A very subjective look into AWFC

Every single thing about yesterday’s match was fantastic. There are so many things that I was happy with before a ball was even kicked that I had a great feeling about it all and was also very surprised by others, all for great reasons.

We all had begged for squad rotation and we got that. It was lovely to see Jen, KCC, Cloe, Laia and of course Stina. All things considered we have such a great squad and we have to use these players more and more. Lovely to see Steph come back as well and anytime she plays there’s a sense of relief that is very welcome.

Lots of things seem to click and I attribute it exclusively to energy. The girls looked sharp and very much up for it and there’s no way an exhausted group of players can do that, its just not sustainable, so again, more of this please.

Now, it’s very clear that the two main topics of conversations will be Leah’s return and Kim Little’s 300th match (and also return from injury). However, I think there’s a lot of talk about both of them and I have sure contributed to that with that long special episode of That Arsenal Women Podcast.

I will mention two things though. One of them is that what I personally was super focused on and moved by was the fact that we had Viv, Beth and Leah playing together. Something that we could’ve taken for granted in the past… but life just makes sense when they are on the pitch. The collective football IQ goes through the roof.

The second thing, which I’ve spoken about before, is that people need to pump the breaks and appreciate Kim Little more. Sounds insane but the obsession with new players and what I’ve read online has been shocking. The fact of the matter is that Kim is one of the greatest players to ever play the sport. Every single player, coach, staff member from all teams speak the world of her and yet some out there think that we have players that can replace her. We don’t. She is irreplaceable.

I know lots of people are desperate for the future and worried about life without Kim and Lia, but I would encourage everyone to realize what we have in them two and also, with respect to other, know what we don’t have. We don’t have anybody remotely close to being as good as Lia, let alone Kim Little.

Things are not going back to normal, I’m convinced they will be better. And just for fun, here’s how I would field them.