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Three Arsenal pre-season games that fooled us all By Jack Lacey-Hatton Are pre-season friendlies ever an accurate indicator of what is to follow? Trying to predict how Arsenal will get on over the next nine months can be a tricky task at the best of times. It is made near impossible when you throw some rogue friendly results in before the season starts. To some they are just glorified kickabouts, to others they offer an important temperature check on the forthcoming season’s fortunes.  Here are some of the Gunners’ most memorable warm-up matches from down the years. 2015 v Lyon It may be regarded as something of a light appetiser, but the truth is there are few pre-season games of higher quality than the Emirates Cup. The traditional two-day tournament is only ever contested by top sides and 2015 was no different. It was when Arsenal produced a stunning performance to dismantle a talented Lyon team, which featured former Gooner Alexandre Lacazette, 6-0. The team went on to ...

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 ...

Ian Wright's greatest Arsenal moments By Jack Lacey-Hatton Few players are held in higher regard with Arsenal fans than Ian Wright. The legendary striker recently became the fourth Arsenal alumni, after Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp, to enter the Premier League Hall of Fame. A forward who had everything, pace, trickery, athleticism and deadly finishing ability, Wright wasn’t just loved because he put the ball in the net. It was the way he played, a street footballer with attitude, who could outwork and out-battle the best defences in the country. Wrighty’s relationship with the North Bank faithful was a joy to watch, as he hit 185 goals in all competitions during a seven-year stay at Highbury. It’s hard to boil such an amazing career down to just a handful of highlights but we’ve tried. Here are four of his greatest moments in a Gunners’ shirt.   A Dream Debut v Leicester City It would be wrong not to highlight the one moment Wright pinpointed himself as the bes...

Arsenal’s five greatest Champions League nights By Alec McQuarrie With the Champions League returning to our screens this week for the first time in over two months, let’s crack open the archive and look back at five of the most unforgettable Arsenal performances in this prestigious competition. The Gunners have a long and proud history in the tournament, qualifying for the group stage under Arsène Wenger for 19 consecutive seasons from 1998 to 2016 – only Real Madrid can better that with 25 and counting. Wenger failed to make the last-16 just twice, reaching six quarter-finals, two semi-finals and one final in 2006. The Gunners lost 2-1 to Frank Rijkaard’s Barcelona side that included Carlos Puyol, Andrés Iniesta Deco, Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto’o. Inter Milan 1-5 Arsenal – Group Stage Matchday Five – 25 November 2003 “Not in my wildest dreams could we have predicted that sort of result,” said Arsène Wenger after the Gunners sent shockwaves through Europe by demolishing the previou...

Should Arsenal sell or keep Nicolas Pepe this summer? By Jack Lacey-Hatton It’s fair to say Nicolas Pepe's Arsenal career to date would probably be described as ‘mixed’ at best. Many in the game believe his form to be wildly inconsistent and not what you’d expect from a club-record £72million signing. When Pepe joined from Lille back in the summer of 2019, he was expected to be the final piece in attacking jigsaw. Manager at the time Unai Emery said after his signing was confirmed, “Nicolas is a highly-rated and talented winger who was wanted by many of the top teams in Europe. ” The Lille man excited everyone connected with the Gunners. Here was a player who would give Arsenal a different attacking dimension, perhaps the signing to lead the team back to the Champions League. But sadly his move hasn’t transformed the team and in early 2022 few of the biggest clubs in Europe would be desperate to secure his signature. Equally, it would be unfair to suggest his time at the club ha...