Wooooooah, what to make of the latest Arsenal kits?
You know I globally renowned for having exquisite taste in sporting apparel, but I can’t help but think this batch of kits really were a ‘fuck you very much’ parting gift by the designers over at Puma.
We’ve gone for a home kit that for me is quite a weak red. It feels washed out, like a blood-red Topman t-shirt from back in the day that you’ve gone into the sea with then left out to dry on your €25 a night hotel balcony. I really don’t like the washed out red on the sleeves, it’s meek, there’s no strength there. I also don’t immedietley understand the thinking behind the pattern running through the shirt. Is it a hat tip to the lightning strike of the 1995 shirt? Like… what is it?
The teal away kit is kind of fun. But it’s basically a Barca away kit. It doesn’t feel very Arsenal at all.
Then there’s the other kit, that looks like it was inspired by the physio’s clobber. It’s boring, it’s really dark and I’m just not interested in it.
There is no cultural relevance to any of the shirts, and there’s nothing groundbreaking that’ll live on forever.
I mean, let’s be real here folks, if you’re over the age of 15 and you’re buying a replica shirt, someone needs to have a serious word with you. It’s not an adult thing to do. It doesn’t suit your body. The material brings the sweat to the surface, so it’s not a pleasant experience on a sweaty train.
Seriously, if you’re bitching about this kit because you wanted to buy one, grow the fuck up. They’re for the small people.
Back to design…
Look at those cool as fuck kids just hanging around on olive oil barrels just shooting the shit about something low-key like the ‘is a Calippo a type of sorbet?’… in my mind, it is. It’s poor man’s sorbet, but sorbet it is.
Back to the shirt. Nike have ripped off our bruised banana kit, and the whole world is losing their fucking shit over it. You’ve even got Brexit Dave from Kettering wearing one. What a unifying moment of kit design glory.
How long have we been begging for that shirt to return? Football kits these days are an event. The big brands are desperate to make them acceptable fashion attire. To be honest, you can roll into work in a ‘soccer’ shirt here and no one bats an eyelid, do that in the UK and you’ll get the same look as you would wearing an ‘I’m with stoopid’ tee.
Anyway, if you want to make football shirts acceptable in mainstream fashion culture to sell me more, we really need to be doing a better job of design. Revisit the past and steal is my view. Or do something so future, people can’t ignore it.
There’s another great interview in GFFN from the author of a new Unai Emery book coming out (Here).
We’ll get a couple of the worries out the way. In defending the poor rep Emery had with the French press, the author had this to say:
‘He’s really interesting. I’d pay more attention to interviews, rather than press conferences. He speaks really openly. But if you really want to understand what he’s trying to transmit, you have to interview him in Spanish a few times a year, to really understand who he is.’
Language keeps on cropping up.
Here’s something I touched on in yesterday’s post regarding how he’ll implement his ideas, and the perils of getting it wrong.
Unai Emery arrived to Paris after his failure in Spartak Moscow, where he tried to impose his ideas very suddenly, which failed in part due to cultural differences.
When you first arrive to a club, you need to adapt to the club’s philosophy, the place where you live, and the player culture. It’s a different place, a very international club marked by Arsène Wenger.
You have some managers who ignore what was in place before and instil their own ideas. Then you have guys who are more focused on the continuity and who aren’t as brutal. Unai Emery is more in that logic. He used to have a very fiery attitude, and could sometimes go all out.
For example, there was a game he was losing 2-1 with Almeria with one man down, where he decided to put on a striker for a defensive midfielder. He told his team that they were here to win, but in the end they lost 3-1. Today he wouldn’t necessarily do the same thing. He’ll try to understand where he’s arriving. In regards to the culture of the club, how they work etc.
He’ll insist on videos — both team and individual footage. But he also knows that if the players don’t subscribe to what he’s saying or doing, he won’t persist with it. Similarly to how Benjamin Mendy used to not watch Marcelo Bielsa’s video sessions. Mendy used to fall asleep watching them, to which Bielsa told him, “There’s no need to watch them. The day you’ll be interested, you’ll watch them.” Eventually, that’s what happened. If he forced him to watch it, he would have never developed any interest for it and wouldn’t be invested in it.
So we can expect Emery to be in a form of continuity. He’ll definitely work on high pressing because he loves that. He’ll focus on using the whole length of the pitch, with particular focus on the full-backs. I’d say his trademark is the involvement of full-backs when attacking. His other trademark is set pieces, which he didn’t really succeed with at PSG. But at Sevilla he worked on that extensively. At PSG, he wasn’t able to do the same. Maybe because the players didn’t follow what he had to say on it or didn’t find it useful. But if he has players who love to study the game, along with a few strong characters in the dressing room to help with his message, things will work really well from set pieces.
Emery has such a tough job ahead of him, he has to deal with the legacy of Wenger, which was very much a ‘do as you please’ culture… but he also has to make us competitive. The manager is under a time constraint, he needs to impress the board, the crowd and the players. He can take things slowly to avoid hurt feelings, but if things start poorly, he’ll be in trouble.
I think part of why we’re seeing the club hire in older talent that has familiarity with the board is that the club know they need to bring in players they own. They need to reset the culture with authoritative figures in the dressing room that know what it takes to play at the new highest level. If the club make Ramsey captain, you have him sorted. If they bring in a new centre-back like Sokratis, you gain a leader, but you also start bringing in the attitude of Dortmund which Sven controls. Lichtensteiner might not have it in him to play 50 games next season, but if anyone thinks a 5 time Serie A champions won’t come with a presence, they’re gravely mistaken.
Emery needs to implement his ideas quickly and he needs to build the culture out in his vision. It’s a tough balancing act for sure, but if the club bring in enough new faces to stamp out the familiar feel of comfort that Wenger imprinted on the squad, they should be well on the way to a new Arsenal.
Finally, EDDDDDDIIIIIE Nketiah made an assist and scored a cracker for Scotland.
Arsenal: U18s: 16 games – 15 goals U21s: 27 games – 18 goals First team: 127 minutes – 2 goals
England: U18s: 2 games – 4 goals U19s: 12 games – 11 goals U21s: 3 games – 2 goals
His record reads like PEAK Franny Jeffers. I’m so excited to see where his career goes under a proper coach, because you know under Wenger he’d be benched for the next two years making 6minutes of open play, then he’d go on loan to WBA, then he’d retire to make adult movies with his page 3 girlfriend.
We have HIGH hopes for Eddie, he looks like he’s built for the top of the game.
RIGHT, listen to our timeless podcast because it’s so damn good you’d eat it if sound were edible.
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***well drilled, well organized, well instructed sides
LOL come on guys, Kane is not over hyped. Kane has performed against every type of opponents he has faced, for national teams as well as for Spuds.
Lewandowski is feasting on his 3-4 goal game against Real all those years ago for Dortmund, other wise he has very poor scoring record against teams against teams outside of Bundesliga.
What a good album.
UB40’s first album.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiPyGmeXoB8
“Kane might not want to move probably because of fear of failure,he’s really being over hyped by the English media”
How can he be over-hyped?
Do you know what it means to score 25+ goals every season even though teams are setting up to defend him and defenders have reviewed endless of hours of video.
His record is crystal clear. He is one of the top-3 most valued footballers on the planet.
The well regarded Swiss report, CIES football observatory have him as number one in the most valuable list for 2018. He is not overhyped.
http://www.businessinsider.com/most-valuable-european-soccer-players-ranked-2018-6#2-neymar-paris-saint-germain-forward-1957-million-2294-million-24
Lol so not only Klopp and Poch but even Kane is overrated, huh? How many strikers have scored 20+ goals year in year out in the league? I don’t there has been too many.
Harry Kane has apparently just signed a new six-year contract with Spurs. I guess he’ll never start or shine for a big club or start or shine in a CL semi or final. Guess I was right, gents.
Yeah cause everyone sees out their contracts.
Hey bumford, have you ever won teacher of the year award?
oh, Kane is apparently now the best thing since sliced bread,Madrid needs a striker,Bayern needs one(Lewan pushing for the move),PSG could do with one also..lets wait and see as the bids start pumping in eh.
Charlie you’re being a bit unfair on Klopp he’s a good manager in the 3 and a bit years at Liverpool he’s gone to a champions league final and gotten consistently qualified for the champions league which is a big deal for a club like Liverpool. So that’s 3 years without a trophy but champions league. Wenger went 10 years without a trophy 14 years without a title challenge and you barely said a word in fact you’ve gone to bat over some of the criticism he gets.
TR7 Kane is a good forward. No doubt. Those who said he was “world class,” though, and destined to play for a Madrid, City or PSG over-hyped him. And please, people, don’t bring up meaningless, fawning quotes from this or tha manager in the papers. That’s just professional respect. In the end you can tell what the big clubs think of a player by whether they move for him and how much money they offer for him. When one of the big clubs moves for Kane, and when he starts and shines for one of these, I will gladly admit… Read more »
‘Two, just because you lose in a final doesn’t mean that the losing manager did a poor job.’
When you lose 6 in a row, questions will be asked.
It’s rare that we agree, Victorious, but that’s exactly right. None of those clubs are going to be coming in for Kane, because in the end he isn’t quite at that level.
Vic
Your are cutting off nose to spite face.
Rather than try to ridicule that Kane won’t be leaving to a bigger club you should be hoping he does.
Kane fvcking off from Spurs is beneficial to Arsenal.
Kane is statistically speaking one of the top 5/6 strikers in world football. He’s up there with Lewandowski and Cavani just behind Suarez and obviously behind Messi and Ronaldo in goals scored the last 4 years
Marko, others
You all are right: just because Kane has signed a new contract doesn’t mean he’ll stay at Tottenham for another six years.
However, let’s see if any of the big clubs want to make him their number one and come in for him. As you know, I have my doubts about this.
Whether victorious rates him or not or whether Bam thinks he’s worth only 40 million is utterly irrelevant they’re wrong he is one of the best strikers in world football. He won’t be staying at Spurs forever
What level is Kane at exactly Bamford??
You just like saying things to back up what u have said earlier
Kane is world class..the dude scores all types of goals, his movement is top class, he can strike a ball better that any other striker in this league
Name me four strikers better than Kane and who can score the types of goals he scores season after season
Real Madrid and Barcelona are not the indicators of who is world class…they have signed their fair share of rubbish too
Bam respectfully sir once in a while you come out with absolute shocking nuggets that show you up as not knowing as much as you think. You’re wrong on Kane. You were wrong on Neymar.
Rambo
He has lost in two CL finals, and in both, most observers would agree his teams were facing teams with far more quality and money.
But sure, if he loses another four finals — including ones that are more evenly matched or where his team is actually the favorite — questions should be asked. No doubt.
Marko
Please tell me what I have said about Kane that is “wrong” or incorrect. Be precise.
More pearlers… add them to the growing list!
“But sure, if he loses another four finals — including ones that are more evenly matched or where his team is actually the favorite — questions should be asked. No doubt.”
His team were favorites against Sevilla …they even took the lead the collapsed spectacularly
I don’t think there can be a productive debate on whether Harry Kane is “World Class” or not as the term is entirely subjective. Afraid you guys are heading into a bit of a sisyphean argument..
Why certain Arsenal fans get so precious about Harry Kane is what I want to know.
We have now, in our own side, 2 strikers with exceptional scoring records. Call them worldclass and fawn over them, will you? You won’t, cause you know they are not quite that. Just like Harry Kane. Scoring isn’t all there is to it.
Please tell me what I have said about Kane that is “wrong” or incorrect. Be precise
He’s worth 40 million in this current market. He’s overrated. He’s not good enough to start for a Madrid or whoever. Top 5/6 strikers in world football suggests that you’re wrong
Rambo Auba is in my opinion another elite striker. Kane is better though. It’s okay to say these things you know
Receding He isn’t world class*, for me, and he’s not good enough to start for a Madrid, Barca, Bayern or PSG. For me, he’s just below that level, comparable, say, to an Higuain. All of which really isn’t to slight him. He’s good. I’ve never said that he isn’t. But he isn’t Madrid good, and he never will be. He lacks the pace, athleticism and individualism. Again, if one of the best teams in the world sign him and make him their starter and if he shines for them on the big stage, I will gladly admit that I got… Read more »
https://www.thoughtco.com/best-strikers-in-the-world-3557298
Now there’s a shocker,Kane not even in the most recent rating of top 10 strikers in the world
Bamford is an expert on Britain, maybe we should all trust his opinion on Kane. He’s probably gone down the pub to watch some footy and have a pint with his mates.
Binford might get many things wrong on here but on Kane he’s absolutely spot on.
lol poverty link Vic.
The Roonster is in there lolz
Just out of interest is there any player in the England squad for the World Cup that doesn’t play in England?
Wayne Rooney England and Manchester United. Victorious I feel like I say this everyday but it just doesn’t get through to you but you’re an idiot. A complete and total moron
Kane is world class whether he plays for spurs or any of the supposed big boys. but I don’t like him because he’s a spud. sky Italia reporting of ‘our’ interest in torreira. will he be good?, as some believe if someone’s from a different league he can’t cut it in the EPL.
Marko I long ago said that that valuation discussion was problematic because of the screwiness of the market. It is very difficult to say what a player will be valued at in a market in which players are going for insane valuations. One day a decent player is worth 30m; the next day a decent player is worth 50m. It’s a crazy market and it makes valuations tricky. I also wasn’t saying what the market would value him at as much as I was saying what I would value him at. I wasn’t saying so much, “the market won’t value… Read more »
Moan-arko
Don’t be a dense cunt,Rooney made the 9th spot on that rating,says so much on how Kane is rated worldwide doesn’t it?
ZFree
Sorry, I don’t get your antagonism towards me. Are you still criticizing me for using British or “international English” expressions, like “on holiday” rather than “on vacation”? Do I need to keep to American English expressions here? Should I say “soccer” rather than “football”? Do explain. I’m a little perplexed.
Jim
That’s why I always define what I mean by that term if I’m going to use it. I agree that different people mean different things by it.
the market won’t value him at 90m” — maybe some idiot would pay that much for him — but that I personally wouldn’t pay more than 45m for him
Only an idiot would value him at 40 million (notice how you made it 45 now) especially when others are going for ridiculous amounts. Anyway look you’re wrong accept it don’t accept it I don’t care
If Kane is World class then let’s see him get us to a semi final or final of the World Cup until then he is exceptional but not world class yet imo.
Kane is in his comfort zone at Spurs let’s see him move to a bigger club and then do the same thing.
ZFree
Also, where are you from, and what do you do for a living? You seemed awfully interested in my life yesterday, so it seems only fair that I get to know a little more about yours. Thanks.
Victorious you absolute dumb shit Rooney doesn’t play for United Zlatan isn’t at PSG and Higuain isn’t at Napoli anymore your article much like your opinion is wrong and stupid
@Vic –
That article you posted is at least 2 years old as it has Zlatan playing for PSG.. Since then Kane has scored a further 70+ goals for Spurs.. I am not a fan of Kane, but you can’t try prove a point with an article that is so outdated.
Agreed, Samesong.
Jim fair enough,point is Kane is a tier below the ‘word class’ category of strikers..or do you agree with basic bitch Marko on him being an elite striker?
Bam
I don’t know why I came at you, just frustrated I guess with your high and mightiness and sheer volume of posting you do here. Guess I just need a bit of break, nothing noteworthy going on now with arsenal anyway…
But yea, feels like I come on here and every third post is the totally infallible bam-man. Cheers though dude
Sorry, Cheerio Mate. There, fixed it
Kane again? Sad he’s staying at the shite hart lane.
How about Lucas Torreira? Has a 22m pounds RC. 22 years old. Small, lightweight, midget but tenacious, tough tackling, pacy CM/DM. Brings that south american grit, we lack.
Was first loosely linked to us a couple of weeks back. Then DiMarzio came out and categorically our interest. Then it all went quiet until DiMarzio and sky Italia reports today.
He’s been courted by Napoli & recently BVB.
*categorically denied. Today he’s reporting that we’re negotiating with Sampdoria. Couple of ITKs picked that too.
Akilan,
Torrera is the type of player Pierre was talking about yesterday, can play lone holder as well as with Xhaka.
Binford
Are the kids at school giving you a hard time.?
You seem constantly digging a deeper hole for yourself.?
Are you a secret drinker.?
Is Le grove your only hobby.?
Why do you enjoy posting so much drivel.
Alway’s remember .
LESS IS MORE.?
@Vic – You see this is where I have a problem with conversations like this, as I can only offer you my own opinion which is totally subjective and tinted with bias. I don’t like the way Harry Kane plays football, so I personally don’t think he is “world class” or “elite” but what are those two terms if not subjective? Is a world class player one that bangs in goals all season? If so then he probably is.. but thats not what I think an elite player is. For me it is someone I would actually pay money to… Read more »
Zfree
My bad. I’ll slow my posting a little.
@Akilan –
“How about Lucas Torreira? Has a 22m pounds RC. 22 years old. Small, lightweight, midget but tenacious, tough tackling, pacy CM/DM. Brings that south american grit, we lack.”
Its a yes from me, I mean… I would still love Kante and that man can only ride 30% of the rides at an amusement park.
Kane is a top quality striker. There is something about the way he plays that makes you question whether he is on the same level as Lewendowski, Suarez, Benzema, Cavani, Aguero who are the number 1 CFs at the worlds top clubs. But he is on that level. The goals he scores, with vastly inferior service, puts him on that level. I would put him on the same level as Benzema and Cavani, but below the others on that list. I have him ahead of Lukaku as well. He is world class. Awkward, but still one of the best CFs… Read more »
Torreira played in a midfield three all season with Linetty helping him out defensively.
Not sure where this notion comes from that he can do the holding mid role on his own.
Would love to see him sign on an individual basis but not sure how he would work with Xhaka.
As has already been said about Torreira he isn’t a natural sitting player. His natural instinct and what he is rated for is springing out from defensive positions and pressing and making tackles.
Big tone is the worst manager pundit in the world hence we never see him on tv
Ishola,
Agree and I think we won’t be selling Xhaka this season at least. Midfield 3 of Xhaka, Ramsey and Torreira is quite good(very good I think) in terms of work rate and technical abilities. Ramsey can tackle further up while pressing and Torreira can press support Xhaka in the base of mid field, while Xhaka(who can’t tackle) can maybe play mopping up or crowding midfield role.
lol crowding midfield.
The reservation I would have is that Torreira with the natural way he plays will be leaving Xhaka isolated as last man too many times.
As ever Xhaka a problem.
But as said on an individual basis would like to see him signed.
@Pierre ” What happened to the notion that it was Wenger who is to blame for self sufficiency…. He’s gone now so surely we should have money to burn on players.” Pierre, Wenger burned the Money! That’s why we don’t have any. We’ve only ever sold 2-3 players for over £20m & Ox was one of them ! Someone else here will know the exact details, but it’s something like that. What we are seeing is kinda ironic cos a lot of people ( mostly AKB’s ) refused to see how What Wenger did was ruining the club. Players running… Read more »