A very subjective look into AWFC

Safe to say we all find it absolutely soul crushing to see our girls get carried off with season and career threatening injuries. I have written so much about this that chances are you are currently opening a new tab and closing this page. But whenever one of those players makes a huge step in their recovery its assimilated in a few different ways that I always find interesting.

The first thing I feel is happiness! Yay! they’re that much closer to being fit and returning to the squad because we love and need them. We all know how time away from doing what you do best can be very difficult and especially when that activity has so much to do with the identity and sense of self of that person. There is also the huge amount of relief that overcomes me as it relates to their livelihood. And of course I understand times are changing but there are still players that aren’t making insane amounts of money so a bad injury can affect their present moment but also their short term future if they wanted to buy a home, to invest, to start a company or to pay for their UEFA badges. It all costs money and not playing (yes they get paid still) but it might affect a lucrative new contract or a potential transfer.

The other thing that I always feel is like I’m walking into a surprise party. Like every time there’s a post like the one with Leah today it’s almost when I least expect it so the news is always rather overwhelming in the best of ways. I almost have a hard time watching the whole video because I get emotional honestly, not even going to lie. I can just imagine 1/20th of their feelings and be totally disarmed by the enormity of it all.

Lastly I’m brought back down to reality by the fact that even though it might feel like “quick” or “speedy recovery” we all know that it has been the slowest hours from the slowest days, from the slowest months. What we see is the big events, so to speak, in the recovery arc but in reality its these tiny micro wars they have to wage every single day to get to where they are TODAY, whatever that may be.

But let’s allow ourselves to dream and hope and ponder. What would a squad with Leah, Amanda and Laia fully fit look like. Would they rotate? *Insert Boromir saying: One does simply not rotate Leah Williamson. But seriously, with those 3, would you play 3 at the back? Will she come back and play as a 6 or alongside Lia and have Viv and Kim rotate? Whichever permutation of these plays exists on the pitch we will be so spoiled. With Laia and Amanda we can experiment… we can probably have them also step in for Lia when she needs to not play every minute or every game.

Hope you have a great Friday and I’ll be posting a quick preview too before the match, of course.

d ❤

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