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Torn
Only a few of you would get why I chose that title as it relates to Australia. If you don’t: that’s ok! and if you do, I love you.
I really feel like this trip to Australia, where the girls will play some A-League all star team, is a terrible idea. This is due to fixture congestion, flying, jet lag, lack of sleep, and everything in between. There are no breaks. They won’t get any time off and they will meet with their national teams like 6 days later.
It’s pretty wild.
We keep talking about how the biggest problem is the amount of games the teams play and then the powers that be book these types of matches which to a degree obligate them to play star players so that ticket sales are boosted or attendance is higher.
On the flip side this is a genius thing. Taking advantage of the fact that we have amazing Australian players and the brand is there to be expanded upon and all that smart marketing situation that the club is a master of.
So as usual: WTF do I know?
Asking the players would be great.
I wonder if you had an anonymous survey sent out to them… what would they say? Would they wanna go?
My guess is that it would be a huge NO.
As a fan here in the USA I actually never ever go see when Arsenal men play here. It’s my way of protesting what I consider to be an overplaying problem and I don’t want to be part of the issue. However, if the girls came to play anywhere in the USA I would most likely fly to see them… So to say I’m biased, confused and a hypocrite would be accurate.
What do YOU think? Is this trip good idea?
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Should the Conti Cup exist?
In a landscape where footballers are playing way too many minutes and ACL injuries happen all the time, there’s a part of me that thinks it should be scrapped completely. But is that fair to other clubs? I don’t think so.
The only true, valid and real answer to the question is that it is definitely not for me to decide. All I can say is that my opinion is just that: an opinion, and if I wasn’t an Arsenal fan I probably would think the answer is YES IT SHOULD EXIST.
The Conti Cup is a great competition but it’s very convenient to say that. I’m basing it on the fact that it’s the only trophy we could win this season so yeah, it’s important and great and hard to win haha. Winning it last year was incredible to me as a fan who has only seen ONE trophy being won since I’ve been a supporter, so that particular competition is special for me but for totally selfish reasons, as you can tell.
You all know this but not every fan supports a huge club that gets 60k people a couple of weekends in a row. So, as privileged as we are and can afford to play one competition less, other teams can’t and other players shouldn’t miss out either. For some players this is the shopping window they need to be seen at. It’s their chance to make a big impression on a top manager or scout and who knows who else. So part of me feels this is a competition that has to stay put.
One of the tenants of sports that I am a champion of is the idea that “success breeds success” and every trophy/cup win is massive. It adds to the history of the club, to the pedigree of the players, to their self esteem, and that can translate into longevity, relevance, gigs outside of the pitch when they retire, etc etc etc. A trophy is a very big deal.
With that said, yes I want to win the Conti Cup but if we were top of the league and playing the quarters of the CL and that meant we would’ve been knocked out of the Conti I would take it in a heartbeat. I bet you would too.
Winning trophies is what Arsenal do, it’s part of our DNA and if we are truthful and admit that it hasn’t been our recent present, with the players we have, then there’s something missing. Yet, winning 2 trophies in a row can be a start to something new, and it can help us find something whatever that is.
I think I know 😉
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If you have to ask…
The one question we cannot be asking ourselves with so few games left is the one which we haven’t gotten an answer to, and quite frankly I feel our manager hasn’t/can’t answer. It’s the most basic of questions, that beyond being subjective and dependent on the overplaying of players, we don’t seem to know. Oddly enough, the lack of the answer of that question brings up this question: WHAT THE ACTUAL F*CK?
The question is: what is our best XI? Do you know? I have an idea of what it is FOR ME, but the manager hasn’t ever played it and we won’t be able to because of Amanda being out for the next few months, Viv out possibly for the season, etc.
But isn’t it wild that we don’t know? Every single team deals with injuries and absences and we just don’t seem to cope the same way. Chelsea didn’t have Millie Bright, Sam Kerr & Kirby and still destroyed us. Emma has figured out, if not her best XI, a way to go from match to match with the right team. Why can’t we?
We are Arsenal FC and we have world class players that at the moment haven’t been put in winning positions figuratively and literally. You might think that’s harsh or that it’s just my opinion, and I don’t think you’re wrong but it’s also factual. It falls on the manager.
I saw a thread on Twitter regarding our stats this year and it was pretty alarming but I’m not surprised because of who has been missing.
Are you really surprised that we have had a poor season without Leah fully fit and without Rafa? You’re talking about perhaps the most dominating partnership we’ve had in years. Are you surprised when speed and sentimentality weigh more than intelligence and experience? AKA you don’t let Jen Beattie leave the club. You give her a fucking statue.
When something is wrong, you try to fix it. You don’t just expect things to click one day and that’s it. That’s what I feel the manager is doing. Something is off and part of that is his team selection, beyond the tactics.
I’m exhausted of beating the same drum and I also don’t wanna be an a*hole more than I already am but we need different players in different positions or the same players in different positions and I just don’t see it changing under Jonas because things would’ve changed already.
Anyway, I gotta run to a rehearsal and don’t think I can record a podcast til tomorrow maybe.
Have a great week
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A woman would fix this
I understand how this blog title could imply that I would like to see Sonia take over now, but that is not the case. However, the summer would be a great time to do so. I also get how it can seem like I’m calling for Jonas to be fired but its not that. It’s more about who comes next, whenever that is.
To me, and most people, the clear choice would be Sonia Bonpastor. I mean DUH. But more than us getting her for our progress, it would mean that Chelsea or Man Utd don’t get her. That is crucial and very, very important.
What seems like the reality to me is that our manager doesn’t have a clear plan and there is also no adjusting and what I perceive as a lack of versatility which has us carrying out the poorest of seasons since I’ve been following this team.
It makes me very sad for the girls. It truly does. And also it makes me sad for people like Viv who know they could be making such a difference but they can’t. It makes me sad for Leah who is only coming back from injury and we’re all putting so much pressure on her.
But it’s the literal job of the manager to fix this and if he hasn’t done it by now, I don’t have much confidence that he will. Like, what would need to happen?
I would say the same thing after winning the Conti Cup too. It’s the least the girls deserve but as you all know, this sport is not about deserving because all women deserve all the trophies in the game. That’s not an issue.
I’m a firm believer that a female manager is the only option for Arsenal. I’ve heard some rumors but none more scary than Bonpastor to Chelsea. That cannot happen…
But it will, won’t it?
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What’s with the gum chewing?
Friends, I’m an absolute mess today and I cannot even look at a screen for the time being. I don’t feel well enough to try to write and concentrate and all of that and I am sorry. But I’m gonna try to at least express a couple of thoughts.
I know Singapore has some crazy laws and one of them is how you cannot chew gum. Boy, did I wish that was the case during Jonas’s post match press conference. As petty as it sounds, I felt the chewing was pretty arrogant and disrespectful, but maybe it’s just me.
I do believe this was a perfect opportunity for him to take some accountability but instead he referred to “the manager” in the third person and I just left feeling yucky after that whole thing. The game yesterday was very bizarre and to be totally open and honest, I am so disappointed in our manager that if I were to write today, most of it would be a criticism towards him and that’s not constructive.
I do feel there’s a positive in all this.
Most people believed the WSL was just not within our reach, but this match provides us with a blueprint as to what NOT to do against this Chelsea team when we meet them in 2 weeks time. That’s better than seeing this version of their team in the final and losing this way would’ve been tragic in a cup final.
There was fight, determination and will and that’s I could ever ask for as a fan. The winning and losing is secondary honestly but with that said, I really hope we turn up for the Conti Cup final aka our only chance at silverware.
But frankly, that’s the least we should be winning, with this squad.
It only falls on one person: “THE MANAGER”
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Taylor Swift, Grieving & Babies
A brand new episode of That Arsenal Women Podcast is out now and you can listen below.
d ❤
THAT ARSENAL WOMEN PODCAST on:
APPLE PODCASTS
SPOTIFY
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I’m gonna miss it.
Can we just talk about the struggle that is missing a super crucial match? It absolutely sucks and I can’t stand it sometimes. Sadly, that’s the case with me tomorrow because of a rehearsal that will span the entire thing.
You’d think I’d be downright angry and this might be me justifying this whole situation and silver linings and that, but maybe the stress would be too much and I just need to get it over with? Do you ever feel like that? I do so today.
I’m also feeling very sick and quite emotional to be honest with you and I expect the podcast today to be very interesting to say the least but we’ll see how it goes.
Emily, Sabrina & Cloe are back but I don’t know what Jonas will do. Does he feel they need a rest? Does he go back and plays Caitlin over Cloe? I hope not. Also Frida did pretty well and I think we need her power in that midfield against a very, very strong midfield and we cannot be bullied.
And you know what I’m gonna ask… will he play Katie?
HE BETTER START HER.
I can’t even being to process that this is a question.
Don’t think I will be predicting a line up today nor will I do so with a result but I feel good, I feel confident and I’m just very impatient.
Podcast out in a few hours.
I’ll chatting about Taylor Swift in Singapore, how Marjorie changed me, more about the Chelsea match and a few other things.
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Oh Baby
I was not expecting that piece of news this morning… See what I did there?
I am so very happy for Amanda and her pregnancy. Without a doubt this is one of those things that mean a lot to a lot of people, something that changes lives for everyone near her, including at the club, and this is just great news overall.
We’ve seen PLENTY of players come back and she will definitely be one of them and if she chooses to not return soon I will scream: GOOD FOR YOU!!!!
As someone who has made it his choice to not have children, now or ever, I can imagine this is a lovely time and I’m very happy that the club clearly supports her and so do her teammates as we saw on that video of the news being shared.
I would be lying to you if I told you I was not dreaming of seeing Leah and Amanda as our preferred partnership at the back but that is definitely not happening for at least a year. Which regardless of the reason, bums me out a lot. Also, who cares? There are many more important things in life!! Are they though?? haha.
There’s not a universe in which I could come remotely close to knowing enough about the subject to have a valid opinion and because of this I will not comment about players having children other than to say that yesterday, today and forever I will ALWAYS support women and the decisions they decide to make about their bodies, minds, jobs, careers, etc.
I am in full support of all/any players having children, taking mental health breaks, and whatever the reason they choose to take time off. I literally couldn’t care less about trophies.
People are going to miss games and missing out due to a child instead of an ACL is always going to be the most amazing news ever.
I should record my podcast today, sorry but I’ve been so jet lagged and I have Taylor Swift to thank for that.
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I love Daphne but…
I have loved her since the day she stepped in for van Veenendaal and never looked back. As a fan of the dutch, I can’t tell you how relieving that was… And yeah there are no substitutes for the women that won the Euros but to a degree, we have seen some players coming up basically in every position but a GK was always one that looked tough to find.
I think she’s a great stopper and as calm as you can possibly be. She’s just there chilling… make saves, organizing the defense and all that leading from the back situation but she doesn’t strike as a force back there, at least not vocally nor by her body language.
What I’m trying to say is that she doesn’t seem like an insane person, which is how I typically like my keepers. I like the nutters… the shit housers… the wind up merchants… the unpredictable ones. For the most part that sounds counter intuitive but we all know that the best keepers have a personality that is hard to match.
That’s one of the reasons why Mary Earps always sounded appealing to me… I like big characters back there but there is something to be said about the calmness and non protagonist nature of someone like Daphne.
This summer is gonna be extra long and the transfer rumors are already too much to deal with but this one I can actually see happening. We would get an international #1, who would learn a lot from Manu and then take over fully as our main keeper in one scenario.
Not mad if she comes but still on that Earps train.
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Respect DVD FFS
Ok I’m finally back in Los Angeles and I’m struggling to know what time and day it is. My body says one thing, my phone another. I was gonna say clock but that’s also wrong because of daylight savings time. Either way: I’m home.
I had no concept whatsoever of when the women’s gold cup final was but all I wanted was for Brazil to win, because of Rafa. Man I miss her. It’s not that I didn’t want Emily Fox to win or anything like that, but honestly, I only had Souza in my mind. But, congrats to Emily and I’m glad she’s back soon.
Everybody and their mother is on Twitter chatting about Van Domselaar to Arsenal and people are acting like this is actual news. This was a thing in the summer, way before the Mary Earps thing, etc but as my friend Jamie pointed out on twitter, people are gonna need a different nickname than DVD. FFS. Are people serious?
Also, sorry but DVD’s chant should be left alone and its hers and hers only. Lotte deserves another chant, if people truly love her that much, no? Honestly, people need to be more respectful and I cannot believe some are just willing to forget someone like her and how important she was to that club.
Both things are kinda disrespectful if you ask me but I will admit that DVD is my favorite player ever and why I even love the women’s sport anyway.
It’s 3:30pm but I need to sleep.
Podcast Tuesday for sure.
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A very subjective look into AWFC 