AFTV News

The top five moments of the year By Jonny Bray 2021 was Arsenal's best year since Arsene Wenger's departure back in 2018. It's been 12 months filled with drama, heartbreak and moments of pure ecstasy. And while there may have been very little silverware, Gunners fans could look back on this season as being the start of a new era at the Emirates. So as the year draws to a close, it's time to pick out Arsenal's top five moments of the past 12 months. Aaron Ramsdale's save against Leicester Aaron Ramsdale's save against Leicester in October was a crucial - and frankly world-class - bit of goalkeeping that kept the Gunners ahead in a crucial game. It typified the young keeper's performances this season and showed exactly why he is now considered one of the best stoppers in the country. He's arguably been the signing of the season and has had the best start to life as Arsenal's number one since David Seaman. If he continues like this, he'll replac...

Grading Arsenal’s UEFA Euro 2020 performances - including  Bukayo  Saka and Granit Xhaka By Oli Dickson Jefford After four thrilling weeks of action, Euro 2020 concluded on Sunday at Wembley. There were just four Arsenal players in action across the 24 nations, across a variety of different positions and experience levels. Here, we take a look at how Bukayo Saka, Granit Xhaka, Kieran Tierney and Bernd Leno have fared over the past few weeks.    Bukayo Saka: 8/10 After a disappointing draw against Scotland, pressure was on Gareth Southgate to shake things up in England’s final group match against the Czech Republic. And when he brought in Bukayo Saka into the starting XI, the 19-year-old well and truly delivered with a man of the match performance in a 1-0 victory at Wembley. Saka consistently caused havoc for opposition defenders when playing, particularly against the Czech Republic but also against Germany in England’s 2-0 round of 16 victory. He may have ...

Kalvin Phillips, 25, salutes the England faithful Which of England’s heroes should Arsenal try to sign? By Jonny Bray It’s hard to think of a member of England’s squad for the European Championships whose stock has gone down since the beginning of June.     From starters  such as  Jordan Pickford, Harry Maguire, and Harry Kane to squad players Sam Johnstone, Conor Coady and Ben White, every player will be able to say that they’ve done their country proud this summer.     Despite defeat in the final against Italy, man y  of the players in the squad could even expect a big transfer to a top side.     Performances against  the likes of  Croatia, Germany and even Italy in the final have shown almost every member of the squad could do a job against Europe’s elite.     Even some of the lesser-known characters have proven that they’re good enough to compete at the top level and that they have the mentality and selflessness necess...

Mikel Arteta, 39 AFTV piece: Six weeks to go - what needs to happen before Prem opener?  By Jonny Bray The day we’ve all been waiting for is fast approaching.     The Premier League commences once again on the 14   August 2021, and Arsenal will be looking to finally compete at the top of the table for the first time in over a decade.     However, it’s becoming clear with just over a month to go that Arsenal are in no fit state to do that.     For what seems like the 15 th   consecutive season, Arsenal will head into this campaign woefully unprepared to battle the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United and perhaps even Spurs.     Whilst clubs like Leicester City fine tune their squad and Aston Villa take the mick out of us, we are seemingly stagnant in the transfer window while little has been done to solve some of the deeper underlying issues at the club.     Last season won’t be remembered for the...

Bukayo Saka, 19 How Bukayo Saka showed the country what Arsenal fans already knew  By Jonny Bray   The reaction across the country to Bukayo Saka’s inclusion in the starting line-up against the Czech Republic last week bordered on being disrespectful.     Jadon Sancho, Jack Grealish, Phil Foden, and Raheem Sterling are all outstanding attacking players, but the response completely disregarded Saka’s obvious talents.  Since then, Saka, 19, has been England’s stand-out player for two consecutive games, starring against the Czech Republic before carrying England through a dark period at the start of the first half against Germany.     This begs two questions.     Why was the country so quick to dismiss Saka’s obvious talents prior to his last two performances and what did he do to change these opinions so quickly?     It’s been clear to anyone who watched Arsenal last season that he’s taken the outstanding form that saw him become a ke...