A very subjective look into AWFC

by Demian Arriaga

PODCAST

  • 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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  • 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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  • Don’t be that person

    There’s a growing trend on social media and in a ton of AWFC twitter accounts etc that seem to totally miss the whole point. Sounds crazy to say and read but there are so many people that spend large amounts of time speaking about other teams, aka Chelsea and Emma Hayes, so much more than praising, loving, and actively supporting our own team…This creates so much cognitive dissonance within me. People have platform upon platform and so much time to think about what to say and how yet they choose to spend their energy, insults and criticism.

    So if you’re a fan with a twitter account or want to create a podcast or a blog that is not just better than mine but you strive to be the best in the game, you have to start with and focus on our team, the positive sides of it and moreover, how to properly build up our squad because chances are, some if not most, read your posts.

    Among the issues with this negativity is that you never know the way the world turns and you might find yourself in a very embarrassing situation having to be face to face with the person you spoke negatively of, or that player joins our club and then what? Anyway, reading the negativity is boring and lame and not productive and I know it because I have re-read some of my own posts and I cringe when I see some of the things I’ve said so if nothing else, this is me calling myself out.

    In other, much more important news, I’m very bummed I won’t be able to watch ANY matches today, at all, except when I watch them back late tonight. Will miss every. single. one. I have some work that I cannot move and it’s giving me anxiety already but out of all, I wish I could watch Ireland vs England the most. Would’ve been lovely Katie McCabe face Beth, Leah and Alessia.

    It’s such a massive game at a massive stadium and I’m so happy there will be so many people watching… I love how I’ve heard about this game for the past week here in LA via talkSPORT and previews online, etc etc etc. Its amazing and I hope its an incredible match for everyone involved.

    For the Dutch this is pretty much a must win, simple as. Norway are no pushovers but hopefully being at home will give them more energy than ever and they will get the result they need aka 3 points because if not, it’s looking really, really tough.

    Enjoy all the matches and consider yourself lucky if you can watch them all live!

    Much love and hope your week is going great.

    d ❤


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  • Last break, right?

    I am running so damn late that I honestly have no business writing this… for the record, I’m always very early and I will also be early today, but I’m running late as it relates to my usual schedule but sadly, I you will never get back the amount of time that took you to read this meaningless first paragraph.

    Today is a cool day for me because I once again get to play on a late night TV show, and more importantly I get to do that with one of my favorite artists to work with aka Tori Kelly. She’s an amazing singer/songwriter/producer/queen and this will be I thinnnnnnnk my 3rd or 4th time working with her. She’s unreal.

    It’ll be on the Jimmy Kimmel show and I will be posting the performance once it’s out on instagram and twitter.

    Football now…

    Tomorrow is the last international match day of the season, as fas as I know, and I am very happy for them to be totally out of the way so we can just focus on the WSL, which mathematically is still up for grabs.

    But the thing about international match days is that, for the older players, is one matchday closer to their last. For players like DvD, not seeing her play for The Netherlands will be so strange and definitely will take a lot of time to get used to, if ever, so I always try to see these breaks in the most positive light as possible, yet that isn’t always possible, especially when you lose matches.

    I didn’t expect the oranjeleeuwinnen to lose against Italy, not in a million years. Jonker said really interesting things and I enjoy the way he speaks, how open and honest he is, but I still think the lineup needs shifting and changing, even without Viv, Jackie and others.

    The fact of the matter is that every match is key now having lost and there’s no way around it. The long trips to Norway and Finland in June won’t be easy, and neither will be the home matches but I think with a couple of shifts we will be able to be top of the group come June.

    Gotta run! Not sure if I will be able to do a podcast this week, unless I release a special episode.

    d ❤
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  • That time I met Edu

    In 2010 I was fortunate enough to embark on my first major world tour. Back then I was playing percussion with The Jonas Brothers for what was the Camp Rock 2 tour. To say it was an unreal experience would be an understatement but if I’m completely honest with you there is one memory that sticks out whenever I look back at that time, and especially whenever I see Edu.

    We were in São Paulo and the brothers and band were invited to a Corinthians training session. When I tell you I lost my marbles I really did. I was in my room and was almost brought to tears, not because I was a Corinthians fan, which I now am, but because I knew I would see THE Ronaldo aka R9 aka O Fenomeno and Roberto Carlos plus I knew Edu was a sporting director or something or another at the time.

    When we got there I was petrified. I never get star struck but I couldn’t speak. I never had the guts to approach R9 and RC and it’s something I will always regret. They were mere feet away from me too. It was just too much. Honestly. I get nervous and anxious and mad talking about it. But that’s not the point.

    One way or another I had told someone that I wanted to meet Edu because I was an Arsenal fan and someone for the club came and got me and took me to see him. It was such an incredible moment meeting one of the invincibles and of course a fellow latino. He was so kind and gracious and it’s something I will never ever forget.

    Back then, I mostly asked him about playing with Dennis Bergkamp, Henry, Pires and Ljungberg; and I get goosebumps remembering that moment. To be greeted by, given a tour of some offices and facilities and then to chat one on one for more than 10 minutes was simply priceless.

    If I were lucky enough to speak to him again all my questions would be related to the women’s team. What he plans to do, and beyond that to thank him for what he has done for our girls.

    Club are massive organisms with infinite moving parts and every one of those parts matter. The more align they are with the vision that is set, the better and Edu is not just a reference but a creator of a lot of those ideas and culture.

    Wherever we go, will be because of him and the players.

    Sadly I cannot find a picture I took with him anywhere and that really really bothers me but I promise you I’m gonna look through all my pictures and search all my hard drives.

    Obrigado!

    d ❤
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  • Comically wrong as usual

    My match predictions were so, so far off the mark I just couldn’t wait to get on here and laugh at myself. I couldn’t do it earlier because of how crazy my day and night were here in Boston but I’m flying home tonight and I will be expanding more on this, on the Oranjeleeuwinnen specially and more.

    In the meantime, you can watch the one and only Shebahn review some of the matches here, and if you don’t already, please follow and subscribe:

    d ❤
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  • Euro Qualifiers

    I’m currently about to head out on what promises to be a very special day for your truly here in Boston but I wanted to drop a quick line to chat about today’s match day and share some thoughts that are to a large degree AWFC related. Moreover, I hope you are all well and nice and warm because it’s freezing here.

    The three matches I’m gonna focus on are the ones involving the oranjeleeuwinnen, England and Ireland.

    Starting with the squad that owns my heart, I have a great feeling about this match and I’m expecting the dutch to dominate, because that’s the only way I can think at the moment. I’m also expecting DvD to run riot and although this may sound like a criticism or something negative, hand on heart it is not: I hope Pelova doesn’t play.

    She has not only been featured in basically every match, but this girl won’t stop running and putting in all of her energy into every run, which is why I think she is in need of an extended break. I personally think she is carrying several knocks from how I see her perform and definitely feel she is in need of a break, which can only benefit Arsenal. The dutch can experiment, especially early on in these qualifiers.

    Moving on from one big cat fam to another, I hope the opposite happens and LWM gets a start for England in an actual important match and not when fielding the b team. If nothing else, to reward her for basically the most improved season of any player I remember, ever pretty much. But knowing Sarina she’s gonna have Leah and Alex Greenwood in there. 

    Do I think LWM needs a break? Absolutely, but this might not be the match for it… she’s having a great season and has proven that can play under pressure and step up in big moments so if not on this match, when the stakes are on the lower side of things, then when?? 

    Besides this, I will predict a 3-0 win with Beth scoring 2 and Alessia 1.

    BTW this whole chant thing… it’s so, so, so, so, silly and juvenile. Not even going to get into it because it would be a total waste of your time. We move.

    Lastly, I’m excited to see what Ireland set up like. This squad is special to me because I’ve seen them play in person. Excited to not only see Katie but also Denise, Ruesha and Anna Patten.

    Enjoy the matches

    d ❤
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  • Beantown bound

    Every single time I get to go to Boston, be it on tour or just as a quick vacation, I get extremely emotional because for me that is what home truly is. This is a very complex topic and even my friends don’t quite understand why that is, given that I was born and raised in Caracas.

    I’m not gonna bore you with this too much but I spent 3 very formative years there in the middle of my teenage years which marked me forever and showed me many things, and do a large degree I became who I am today as it relates to finding my identity, being an immigrant and of course, a musician.

    I went back to Venezuela for 3 years and then went back to Boston for college and stayed there after graduating for a few years, so once you add them up I basically lived 10 years in Boston, which is still less than what I lived in Venezuela or LA now, but still… Boston and Brookline specifically is what feels like home.

    My alma mater aka Berklee College of Music has invited me to speak at a panel about the touring industry, side hustles related to that and more and I am very excited because I for sure will talk about arsenal women, this blog, my podcast and of course YOU, the reader. Why??? Well, let me explain.

    In this industry you never know what’s going to happen. There are many highs and lows, crazy experiences, tours, TV shows, good money, no money, no shows, and everything in between. It’s absolutely insane and most of us haven’t got a clue as to when our paycheck is coming next.

    My career has been pretty cool and even though I get to perform with a household name artist, it’s still very tough and unpredictable and if it wasn’t for this squad, for the players, for the club and for this blog/podcast, I would have really struggled mentally.

    This space has been such a wonderful thing for me, even though it was fueled to bring something to YOU, but I have to say that it has truly been a highlight of my life since I started it, because, if nothing else, I get to write about one of the things I love the most: Arsenal Women.

    As mentioned before here and on the podcast, I totally encourage you to start a podcast or create content for this lovely sport and team! It’s absolutely worth it and it doesn’t matter how many people read or what, but always try to produce the best quality product you can, and sometimes that’s not enough, but keep being consistent and above anything else, just make stuff that you feel the players would be proud of.

    Not sure that applies to this, but I’ll find out someday.

    d ❤


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