A very subjective look into AWFC

Winning the Champions League might’ve been good for the players and us fans but I’m gonna be very controversial in saying that for the club we knew and loved, it was the worst thing that could’ve happened. I haven’t written in a while and this might be a long post so please be patient with me and my scrambled thoughts. But if you don’t have a lot of time its a mix of: Beth Mead is a historic talent, still to this day, and if you disagree you know absolutely nothing about this sport and you’re among the reasons why things aren’t great at the moment. Mixed with: the 3 players we need are Viv, Lia and Rafaelle. Sorry not sorry.

These players, the lionesses, etc have made the sport grow so fucking fast that they young fans just don’t get it. They don’t. They can’t, and it’s just the way the world works because at that age they don’t even know who they are themselves, they have not football nous, they have very short term memory and they obsess over comp clips and not what they feel when they see a player run back 60 yards and tackle.

First and foremost I hope you’re doing well, wherever you are. No matter what happens in or around the club, my appreciation and respect for you is very pronounced. I’m always grateful for you to read and share these silly posts. Also, as much as I have negative things to say about a lot of our fan base, you’re cooler, smarter and way better looking than most, but you knew that 😉

I don’t think the board had any expectations to win the CL and when we did, they short circuited and we are all living through some sort of hangover that sadly reflects on the players but the reality is that we all have a responsibility in this, not just those on the pitch. How? Why? I’ll explain but let me paint this picture:

The board and the former manager (who barely made the 8 team playoffs in the WSL, and got kicked out in the first playoff match – lol) had a long term plan, maybe 5 years total, in which he would instill is philosophy and way of doing things. The club rewarded a terrible coach and someone with very little empathy and respect for outspoken women with contracts and allowed him not just to buy his type of players but he systematically got rid of outspoken, historic women. Jordan, Mana, Vic (the OG and better one), Jenn and of course Viv.

The club relied on the fans’s lack of footballing knowledge and saw opportunities to just keep the lights on to give the illusion of ambition to fans that care more about new clothing lines, about asking players for their shirts and they made a lot of people think than home grown players were all the same. They also want people to think that “likable” players will cement some sort of loyalty but that is misguided and unsustainable. Without beating around the bush, they have worked to make you think that the squad has players that are just as good as Leah, Lia, Beth, Viv and more. Spoiler alert… they’re not. They’ll never be BUT so many people feel guilty for even thinking like me because they feel they’re betraying the club but the reality is that true fans DEMAND what’s best for the club NOW. Also, I’m not who to say what it means to be a true fan, as I’ve written about this before.

There are fans with a platform, with blogs and podcasts that post things like: “they players need to hold themselves accountable” or “if X happens, serious questions need to be asked!”

ok… no shit Sherlock!! Why the fuck aren’t YOU asking the questions? The answer is simple: ACCESS. Those people aren’t working for the fans and they aren’t outlets for actual debate or conversations. They are addicted to access. They wanna flex on you. They will tell you: “when I spoke to Renee she said ____” Ummm…. sorry dude but you didn’t “speak with her” other than in a literal sense. You asked a question alongside several other journalists in the room and btw the same person that does this asks questions that are about how much HE knows about x and you can see Renee’s body language and its just the most perfect reaction of any woman being spoken to by a man who thinks they know better. But anyway…

The club fires that awful manager and we hire Renee, the girls play their skins off, the best matches ever… and I’m sorry but among the reasons we did so well is because some players were injured and others didn’t feature and this is not an opinion, its a fact: they didn’t play and the girls won. It’s like saying X wasn’t a red card but the ref gave a red card. Maybe it wasn’t deserving of it but it was still a red card, you feel me?

So we win the CL. Short circuit… the players we bought just aren’t as good as the OGs and you might have an opinion about my opinion and I respect that. I do think KCC is a player and there’s something there but this winter window we have to make a lot of changes.

The 5 year just jumped ahead and the board has been caught with their pants down. They never thought Renee would win the CL but just steady the ship, I reckon. Word on the street is she didn’t want the job permanently but for some reason Arsenal FC, the mega corporation and historic football juggernaut felt a need to essentially convince her to take the job.

The adrenaline CL run is catching up. I have zero criticism of the players directly, I just feel they haven’t been put in a position to win culturally or financially.

Weird decisions being made.

We keep loaning out the wrong academy players and the bad luck with injuries to Leah and of course Katie Reid and Michelle are just so heartbreaking.

Definitely stopping That Arsenal Women Podcast for good btw

So to finish, as usual, I love this club and I love these players and I hope they play better and win more matches.

They know what they have to do and they have to do it for themselves, not for you or me. If you think they owe you anything because you’re a fan and go to the matches in person, they definitely don’t. If you think they need to hold themselves accountable and they aren’t actively doing that or talking about it, psst psst: you need to touch grass and make friends.

We’ve been living through these weird things with Joe, the guy that came after and now with Renee. But the board remains the same… Think of that what you will.

These players are some of the most badass women on planet earth’s sporting ecosystem, never forget that.

❤

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