AFTV News

Who should start at right-back: Ben White or Takehiro Tomiyasu By Tom Masters Despite a 3-1 defeat to Manchester United last weekend, Arsenal sit top of the Premier league table after the first six matches of the new campaign and one man who has been a key part of that is Ben White.   White, who was purchased from Brighton and Hove Albion for £52 million last summer primarily as a centre back has played in all six Premier League matches this season at right back.  That has come partly down to the return of William Saliba from Marseille, who has formed a quality pairing with Gabriel, and partly down to the injury sustained by last season’s first choice right back Takehiro Tomiyasu.  But with Tomiyasu now back fit, the big question on many Arsenal fans’ lips is who should be the first choice right back?  Pick on form?  I t must be nice for Mikel Arteta and his coaching staff to have options, after a season last year in which there was very little wriggle room for ...

Is Ben White Arsenal's best option at right-back? By Tum Balogun  William Saliba’s impressive form upon returning to the Emirates has necessitated a reshuffle in the Arsenal backline.  Despite scoring an unfortunate own goal in this weekend's 4-2 win over Leicester, the young Frenchman has already stamped his authority on a position previously held by 2021/22's £50 million summer signing Ben White.  Acutely aware of the former Brighton man’s defensive qualities, as well as his versatility, Mikel Arteta has opted to play the Englishman at right-back, dislodging Takehiro Tomiyasu who enjoyed a fine debut campaign last term.  It’s a selection headache the manager will relish after years of struggling to piece together a defensive line which could provide a solid platform for the team to build attacks while also keeping opponents at bay.  With Saliba and Gabriel set to continue at the heart of the Gunners defence, let's assess some of the options at right-back....

Three things we learned from the latest All or Nothing episodes By Tum Balogun Another week and another three episodes of All or Nothing for Arsenal fans to sink their teeth into.  Last week’s edition highlighted Arsenal’s early season travails, boardroom machinations, and a whole heap of Catalan-accented pep talks.  This week’s triple zeroed in on the portion of last term where things really started to click, with a healthy dose of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang content for good measure.  Let’s take a look at three things we learnt from episodes four, five and six.  Arteta’s little black book Aptly titled ‘Respect, Commitment, Passion’ episode four of the behind-the-scenes documentary lifted the lid on the  Aubameyang indiscretion which broke the Areta back.  Somewhat disappointingly however, we don't actually get to see the forward’s pivotal misdemeanour, only a few statements alluding to his consistent tardiness.  Nevertheless, it was reassuring for fans...

What have we learnt from the first three episodes of All or Nothing By Matt Wright It’s finally dropped. We’ve known for a year that Arsenal were to be the latest subject of the glitzy All or Nothing series for Amazon Prime and now we’ve finally seen the results.   Depending on how much you enjoy their brand of behind-the-scenes (albeit the scenes their subject wants you to see) documentaries, you’ve either been anticipating or dreading the release.   Now the first three episodes are with us – the rest are being released on August 11 and 18 – here is what we have learnt so far…   The elephant in the room   OK, let’s address the sneak peak that went viral, particularly among opposition fans, this week: Mikel Arteta having speakers at the training ground playing ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ in the build-up to Arsenal heading to Liverpool in an attempt to prepare his players for the (often overrated) Anfield atmosphere.   It’s certainly an unorthodox approach. It’s ...

  Who was Arsenal’s best signing last summer?  By Tum Balogun Arsenal’s summer window is shaping up to be an impressive one with arrivals Marquinhos and Fabio Viera through the door and there are some more exciting additions on the horizon.  The Gunners recruitment has been maligned for some time now but the summer window of the 2021/22 season is already looking like one of the club’s finest in recent history.  One year on, let’s take a look at how they worked out.  6. Nuno Tavares  The 22-year-old left-back joined from Benfica and made a decent start to life in London, providing cover for the often-injured Kieran Tierney. But a disappointing performance in the 4-0 away defeat to Liverpool in November brutally exposed the youngsters deficiencies and led to him making just two appearances off the bench in 12 league games from December to April.  In total he made 22 appearances last term, and even scored in the 3-1 win against rivals Manchester United....