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Frida training
I have to admit that I haven’t been keeping up too much with fitness updates or news. Sometimes I look away from that because I don’t feel managers ever say what’s really going on so I just don’t wanna put myself in that situation usually but seeing one AWFC’s posts today made me very happy.
I swiped through some pictures and I saw that Frida was training and it made me so, so very happy. Specially because I was assuming we wouldn’t see her at all this season, as in she was done or they would take precautions regarding her health but we obviously have to trust the medical staff.
Look, whenever anybody faints or collapses it’s normal to think the absolute worst but not every collapse is related to brain or heart problems. Literally 2 weeks ago a teammate of mine passed out because he was fasting and totally forgot. These things happen and unless we have facts we can only speculate, but we can also trust, like I said before.
Really glad to see Viv too. I also didn’t think we’d see her this season again but maybe? That would be amazing because we definitely need her, the world needs her. I know some of people have forgotten, but we mustn’t.
Vivianne Miedema is the Taylor Swift of women’s football.
More on this tomorrow.
d ❤
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Last match at The Emirates
Even though it’s a few days away, I felt like talking about the match and what to expect and as the title suggest, about this being the last match at the emirates and what I think it means going forward.
The fact that so many tickets have been sold for a “non blockbuster” match is a massive deal, honestly. I get the sellouts against massive clubs but the attendance being so high against Villa and now Leicester makes me feel very happy and moreover, it brings closer and closer the reality that is playing own home matches there. As we all know its only a matter of time but it’s worth enjoying the process, especially if you are able to get to matches often, so I’m very happy for those of you that can!
This is gonna be a very interesting match and I wish I could see it being a comfortable win but it’s gonna be everything but that, however I truly think the vibe at that stadium is going to carry the girls over. Not only because it’s the last match there of the season but I think it might be the last time a few of those players play there so I would expect some starts here and there that might not expected.
Hurtig and Frida cannot get the farewell that they would deserve if they are to leave, but Sabrina and Foord can. Not saying they will leave but I can see a universe where they have moved on.
These last few matches are gonna be so interesting and also frustrating in that it feels like now it’s when the team is gelling… now… and that’s where proper management comes it, but that’s another blog for another day.
d ❤
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You can listen to my music HEREAlessia Russo, ar, arsenal, 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, Cloe Lacasse, Emily Fox, FIFA WWC, Katie mccabe, Kim little, Laia Codina, Laura wienroither, Leah williamson, lia walti, manu zinsberger, Steph catley, Stina Blackstenius, that arsenal women podcast, UWCL, Vivianne Miedema, women’s football podcast, woso, WSL, WSL Blog, WSL podcast, WSL transfer -
Focus on the present
A couple of weeks ago I was in Boston thanks to my alma mater aka Berklee College of Music, to speak at a panel about touring musicians and the industry as a whole. During said talk, I mentioned something that I learned while I was a student that I think is one of the pillars of my life, it’s ethos and how I’ve been able to sustain a life as a musician in one of the toughest towns in the world.
While you’re there as a student, you’re bombarded by things, interactions, processes, dynamics and more that remind you that “when you’re out in the real world” things are gonna be different or that the real world will offer some sort of lesson that you can only learn in it.
However, what has worked so much for me then, and now, is that I approached my entire college years as THE REAL WORLD. I saw that however I behaved, acted and performed, and the intention behind it all, was how I would behave, act and perform later in my life aka in the real world. I approached all rehearsals with the professionalism and commitment then as I knew I would be creating healthy habits. Long story short, it worked and it continues to pay off and its what I always get thanked for the most, probably, when I give these talks, etc.
The comparison I’m trying to make with football is that “the real world” is the future, and next season is also the future. So, while its normal to look at next season, the future and so on, we cannot forget that the present is the only moment that matters and with that must come gratitude and awareness.
We must be both aware and grateful that we have the players that we have, specially Vivianne Miedema who has been sidelined and hasn’t been having the impact everyone wanted her to have. I get that some of you are quick to look to the future but do me a favor… we cannot look past having the GOAT!!!
So many people are quick to diminish the importance because we’re looking to the future. Please… Also the manager and coaching staff, and board, have a massive hand in all this but we have to actively appreciate what we have.
You cannot sort the future out if the present isn’t appreciated.
Love what we have NOW.
d ❤
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You can listen to my music HEREAlessia Russo, Amanda Ilestedt, arsenal, 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, blog about arsenal women, Emily Fox, FIFA WWC, Frida Manuum, Katie mccabe, Kim little, Laia Codina, Laura wienroither, Leah williamson, lia walti, manu zinsberger, Matildas, Steph catley, Stina Blackstenius, that arsenal women podcast, UWCL, Vivianne Miedema, women’s football, women’s football podcast, woso, Woso podcast, WSL, WSL Blog, WSL podcast, WSL transfer -
Nutmegs and “False 9’s”
Yesterday was a pretty packed day for me as it relates to music learning, recording and then I had a very long drive to a gig followed by another long drive farther south here in California. All this to say that I haven’t been able to read anything as far as news in the WSL world is concerned, except the Millie Turner thing that I don’t know much about but knee jerk opinion is that I don’t think she did anything wrong. I also don’t think LJ did much wrong trying to get the ball from her… if that was any of our players trying to grab it I would’ve been completely ok with it.
Two things I do want to mention though, which are completely random, are the following: Nutmegs and false 9s, as the title so cleverly discloses. Both of these I feel are misused and also I get why they would be subject to debate or opinion but here are my two cents.
A nutmeg is when you kick the ball between a player’s legs, you then run past them and then get the ball again. This is actually not that difficult of a skill and it happens all the time, but it’s always impressive and cool and adds some “humiliation” to the opponent which is lovely. What is not that big of a deal is just kicking the ball between an opponent’s legs. People seem to confuse these two a lot.
I’m not saying that if Beth does it it’s not impressive, all I’m saying is that it’s not a nutmeg if THE SAME PLAYER doesn’t collect the ball. Then it’s just a pass and it’s wild to me that people freak out so much about it, which isn’t too different than when us drummers are doing a solo and you play some crazy complex stuff and nobody reacts, but then you do some silly stick tricks that take very little skill, all things considered, and the crowd goes wild.
The other concept that I see people mixing up is a false 9 vs a 10. Tons of people talking online about Russo being a false 9 vs Bristol City. Well, to be a false 9 there cannot, by definition, be an actual 9. Stina played as our 9, hence no possibility of there being a false 9 if we have a 9. That’s it. Not much more to expand on this.
I sound like such an asshole and I’m sorry.
d ❤
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Alessia Russo, arsenal, 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, blogs about arsenal women, Cloe Lacasse, Emily Fox, FIFA WWC, Katie mccabe, Kim little, Laia Codina, Laura wienroither, Leah williamson, lia walti, manu zinsberger, Steph catley, Stina Blackstenius, that arsenal women podcast, UWCL, Vivianne Miedema, women’s football podcast, woso, Woso podcast, WSL podcast -
More Bristol talk, literally
Here’s the latest pod!
d ❤
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Very, very good.
Friends I really dislike writing when I’m in a rush because I think you deserve at least the minimum of time and energy but I really have to go very soon, however if I don’t write right this second, I really won’t be able to do so later. So here are some quick thoughts
So glad to see the smiles on the faces of all the players
Beth should’ve stayed on.
Cloe should’ve started.
Pelova needs a breather FFS he’s gonna run her to the ground.
Lovely to see Laura.
Yes, Mead POTM… they finally get one right.
Leah is the best defender we have, by a country mile.
Who is Katie Reid? And good for her!
Kim Little is the real POTY
5 goal margin is the least the girls deserved on paper, so… box ticked.
gotta run but I love you all
d ❤
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Fan reaction videos
I don’t watch them often but depending on my mood, the day or the result, I will watch some of the fan reaction videos. I’m talking about ones NOT involving Arsenal, but only men’s squad matches from say Spurs. To be clear I don’t even know of AWFC fan reaction videos, or any for women’s football for that matter.
Also, I’ll preface this by saying I have never, ever seen any of these videos from my Arsenal friends and thought the same thing I think about other clubs, which I’m gonna explain in a second. Albert Umoh and James Johnstone for example to amazing watch alongs and they are just great people.
For those of you that don’t know, there’s a term in German called schadenfreude: The experience of pleasure, joy, or self-satisfaction that comes from learning of or witnessing the troubles, failures, pain, or humiliation of another. It is a borrowed word from German; the English word for it is “epicaricacy”, which originated in the 18th century.
As much as I enjoy the entertainment of it and as much as I feed my ego by knowing/hoping I am not one of those people, there’s something that is truly alarming to me which is the reason why I don’t really watch them too often.
A lot of these men have a real hard time controlling their emotions and I’m sure lots of them punch walls and I am concerned for their partners. The way they behave, how they insult their own players and managers, is appalling.
Anyway, I’m just really happy this isn’t a thing in women’s football. We don’t need that, not now, not ever. The growth of the sport cannot mean the masculinization of it. Anger, insults and uncontrolled physical or emotional responses cannot be part of our game because those things aren’t positive for the players, let alone ourselves as fans.
You can see more and more how the social media landscape in women’s football is becoming toxic, for many different reasons. One of is how sets of fans just love criticizing another set of fans. That’s just boring to me and it gets to tiring after one comment. And don’t get me started on the Lotte/Russo/Toone chants thing. My goodness is that a waste of time for everyone involved.
On to tomorrow… I’m expecting a resounding win which means it’ll be in reality a tight match against a low blocking side. But I am expecting the usual… I want a certain lineup, Jonas does the opposite etc etc etc.
But honestly, I would be shocked if the girls don’t win by 4 goals.
d ❤
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Saying all the right things
Being a manager is a very, very difficult job. You don’t need me to list all the things they have to deal with internally and externally. The pressure is insane and you have to have a very special type of brain to put yourself in that position, which is something that I respect, even though I certainly don’t envy.
Some managers are better than others at speaking to the press, they are more calculated than others, more eloquent, etc. Their charisma is also something huge and just overall it’s a very interesting dynamic for me to see. How they speak and how they say what they say, speaks volumes, pun intended.
Jonas is very good at saying the “right things” and giving the press and more importantly the fans, what they want to hear. It’s pretty impressive how sometimes he talks a lot and says absolutely nothing and people just love it. That takes some talent.
Him saying that Lotte Wubben Moy is Arsenal through and through… I mean… of course she is, she’s always been and will always be. This is about as obvious a comment as I’ve ever heard… totally a “no shit, Sherlock” moment. And even though I totally agree with everything he said about her, I honestly think those little nuggets he drops are for a reason.
Same with the statement that games like the one vs Bristol are the types of games we need to win. Insert eye roll emoji. Gee, thanks Jonas!! L O L.
In his defense, a lot of what he says calms people down, I would assume. He’s pretty good at damage control and even though there are managers I rate higher, and even if I don’t agree with how he says a lot of things, I think there is a method to his madness and as the intelligent person he is, I truly think he says exactly what he means to say.
I love Emma Hayes, and because I do I feel I can be critical of how she approached Jonas and even her own words… no remorse, no apology, nothing. That rubs me the wrong way, whereas with Jonas, what bothers me isn’t coming from a deep rooted place of what I perceive to be a negative thing… I just don’t agree with some of what he says.
For the people in the back… this is not a criticism, it’s an observation.
d ❤
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Can we still win the WSL?
The short, factual and correct answer is YES. Mathematically we are still in the race and I will always have that hope until and only until it is mathematically impossible for us to win it all. This is obviously different than saying that I think we will win it, but for the millionth time I’m here to offer perspective.
I am not here to tell you what to think or how to feel and after all, opinions are opinions and they’re not right or wrong, they are just that… opinions. So, it is my opinion that it is not a good idea for us fans to post about the WSL being lost. There’s one reason and one reason only:
THE PLAYERS.
Imagine going on twitter and instagram, etc and all you hear, with 6 or so matches to go, that you have lost it all, that there’s no way you’ll win, that you made too many mistakes, that you had to do x or y.
We all know insane things need to happen for us to even get to 3 points off first place but who the hell knows?
I personally think there is something weird stuff going on at Chelsea, and from what I have heard, I’m not far off. This is not me saying I have inside info, this is me saying literally from what I have seen and heard myself. Something doesn’t feel right and I have some theories but I’m not here to talk about Chelsea, other than to say that I think if anyone besides us will win it, would be Man City.
Anyway, we control what we control. If all things go in our favor as far as result permutations and we lose a single match or drop points, then it is that much harder mathematically to win.
Now, as far as if we’re good enough and all that, that’s a topic for another day, but simply put: we have the squad to win. Or maybe we had the squad to win but it’s about tactics and game management and not ability or mentality or drive. Again… topic for another day.
Have a great day.
d ❤
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You can listen to my music HEREAlessia Russo, Amanda Ilestedt, arsenal, 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, blog about arsenal women, Emily Fox, FIFA WWC, Frida Manuum, Katie mccabe, Kim little, Laia Codina, Laura wienroither, Leah williamson, lia walti, manu zinsberger, Steph catley, that arsenal women podcast, UWCL, Vivianne Miedema, women’s football podcast, woso, Woso podcast, WSL podcast -
Fox is killing it
I remember very well how hesitant and resistant to selling Noelle Maritz I was. It seemed like a terrible decision in every possible way and even though I think she shouldn’t have left the club mid season, the way that Emily Fox has played has made the anxiety basically go away.
She is direct, efficient, hard working and tireless. Her will to attack, chase back, support, initiate and everything in between is palpable and I feel she has been a great addition to the squad.
Arsene Wenger had many “wengerisms” and my favorite one, which is a phrase I use whenever I can do sound smart is that for some things we need to take: “chronological distance” to appreciate things and to see the impact that they truly have.
Clearly her impact has been objective and we can see it NOW, but I have a strong feeling that her particular attitude is something that we will be looking back at, a few years from now, and say: this is exactly what we needed then. Also I certainly don’t see her at our club for more than a couple of years because American players usually like the NWSL and go home whenever they get a chance but I think she will become a bit of a cult hero and I think she has a special moment for us still to come and I’m very excited for her.
Rotating between her and Laura is a fantastic thing and I simply cannot wait for this to be something we see of a regular basis. This will also mean we don’t have to play Katie out of position and we can have her shine at her brightest basically anywhere else on the pitch, not that she doesn’t do it elsewhere.
Sunday hopefully will be an easy match and I’ll chat more about that in the upcoming days.
d ❤
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You can listen to my music HEREAlessia Russo, Amanda Ilestedt, arsenal, 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, blog about arsenal women, blogs about arsenal women, Emily Fox, FIFA WWC, Frida Manuum, Katie mccabe, Kim little, Laura wienroither, Leah williamson, lia walti, manu zinsberger, Steph catley, Stina Blackstenius, that arsenal women podcast, UWCL, Vivianne Miedema, women’s football, women’s football podcast, woso, Woso podcast, WSL podcast
A very subjective look into AWFC 