Morning all.
I would question what Arsenal and Adidas were thinking when they came up with the design for our 2025/26 third kit but I know the answer because it’s explained on Arsenal.com
Our 2025/26 adidas third shirt channels the spirit of Highbury to inspire the next generation of our supporters. Marking the 20th anniversary of our final season at the iconic stadium, the Highbury design focuses on the finer details – including bespoke off-white engineered fabric featuring graphics and trims that reflect the distinctive facades and the Art Deco elegance of Highbury. A white polo collar and cuffs accented with dark red and golden lines, together with dark red three-stripes across the shoulders seamlessly blend modern flair with Arsenal heritage.
We all know how much Highbury means to our supporters, it’s part of the club’s identity,” said Jurrien Timber. “I grew up watching legends like Freddie Ljungberg and Thierry Henry, and wearing this kit is a way of honouring that history while inspiring the next generation of Arsenal supporters.
It’s a special design, and I’m proud to wear it this season in front of our supporters.”
I cannot decide whether I love it or hate it. But I definitely wouldn’t wear it.
Anyway, Arsenal have another pre-season fixture this week with the visit of Villarreal on Wednesday evening. The Spanish club are rumoured to have secured the signing of Thomas Partey for free on a two year deal. Nothing has been confirmed yet although The Athletic report he’s passed his medical so you never know, his first game after leaving Arsenal could be against Arsenal. I bet that kind of situation doesn’t happen very often.
The first time I ever wrote something about Arsenal it was ahead of us playing Villarreal. I can kind of recall the headline ‘Gunnasaurus v The Yellow Submarines which I don’t think went down very well with the other two writers on Avenell Road but I guess they weren’t thinking about nicknames or mascots. The actual content of the article left my memory a long long time ago, probably because it was written over 15 years ago. Possibly 2009 when Arsene Wenger’s team thrashed the Spanish club 3-0 in the Champions League. Walcott, Adebayor and van Persie with the goals.
The club has been through quite a journey since then. Arsene Wenger finally tore himself away from the club, helped by the board I’m sure, Unai Emery came and went before Mikel Arteta stepped into the managers office in 2019. The club has gone from shared ownership to just Stan Kroenke running things and most recently, we’ve seen both board and coaching staff changes too. Not many admittedly but perhaps the biggest of late is Andrea Berta who would appear to have enjoyed signing players for his new club.
I think the only thing missing now, assuming we add a left sided creative player before the end of the transfer window, is a trophy or two. Arteta wanted strength and numbers before the transfer window opened and now he has both. If eyes are on him this season, from inside the club and outside, it’s no more than he deserves or should expect.
Catch up in the comments.
Well first off I would wear the shirt. It’s smart
Secondly Arteta just MUST be in his last chance saloon. Only trophy he has was won by players courtesy of his predecessor!
Third, you say he has the numbers. Mmm
Gone 7
Jorghino
Partey
Tierney
Neto.
Tavares
Tommi
Going ?3
Trossard
Vieira
Jesus
Arrived 6
Gyok
Zubi
Marq
Madueke
Kepa
Norgaard
So , no he still doesn’t have the numbers
Losing Smith so early really put the kibosh on our chances. 6 dropped catches, another underwhelming Pope innings, the injury to Woakes, it was as if the PGMOL was running the show.
I guess we did well to get as close as we did, but if anyone thinks we’re gonna go to Aussie and beat them then I think you’re dreaming
How many are listed on the clubs website?
Also, until players go, or until the transfer window is shut, our numbers are high, especially factoring in the under 21 players.
I think this England team can beat the Aussies
27 in the squad right now not including Nwaneri and Dowman.
Whatever happens the pressure is on for Arteta and I think this is going to be his make-or-break season.
Whether or not we claim a trophy is a different matter.
The big signings so far are Gyokeres and Madueke. Both are astute and improve the squad considerably. We have been desperately in need of a Striker and as long as he can maintain the pressing that Arteta demands while keeping his goalscoring then he could make a big difference. Madueke I’m not too sure about. His role could be as backup to Saka or even to help save Saka’s legs or to the middle to help Odegaard’s legs. He might even make a move to the left to threaten Martinelli.
The next step is bringing in a left winger to either replace Martinelli or make it more of a fight for him.
Everything else is a bit like for like.
We have swapped Partey and Jorginho for Zubimendi and Norgaard which I would say is an improvement but nothing spectacular.
Kepa is in for Neto which I think is a smart improvement but again not a spectacular one.
Tomiyasu for Mosquera falls into the good but not massive improvement category.
Add on to that that we still have some selling to do with (possibly) Zinchenko, Lokonga, Vieira, Trossard, Nelson and possibly Jesus to raise some cash from. That should bring in at least £100m ish to help balance the books.
My take so far is that if we get Eze, Leao, or Lookman then we should get something shiny by the end of the season. Other than that, I’m not sure we have massively improved the squad.
The shirts all rightish, the shorts and white socks are terrible. Hate to think what the prices are.
The squad is now totally Arteta’s, so no excuses, he needs to deliver on the silverware.
If Gyokeres, God forbid, gets injured we are back to square one. We need a back-up striker. Make a bid for Sesko
I think the squad is stronger, certainly on paper. Just adding Gyokeres has done that. A fully fit and focused Partey is hard to replace but at 32, his focus wasn’t always apparent. That said, I’d rather he’d stayed but circumstances and his reported demands didn’t allow it.
Madueke has yet to convince Arsenal fans I’m sure but if he does, our attack will be much stronger. I’m a fan of our two midfield signings too.
Ditto Cicero re Arteta.
There’s always Jesus. 😜
Good afternoon Rico and all.
The more I read about Gyokeres, and it’s hourly ,it appears that Arteta has to change the team’s whole playing style to get the best out of him which one would have thought was in his mind before prolonged negotiations started.
It was Berta who wanted Gyökeres. Arteta wanted Sesko so does that lead to a good future partnership?
Gave up wearing club merchandise years ago , can’t stand old people that are younger than me wobbling about with physiques best covered up. Anyway I also object to being a walking advert for the club sponsors , I support the Arsenal not a Middle Eastern airline , a cannon is enough thank you .
As for the squad A1 you are right that there is only parity with the incoming and those leaving but we will have to include young ones that were not officially in the squad before.
We are currently showing a squad of 27 including Lewis Skelly who is still in the under 21 set as is Nwaneri , We have to have 7 home grown which at the moment includes Nelson and Hein alongside Saka , Martinelli , Rice, White and Saliba and 17 foreign players with Madueke who is a bit of a wild card counting as home grown in the prem but not in Europe .
All said it’s a bit complicated , I am glad it’s not my job to juggle it .
Afternoon Kelsey.
Logic suggests we have to change something because we have a very different style of player in the team. Plus, the old way wasn’t working against the low block teams so regardless, Arteta would I imagine be looking for tweaks to the way we play.
As for the Sesko v Gyokeres, what the media say about who wanted who could be very different to the truth.
The last shirt I got was one signed by Cesc and Theo. I’ve tried to sell it but no one offered more than a fiver. 😜
I’m guessing our sales will be done late when other clubs want a cheap deal or loan.
Stuttgart in talks over Vieira deal
Latest from Sky Sports’ Dharmesh Sheth:
Bundesliga club VFB Stuttgart are in talks with Arsenal over the signing of midfielder Fabio Vieira.
Vieira is into the final two years of his Arsenal contract.
He spent last season on loan at former club Porto.
Afternoon Rico and all,
I don’t mind the 3rd top,
It doesn’t matter who we brought / still bring in, Arteta has to change our game plan and reset the players mind for this season and hopefully don’t play – players in their wrong position.
The “Authentic” third shirt price is 120 quid. What a rip-off.
Cicero I saw the guy of AFTV doing a review, maybe you did too, but I never watch AFTV as a rule I just did it for the shirt review. It looks a nice addition and better than the blue imo but as you say £120 for the players’ replica and around £80 for the lesser version (which is all you need really) seems excessive to me!
No doubt the counterfeit version will be very popular, you can get copies online and apparently they’re as good as the £80 version, same design, material etc and a lot cheaper. You don’t hear about the counterfeit shirt business much, the media probably don’t report on it on purpose as they do with a lot of things, but it’s a massive business and growing. The shirts are usually manufactured in the same places as the official ones and as Arsenal don’t make much out of each shirt I couldn’t care less. I bet that the majority of the Arsenal shirts you saw in Hong Kong were ‘knock-off’…
There seems to be a definite reason why Arsenal walked away from a deal for Isak and Sesko. In time we’ll probably see it clearer than we do now but I keep on hearing rumours of Sesko’s agents stringing clubs along and now they’re doing it apparently to Man Utd and Newcastle. They ultimately see, it seems, the next Sesko move as a stepping stone towards the big move to one of the big two clubs in Spain.
Berta saw it right away and that is why he steered Arteta towards Gyokeres I suspect.
Isak was always going to be crazy crazy money and Berta needed to do a lot more work than just a centre forward. Liverpool are going to have to find quite a bit more than what they’ve bid to land the Swede.
Good morning Rico and all
A fine post which gives one something to ponder about Rico.
With regards the shirt……I dont like it. honestly. Imo it should always be 1) Red and White 2) Yellow and blue 3) Dark blue. Otherwise the only shirt I would bow to is the 2006 home kit, the maroon. The rest are not my piece of cake.
I think that Gyokeres’ backup would be Haverts in Arteta’s plans, however I would love to think that Berta would bring Biereth back. Similiar in style to VG14.
Hopefully Harriman Annous made a bit of an impression on Arteta and can push to be considered as a back-up to Havertz and Gyokeres, he’s gotta start doing some damage in the U21’s and in training.
Harriman A, has a window of opportunity before Jesus returns from his knee injury in late September early October. After that Jesus will take a spot on the bench to prepare him for a possible sale in January. A lot of clubs will be looking for a striker in January and we might get lucky with a good price – if he can stay fit?
Kev, if we promote from within that would be even better (although Biereth would still qualify as from within and homegrown). I would love the academy to produce a Gyokeres, Haaland, Sesko type striker who only plays as a CF and nothing else. Not a winger turned CF, Henry was an exception, but a real pure striker who only plays in the centre of attack.
I still think that Haverts will be the one to rotate with Gyokeres. Haverts will play against the big teams, those who dont park the bus, but Gyokeres will definitely start games against the low block teams.
That’s the beauty of bringing in a group of talented reinforcements Dev, because we now don’t have a clue who the starting XI at Old Bog will be and nor will they?
Will it be Martinelli, Trossard or Madueke on the left flank, will it be Rice and Zubimendi or Nordgaard, will it be Havertz or Gyokeres up front? We can all guess but the fact that we have quality in depth is a big plus on the previous three seasons…
Afternoon guys, did I see Beireth’s name somewhere 😜
Jack Wilshere returning to Coach the U21’s…?
Excellent news…
Just seen that, good news indeed.
Kev…on the left flank??? I have a sneaky feeling that there will be games in which Arteta will surprise us with a player who has not yet been considered. And that player is one who smiles a lot in our face.
Saka.
He began playing as a left back. Then went to the right. So why not LWA?? Just a hunch. but that accomodates him and Noni. I saw Madueke training and he looked sharp, explosive and unpredictable. Just look at his footwork. its mesmerizing.
Maybe that’s the answer to creating confusion and mayhem in the opposition.
Yes Rico…you read well about Biereth. He can rotate with Gyok. But I am not holding my breath while my other favourite, Havertz is there.
Can’t see Biereth ever returning Devil, that ship has long sailed imo. Great shame.
Kabia might be being considered for a first team role this season..
Kev, with regards your suggestion a few days ago, that women’s footballs should be lighter or smaller since they play with same footballs as men. I have just read that Chloe Kelly’s winning penalty clocked at 110km/h while the fastest shot in the EPL was scored by Isak at 109 km/h.
11 goals in 16 games for Monaco which on the surface seems like great stats but it’s when you see that they include 3 hat tricks against teams that finished near the bottom of ligue un which has a 34 match season , He joined them in January so only played the second half of the season . Monaco came third so next season will be the test of whether we made a great mistake in letting him go.
Morning guys, new post up.