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Still fills yucky
No matter how hard I try, at the moment, I just cannot get over not just Viv leaving but how it all went down and I actually don’t ever think I will get over because again, it’s not just about what happened but everything surrounding it. It makes me sad and it pisses me off.
I was so emotional watching the match and when she scored I totally lost my shit. My hands went to my face and I cried. It was just too much and as I was thinking about what this all means to her and her teammates it just fucked me up.
One thing is for sure and that is that I will never forget this nor will I forgive the manager.
Viv is the present and the future, not just a part of our history. She still has it and as the saying goes: there is no worse blind man than the one who doesn’t want to see.
This truly sucks and I can’t believe the pain were inflicting on this woman and the players. Its really not fair.
In a few minutes on the pitch, Viv showed more ability, vision, class, poise, than basically any other player and the fact that she is being let go for free is so stupid. Like I know you know she’s leaving and all that, but it does not make it less stupid and part of me wants to yell and scream all call everyone that is ok with this a bloody idiot and I promise you I will never take their football opinion seriously, ever.
The same people thinking we’ll be ok with Viv leaving are the ones that thought we would be ok w DvD leaving and look at where we are at now…
A manager that doesn’t know his best XI all season… a manager that is trying to sell us that the future is the Pelova/KCC axis when the standard is Walti/Little… a manager that talks at conferences about squad rotation yet plays Caitlin Foord every single match as she barely contributes…
But beyond anything on the pitch, it is clear to me that this person has a big, big, big problem with women that speak their mind.
With or without Viv we all need to realize that this person is not the right one for the actual success of the club. There is clearly something wrong and a lot of people can tell and I find it hilarious how people talk about parasocial relationships with the players while they have a very questionable subservient attitude towards a manager, who quite clearly has lost the dressing room months ago.
It is harder to finish 3rd in this league, with the squad we have, than winning it. We should’ve ran away with the WSL title. And let’s please not blame injuries because every single team has them and our players are not more important to us than other players are to their own fans.
We were beaten by our own manager and his stubborn decisions. Make no mistake about that.
That’s how I feel at the moment and since he’s lost me as a fan of his a long, long time ago, I know a lot of my feelings are biased and I’m totally cool with that.
AWFC do not have a divine right to win, to excel, etc and as fans we don’t have to just love the manager and actually speaking up when the standards are low is a must for fans, that’s among our duties, not just take in whatever the club wants to feed us as good enough because the manager, the results and the business part is NOT cool.
I do love and will always love these players and like I’ve always said: I care about them as people and want them to be happy.
d ❤
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How Do You Sleep??
The reason why this title seems very click bait is non other than because it’s the name of the song I’m currently listening to. It’s 7am on the dot and the girls are about to kneel right before kickoff and I’m already up listening to music I need to learn for a gig I have tonight.
In case you’re interested, said gig is with Orianthi, an incredible female guitarist/singer from Australia who used to play with Michael Jackson. She’s amazing and it’s always such a great time playing drums or percussion with her. Tonight though I’ll be playing drums and the show is at the world famous Whisky A Go Go in Hollywood, on the sunset strip. I can’t wait.
Going back to the title… I would definitely say this is a question that I would ask Jonas.
Anyway, I’m off to watch the match and I’m writing this now because I definitely don’t think I’ll have time later so at least there’s something posted.
Much love to Sabrina and Kaylan. Both players are not people I’m familiar with nor with whom I have any sort of attachment but anyone that has ever played for our club, who gives their all, and shows so much love to the badge and the community has to be respected and adored and I truly hope they are happy and healthy at whichever club the end up playing for.
More importantly…
I can’t believe Viv isn’t starting but of course he would do this.
d ❤
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Jonas is not Arteta
The collective desire and thought that Jonas is some sort of equivalent to Arteta is nothing short of delusional.
Not every manager deserves time.
If they are toxic, they don’t deserve time.
The differences between the managers is chasmic.
For sure there was a time when AWFC were doing better under Jonas than the men’s squad under Arteta, and credit where credit is due, but I’m talking about an actual pattern of progress, which doesn’t exist for the women’s manager.
Arteta has a reputation for being beloved by the players, a manager who has literally every single one of those men playing for him, not just for the club and for themselves. So when these three things line up, its ever so powerful.
The biggest difference though is that Arteta got rid of toxic players and players who were there basically to collect a paycheck and weren’t professional in many ways. This is also information that is out in the public eye, this isn’t my opinion.
This is not the case with the women’s team. Vicki, Mana, Jordan, Jenn and now Viv are unequivocally NOT toxic and in fact the total opposite of that. They give sustenance to anything they are part of, and don’t take my word for it, all you have to see is how people talk about them, how sad they are when they leave and so on.
If you don’t see that, I cannot help you.
I know what I know because I see what I see and I know most of you do, and when the truth comes out some people are gonna look very foolish.
If you haven’t heard my Vivianne Miedema episode, you can listen to it here:
d ❤
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Vivianne Miedema Pod
Check this out if you are interested in my take on part of this whole situation.
d ❤
THAT ARSENAL WOMEN PODCAST on:
You can listen to my music HEREarsenal, arsenal blog, Arsenal Football Club, arsenal podcast, arsenal women, arsenal women blog, Arsenal Women FC, arsenal women football club, Arsenal women podcast, AWFC, AWFC podcast, beth mead, FIFA WWC, Katie mccabe, Kim little, Leah williamson, lia walti, Steph catley, that arsenal women podcast, UWCL, Vivianne Miedema, women’s football podcast, woso, Woso podcast, WSL podcast -
SPEAK UP
I am on a secret musical mission today and I need to start packing and get to LAX in a couple of hours which will be a 2 hour ordeal if I’m lucky. All this to say that I will not have time to write a proper post until I get to my hotel in the afternoon which will be way too late for all of you readers in Europe/UK and other places.
One thing I do want to say before I leave though is that if we don’t continue talking about Jonas Eidevall shoving Vivianne Miedema we will be somewhat complicit. And look, I know there are bigger things like geopolitics but this is also a very big deal because it means a lot to us and to a player we love.
Just take note of the bloggers/podcasters some fans revere and see how quiet they are. Just look at patterns. Just look at who really is standing up and I’m not saying HEY LOOK AT MEEEEEE! I’m better than them!!!! No, that is not the point and I encourage you to not just agree with me and if you read things that you don’t vibe with, please let me know and comment on here.
I’m not talking about journalists, I’m talking about people that want and crave access to the club and support themselves and what they are building or have built more than they support a player they have claimed to love who quite literally wear on their backs when they go to matches on their Miedema 11 kit.
Also, don’t speak up if you don’t want to. If you wanna be quiet, etc just do whatever feels right but I would venture to guess that people need our support and it’s the least they deserve.
Anyway, there’s also a chance that I bring some stuff to record a podcast from my hotel room tonight so there’s that too but in the meantime please watch Shebahn’s video on this push.
She’s just the best in the game and brings up amazing points as usual.
d ❤
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Will Jonas start Viv?
There is no way that I fully processed and/or understood all the emotions I feel. I go from total anger, to sadness, to joy, to hope, to pride, to rage all at the same time. One of the things I feel is a sense of uncertainty as it relates to what that manager will do with Viv for her last match. Holy shit that sucks to write… this hurts so much. Goddamn it.
Also, I will forever refer to the current Arsenal Women’s manager as “that manager” because I’m petty and its among my few ways of showing some sort of disapproval without actually calling him names and don’t even get me started on the video I saw where he basically pushes Viv. I’m trying not to think about it right now but trust me, I will address this thoroughly.
We all saw that we will play 11 matches at The Emirates aka the house that Viv built. 11 matches… how fucking ironic.
Anyway… will that manager start Viv? Will fans protest? Will it be more than just a kind farewell or will people show how they really feel?
Honestly I can’t stop thinking about that video my friends. I really can’t and will leave this post here, right now, because I don’t want to say things that will be too raw and I honestly do not want to offend YOU by reading the stuff I would say.
d ❤
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Viv is bigger than the club
That’s how I feel today and there’s not really much to justify or explain, you can just read the title again.
Not offering her a contract is laughable.
She will thrive.
If she signs for City she’s gonna score against us as cost us points which will mean the WSL title and is gonna cost Jonas his job.
There are patterns though…
If, hypothetically, a manager doesn’t like a certain profile of player there might be a situation there were said players he doesn’t like are moved on in a similar way…
Mana.
Jordan.
Jen.
Viv.
They all have many things in common and one of them is being incredibly smart footballing brains.
Arsenal either know what they’re doing or they have no fucking clue.
I have picked which one a long time ago and I have to stick with it.
What I know is that Viv will thrive, like I said before.
This is too much and it’s also very simple.
We need to remember that Viv is just 27 years of age. She has SO MUCH FOOTBALL ahead of her and because she’s been elite since birth it’s cemented in your psyche that she’s been here forever but there’s so much more in her future and it not being with Arsenal makes me fucking sick to my stomach for ME… for her? FUCK YES VIV!
HAPPY MONDAY
d ❤
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Football Overload
This time of the season is just bonkers and I find it hard to manage my emotions. There are some many things I feel and think and I know you must feel either the same way, or you deal with similar things. And that’s just women’s football I’m talking about, now add the men’s CL, the premier league and much more. It’s a lot.
The first thing that I think about when I try to assimilate all of this sensory and emotional overload is simply how privileged we are that we get to see these matches or at the very least we are able to watch YouTube videos or twitter clips of the goals, celebrations and everything in between. As you know, there have been multiple times when the women’s game was very much an secondary thought so the fact that we can virtually see any match from any league its worthy of large levels of gratitude.
Another thing is the emotional attachment I have with many players that don’t play for AWFC. Van de Donk and Janssen are serial winners. I think about how much better we would be with them in our squad and I also feel very happy that they moved on and won and shut so many people’s mouths. It’s truly rewarding to see and I’m happy for them beyond words.
Seeing Jen and Rafa last night in pictures together was another one of those things that made my heart smile and makes me very happy. Regardless of the result, for Jen, it warms my heart that they got together. I love them both and would also love nothing more than to have them in the squad. And yeah that’s a lot of CBs haha.
It’s an intense next couple of weeks and I’m just here to remind you to take breaks from it all. Twitter is just the worst and the least amount of time you spend there the better, and I need to do that too.
This cannot be the only thing we do. There are many other things in life that matter more than football. Never forget that, specially on Mother’s Day.
Have to unexpectedly run. Have a great Sunday.
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Highbury Squad Appearance
As I mentioned to you yesterday, I had the honor of once again being a guest on The Highbury Squad which if you don’t know is one of the best Arsenal related podcasts/shows in the game. I come on there often to chat about Arsenal women and I did so with some really intelligent people and then there was me.
Here is the link to the show!
d ❤
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WEll done Lotte
News cycles are so quick these days that just going to bed and waking up just makes things seem like they went away. The time difference obviously helps but I just love how, sometimes, it’s just a matter of a few hours and things sort of die down. Yesterday was nuts, today should not be.
To that point, I truly wish more people would actually READ the stuff that makes them angry or makes them react. So many people assume things and just don’t read. They want to reply so bad that they think the tweet says something that molds to what they already want to say and needed an excuse to say it. Silly ding dongs.
Waking up and reading that Lotte was nominated for WSL’s player of the year is absolutely monumental for her and I am very happy she has gotten more and more recognition. Of course, I’m also happy for so many of her fans who adore her and want to see her happy and of obviously I’m happy for Arsenal too because, in theory, this can only fuel her and make her more confident.
But…
One thing about Lotte though is I don’t actually think she is someone who needs confidence. I think she is such a mentality monster and having the season she is having after that mistake vs Wolfsburg, to have the season she has had is incredible and admirable.
I still feel haunted by mistakes I made as a GK 3 years ago in my super below amateur league here in LA, so the mental fortitude that one must posses to just move on and not come close to doing something like that again blows my mind and I wish I had 1/100th of her drive and focus on the pitch.
With that said, I think it would be cooler to have separate awards for positions, like I said yesterday on this blog… We cannot compare Bunny Shaw to Lotte. It’s unfair to either if you ask me BUT I think it’s more than fair to say that this is a case when “just being nominated is the award itself” applies. I truly do.
If you read this Friday before 12pm Pacific / 8pm UK time, please know that right at that moment I will be guest hosting The Highbury Squad with Sophie Nicolaou and we will be chatting a ton about AWFC and the women’s game in general.
Tune in!
d ❤
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A very subjective look into AWFC 