A very subjective look into AWFC

I woke up today to the news that Victoria Pelova is essentially on her way out of Arsenal. I know a lot of fans love her and this might come as really bad news for them and for her as well and as someone who has been vocal about not being a fan, I’m actually here today to stand up for her… you’re shocked aren’t you?

As I’ve said before, I’ve never been a fan and I truly don’t see what others see in her. I think the pressure on her and the expectations put on her by god knows who, has been absolutely unfair, specially when she is her own player and hasn’t found her best position yet. Imagine being told you’re the next Van de Donk? Are you fucking kidding me? There’s nobody close to DvD. Imagine then being told maybe you’re the next Kim Little. What? The next Lia Walti? You are having an absolute laugh. I never saw her as that, not because she couldn’t be the next “them” but purely because nobody could be any of those other players.

We’re talking about truly historic players who shaped modern day football and very few players fit that mold. It’s not her fault. She is also not responsible for being in the same national team as DvD, Viv, Jill, Jackie, Damaris, Sherida in the positions she was touted to play. All of them are considerably farther into their journey and have been given a path, through merit, to excel at club level and for their country as well. Vic truly hasn’t and I feel for her.

A lot of the discourse and love came from fans who basically just loved her and her vibes and her partnership with KCC was gonna be “the next Kim and Lia” and I remember fans saying they were better already. I get people wanting to have favorites and find them cool off the pitch and all the social media, how she is loved by players and all of that.

I think we’re talking about a very misunderstood player, and nobody understands her less than me. And I don’t mean that in a wrong way, I mean that I don’t think we have been rewarded, and neither has she, with a long enough run of matches to truly know what her best position is as she’s very versatile and apparently she’s a very, very intelligent woman.

Even though she is not a star, I think she is a player you can build your team around. Let her be free and have players around her to help her shine. She’s not one to take over a match singlehandedly and absolutely boss it. She has the potential but if the coaches she has had haven’t gotten the best out of her, it might not be her that it’s the issue. It might be the system and the squads she plays.

Obviously her ACL injury was tragic and there was a bit of dip of form as expected but I think she has handled it quite well and she just isn’t fitting in Renee’s team. Some people wish she did but she just might not.

I would love to know what position she likes the most and how she would like to play football. I want her to shine and thrive and be the happiest person she can and if it’s not at AWFC then so be it but she needs to do what’s best for HER.

My respect for her has always been there and now even more so when she spoke about how she felt and how this is challenging for her mentally. This is not easy to own up to and to be so vulnerable and open is something I admire and I truly wish her success. There’s a universe where she shines.

In her defense I also think that Kim and Mariona have been playing way too many matches and she has deserved to be included more often than she has. If not for a tactical reason, at least to give other players a break and then she could have a chance to prove herself. But these things are always tricky because she can’t control the future and cannot just make the choice to just be great whenever she wishes.

She’s actually playing pretty well for the dutch vs France right now and she did well also last match. And btw I will be posting about the oranjeleeuwinnen on my next post. Really excited by what I’m seeing.

Victoria deserves to be happy and feel fulfilled in every way possible. Maybe staying in London is the move but either way one of my biggest wishes for her is whatever happens she makes as much money as possible. Plus she also mentioned she misses her family and that resonates with me, I just don’t think going back to The Netherlands is the right move for her.

Wherever she goes she will be loved by fans and her teammates and I love that for her.

❤

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