The new Manchester City and Everton 2022/23 Away Kits have been released, and both are certainly head-turners.

Let’s take a look at the new releases one at a time, starting with City:

Reviewing the Manchester City 2022/23 away kit

A riff on the 1969 away strip Man City was wearing when they won the FA Cup, the 2022/23 version takes that design and turns it sideways.

The vertical black and red stripes are now set diagonally, mirroring the stripes in the club crest (and city of Manchester’s coat of arms) that represent the Irwell, Irk and Medlock rivers. This gives the top a more unique look (and less of an AC Milan flavor). The yellow detailing on the crest, Puma and sponsor logos really pops against the black and red base.

It’s an incredibly sharp look. And it’s an example of one of the funny things about soccer: a team can wear the colors of their fiercest local rival and it can still work incredibly well.

Grade: A+

A great twist on a classic alternate City design. Simple, but really effective, and in my book far superior to their 2022/23 sky blue home offering.

Everton 2022/23 Away Kit

Reviewing the Everton 2022/23 away kit

The new Everton top is definitely eye-catching, looking more like something you might see from USL’s Forward Madison as opposed to a Premier League side. Perhaps not coincidentally, Hummel also manufactures Madison’s kits.

The Toffees will be rocking a pink base shirt in the event that their standard blue clashes with the home side this season. The club badge, sponsor, Hummel mark and trademark shoulder chevrons are all done in a solid dark blue, which does provide a nice compliment to the pink.

The geometric pattern is supposedly inspired by the angled roof of Price Rupert’s Tower, famously featured on the Everton crest. However at first glance all I saw was the Cobra Command logo, and now I can’t unsee it (and now you can’t either – you’re welcome).

The pattern would’ve have worked better if the color on the large diamond shapes was toned back a bit, like the faded smaller bits in the between. This would make it less of a focus, and also make the white outline on the sponsor unnecessary, which itself is a little distracting. Speaking of the sponsor logo, it seems like it’s placed a hair too low in certain shots, but that’s nit picky.

Grade: C+

It’s a bold look for Everton but it’s just not working for me. If it did without the horizontal stripe elements and stuck with just the more subtle zig-zags, and got rid of the white outline on the sponsor, it would be a much strong design.