AFTV News

What can Arsenal expect from Crystal Palace in the opening day of the season? By Jonny Bray The new Premier League season is just ten days away. Arsenal will get the season underway on Friday Night Football with a mouth-watering London derby against Crystal Palace. The Gunners will make the trip down south to Selhurst Park to take on the high-flying Eagles, who have been tipped to challenge for Europe after a stunning first season under Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira. But what can Mikel Arteta's side fans expect from Palace in the season's opening game? Ridiculous going forward The Crystal Palace attack has gotten even more potent over the summer. They already had one of the most exciting forward lines in the league, with young stars like Michael Olise and Odsonne Édouard adding to the experience of the talismanic Wilfried Zaha. Then, as last season progressed, Jean-Philippe Mateta found his feet in English football. The Frenchman scored five goals and recorded one assist after ...

Top five Arsenal away kits of the Premier League era By Tum Balogun The internet is awash with leaks of Arsenal’s away kit for the upcoming season. And with an established recent history of stellar outfits, any Gunners strip these days is welcomed with a great deal of fanfare.  If rumours of an all-black jersey   are true, it would be a first for a n Arsenal  away strip and mark a serious departure from the designs of old.  In preparation of that imminent reveal, let’s look at some of the best away strips in the Premier League era.    5. 2004/05 - Blue Total 90   A kit donned by the Gunners at the peak of their powers, this strip will always evoke fond memories for the fans.   The slick navy-blue jersey with the centred badge above the iconic 02 shirt sponsor made every Arsenal player look seven-feet tall and proved so popular it was used as the club's third kit in the following season.  That season was ultimately a disappointing one for the ...

Five players Arsenal should never have sold By Alec McQuarrie It’s transfer season and while most fans will be focusing on the names arriving at the Emirates, the outgoing list is of vital importance too. Arsenal have seen more than its fair share of talented footballers leave through the exit doors over the years, some for better and some for worse.  So here we look at the top five players that Arsenal should have kept hold of, in no particular order.  Patrick Vieira  Some would argue that since Vieira left Arsenal for Juventus in 2005 in a deal worth £13.75 million, no player has adequately replaced him at the heart of midfield.  Nine successful years at Arsenal coincided with Arsène Wenger’s golden years at the club, after joining from AC Milan for £3.5 million in 1996.  The then 20-year-old cited the incoming compatriot Wenger as one of the major reasons why he decided to make the move to North London.  And the reason the colossal centre-midfielder gave...

Four Crystal Palace players Arsenal should try to sign By Jonny Bray Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira has surpassed expectations and excelled in his role as manager of Crystal Palace after experiencing a tough start under the World Cup and Premier League winner. He has taken The Eagles to new heights in this campaign, helping his side reach an FA Cup semi-final while also performing brilliantly in the league. Having had an average squad age of 30.7 last season, Vieira, along with chairman Steve Parish and Sporting Director Dougie Freedman, signed six players with an average age of 22.5 last summer. To undertake such a significant squad overhaul while also replacing an experienced manager like Roy Hodgson with an unknown entity like Vieira is nothing short of remarkable. And so, with that in mind, and ahead of Arsenal's game against Palace at Selhurst Park, let's take a look at which Palace players the Gunners should try to sign this season. Michael Olise Michael Olise oozes confid...

How many of Arsenal's current players get into 2006 CL final team By Matt Wright Following last weekend’s developments, Arsenal are favourites to claim the fourth Champions League spot this season and earn a place in European football’s premier competition for the first time since 2016. Taking part in that tournament used to be a given for Gunners fans, who had the privilege of witnessing their team participate for 19 consecutive seasons, following 1997/98’s double-winning campaign. Unfortunately, however, none of those ended with any of Arsene Wenger, Tony Adams, Patrick Vieira or Thierry Henry lifting the trophy over their heads. The closest this came to happening – and my goodness it was close – was in 2006 when two late goals allowed Barcelona to defeat 10-man Arsenal at the Stade de France in the final. It was a painful end to a fantastic run that saw the Gunners knock out Real Madrid, Juventus and Villarreal on their way to Paris. So, without wanting to count our chickens bef...

Arsenal’s greatest ever captains  By Oli Dickson Jefford   The position of Arsenal captain is once again up for grabs following the recent decision to strip Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of the armband.   It is the second consecutive time that the captaincy has been stripped in such a way, with Granit Xhaka removed from the role before Aubameyang took over the position.   The position has been a hard one to nail down in recent campaigns with eight captains in the last ten years alone, with the club unable to find a consistent leader.   That hasn’t always been the case, with some of the club’s greatest ever players taking the role and thriving in it.   We take a look at some of those predecessors that the new captain - whoever that is - will hope to emulate.   Tony Adams   Arguably Arsenal's most iconic captain, Adams took the role from Kenny Sansom in March 1988 aged just 21 and did not relinquish it until his retirement in 2002.   A one-club man...

Five things we learned from Arsène Wenger: Invincible By Jonny Bray Arsène Wenger: Invincible is essential viewing for anyone who wants to say they are an Arsenal fan. He did well to keep us in the Champions League with such a poor squad after many of The Invincibles had left, and this documentary gives him the credit he deserves. The film is the latest in Gabriel Clarke's superb series of documentaries that focus on the game's greatest characters. From Jack Charlton to Bobby Robson, his documentaries have all been made to an extremely high standard. This time around, it's the turn of club legend Wenger to come under Clarke's spotlight, and I must say, the end product doesn't disappoint. Watching the programme will teach you so much about the man Gunners fans have grown to know and love over the years. So, what are the five things we learned from Arsène Wenger: Invincible? 1. It's much better than the book Gabriel Clarke's line of questioning and ability to ...

Could Patrick Vieira one day be in the Emirates dugout? By Oscar Maung-Haley   In a short space of time, Patrick Vieira’s appointment at Selhurst Park has seen Crystal Palace go from dull and dismal to exciting and entertaining.   It leads us to ask, could Vieira ever find himself in the Emirates dugout one day should things go wrong for Mikel Arteta?   Transformative effect   Under their previous manager Roy Hodgson, Palace were compact, solid and hard to break down.    However, they were also pretty unimaginative but they always stayed up under the ex-England manager’s guidance.   But since Vieira took over in the summer, that hasn’t been the case.   Palace are exciting to watch and have been one of the surprises of the Premier League season so far, with their most notable scalps this campaign including a 2-0 away win over Manchester City.   Turning a style of play around in just one summer, which featured a notable amount of upheaval in te...