A very subjective look into AWFC

If you are one of those incredibly kind people who has read this blog before, chances are you have heard me talk about Lia Walti, extensively. Obviously you have seen her play and you don’t need me to tell you how she is a generational talent. She is the very definition of a “Rolls Royce player” and a “Champagne Footballer.” She was and will always be one of the architects of what we know now as “standards” for our club, a club who’s board has clearly not appreciated her, in my humble and bitter opinion.

There are no superlatives or compliments that exist in any language to come close to expressing how good Lia is and I say is because she’s still an active player and I would be any more she will win the title in Italy. I always said that she is the barometer… how she plays dictates how the team plays. Two footed, calm, versatile, strong, elegant. Lia Walti has it all and when she left, she took it with her.

You would think that a club of the magnitude of AWFC would have a backup plan when they knew, for months, that they’d be letting her go. Instead we have been showed one of the most negligent non moves that I could ever remember. It’s so irresponsible and I don’t see how the hell we can survive without her, or at the very least, a player that actually comes close to her ability, which we currently don’t posses. Spoiler alert… there’s nobody like her anyway.

As much as I hate talking about Viv leaving, at least we had someone in Mariona to offer something different and great and also, at the very least, to give us a much needed injection of “copium” (borrowing this term from LeGrove aka Pedro The Arsenal Opinion Podcast aka the main inspiration behind me writing to begin with). But how in the hell do you not replace Lia with a Keira Walsh or Patri Guijarro?! Of course the answers might be very simple such as “they’re not for sale” but with all due respect to current players in the squad, they might have potential but they are nowhere near Lia, because she’s one of the best to ever play that position in women’s football, let alone for AWFC. We were so lucky to have her and we are currently being neglected by the board as fans, and moreover, the players, specially the OGs, are being neglected.

She’s irreplaceable of course, but among the things that happens is that instead of having her as a CDM, and at the moment KCC not getting many minutes, it forces Mariona and Kim to play way deeper than they probably should, and that is just my opinion as a non football expert and someone who plays drums for a living.

Now, if I was to get creative and pretend I am the manager, I think I would play Leah Williamson there, followed by KCC but I would only move Leah to that position if we get a household named CB, otherwise I’d have to get back to you because the only other alternative as far as football IQ is concerned would be Bethany Mead because that woman can play in any and all positions. She’s the truth.

To say I wish Lia the best would be an understatement. I remember going to the Zurich this past summer to watch the Oranjeleeuwinnen vs the Lionesses and just feeling so happy and proud that I was in her country. What she has done for Switzerland and the football for women in that country is absolutely historic and seismic. To borrow one of Arsene Wenger’s concepts, we will have to take chronological distance to truly see and appreciate what she has done for Arsenal and for football as a whole.

❤

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