look like if the colour scheme was turned on its head?
The Reddit user decided to experiment on photo of Aubameyang, and while his technical ability must be commended, opinions are evenly divided, with not everyone being happy with the result, for various reasons.
One user rightly pointed out that the modified jersey – with red sleeves and and a white shirt – now looked eerily similar to RB Leipzig and RB Salzburg kits from years past.
Another grouse was that the kit’s colour scheme was simply too generic and could be confused with other European clubs such as Ajax and Monaco, to name a few. Other detractors simply opined that it was horrid and that it needed to be burnt.
There was, of course, an equal amount of praise, with some admiring the kit’s minimalist features.
Some even commented that it was so good that it should actually be adopted by the gunners as perhaps a specially themed Christmas kit.
Either way, one thing’s for sure: the design was interesting enough to pique a lot of folks’ curiosity.
There’s always something up about Arsenal and its supporters, eh?
There is, of course, Mr DT, Arsenal Fan TV’s main man himself, who prides himself for being the main reason behind Arsene Wenger’s ignominious exit, but then even he has some modicum of sanity about him.
It isn’t like he doesn’t give a few players their due credit, sometimes even giving the team some grudging praise. He’s quite harmless, really.
The man we’re talking about today is far from it.
Listeners tuning into the BBC’s Premier League radio, the 606, were in for a highly entertaining evening as fan favourite “Tom” was brought on air to talk to the presenters.
Tom, as avid listeners would remember, became quite famous for his pre-season prediction that the Gunners would “top the league”, and on the second of February, he had some more drivel in store for us.
First, the female presenter asks him about how he thinks his team is going about. The man, of course, says he has a very bold prediction.
What is it, you might ask? That arsenal, in the face of a near unstoppable Liverpool and a still relatively strong Manchester City, will actually go on to win the title!
And this isn’t even the kicker. He goes on to talk about how Jose Mourinho, admittedly past his prime, is now going to lose the plot and how Arsenal is going to outshine its London rivals.
Which would have been palatable, atleast, were it not for the fact that Tottenham had just brought about a fantastic 2-0 win against City while the Gunners just about managed a draw against fellow mid table side Burnley! Mate, are you on something?!
The male presenter could not resist making a jibe at this point, questioning the veracity of their title ambitions and pointing out how they were a full forty two points behind Liverpool, and five behind flipping Sheffield United!
But of course, the man had lost all reason by then. He was, by that point of time, muttering incoherently about “Arteta being a driving force” and “kicking on in the next season, certainly a title”.
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