With a certain tournament in full swing in the middle east, it is easy to forget about the domestic leagues that were interrupted so that the nations can play.
My personal favourite, the Premier League, paused at a rather exciting junction. Arsenal is at the top with a five-point cushion, followed by Manchester City, and then Newcastle United two points below them.
While lots of the players are now in Qatar representing their national teams, the staff is working behind the scenes to ensure that their clubs can resume in the best possible manner for the second half of the season.
Among other things that the people at the Emirates are working on, one of them was new jerseys. And not just any jersey, but training and pre-match collection.
Yesterday, on December 1st, Adidas dropped a new collection for the Gunners, making them the first team this season to launch their training and pre-match kits for the second half of the 22-23 season.
Design-wise, the pre-match kit seems like an ode to the 95-96 Away shirt that the club wore.
A similar zig-zag pattern and a similar navy-bright blue colour combination, only now the zig-zag is pink and down the centre. The club badge is white while the Adidas logo is pink.
Also in the collection is an anthem jacket. Correction, a reversible anthem jacket.
One side is navy with pink and blue zig-zag hoops, while the other side is plain blue with pink accents.
The last addition to the wardrobe is the training kit.
This kit is off-white with pink brandings and navy detailing and sleeves.
All the newly launched shirts are available on the official website.
The pre-match shirt costs £55, while the jacket costs £90.
While launching new kits mid-season is not a new thing, the timing of this one in the current economical context of the country is a little off.
England is going through a cost-of-living crisis, not to mention climate and other issues facing the world.
The pre-match kit itself does not look great either, with Gunners using Twitter to voice their displeasure.
Adidas has had a good track record when it comes to kits. Just look at their world cup collection.
But we will file this one firmly in the ‘miss’ category.
That being said, the final verdict will only be delivered when, and if, Arsenal tell us how many they managed to sell.
Can’t wait to find out!