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Tough run coming up
A few days ago I had written about a run of games in a short period of time. The girls played very, very well on all those matches and they won all three. Two of those matches were in the WSL and the other one was for the Conti Cup, but I’m sure you knew that, I just had to make sure on my end!
February and March gives us several very tough matches as well. Next up will be West Ham on Sunday, who are in a relegation battle and have good players.
After that is City at home for the FA cup. Obviously we need good showings in the cup competitions as a trophy in this season is the very least the club needs and to be honest Jonas needs a trophy to justify his contract renewal as far as I’m concerned, because without one, having won one last season, it will show regression and not progress.
Then it’s another Manchester club also at home on the 17th of February which is my mother’s Bday so I’m expecting a win, of course. Tough match without a doubt and depending on what Chelsea have been up to, we might have a chance to be level on points.
I believe there’s an international break and then its a NLD at home was well the first week of March. As the recent past shows, these matches are not even close to being a given anymore and it’s becoming a very tough fixture.
So, the pattern that I see, which is one of the most obvious and true tenants in the sport, is that our home form has to be excellent. We need to make the tandem of Borehamwood and The Emirates and dual stronghold and carry the best of us to and from both places without a hiccup. Easier said than done but it just has to happen, we don’t have an option.
Chelsea are on fire and I don’t see them dropping points anytime soon, which means that we also cannot drop any points and if these tough matches are at home, then we have that incredible advantage. Also, the home matches are in a row, which is incredible for rest, fitness and mentality.
Bring it.
Alessia Russo, Amanda Ilestedt, arsenal, arsenal blog, Arsenal Football Club, arsenal women, arsenal women blog, AWFC, beth mead, FIFA WWC, Katie mccabe, Kim little, lia walti, Steph catley, Stina Blackstenius, that arsenal women podcast, UWCL, Victoria Pelova, Vivianne Miedema, woso, WSL, WSL Blog, WSL podcast -
I missed it. Damn it
Today is one of those days where I just couldn’t adjust my schedule around the match. Normally the matches are very, very early for me here in LA but of course today, of all days, the match is right in the middle of my pickleball matches hahaha.
But today is not about me, today is about only one person and said person is Vivianne Miedema. Scoring for the first time since December of 2022 must have felt like an eternity for her and I’m just beyond the moon excited for her.
Other players have come back after their injury and seemingly picked up close to where they had left off. With Viv there has been so much pressure for her to just come back score hat tricks every match but I think people forget that she hasn’t been doing that for a while, as she has adapted her game and has allowed us to see her vision and ability from more of a midfield position.
I saw the goal and I only heard a few seconds of an interview where she says that she doesn’t think about her knees anymore. I love that so much for her.
Sometimes goalscorers feel that’s who they are. Its part of their identity such like for some musicians being a musician is WHO they are. Viv isn’t like that is she? But scoring has to help and again, like you, I’m sure happy for her.
Gonna watch the game tonight and I’ll be recording a pod all about that and a few other things I have in mind, all of which will be posted tomorrow at some point.
Enjoy your Sunday, Sooners!
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Gutted for Roord
By now you know that I’m a massive Oranjeleeuwinnen fan and by the numerous posts dedicated to Jill Roord, you’d be completely correct to assume that I’m absolutely distraught and gutted for her, and I’m also angry and just emotional overall.
Simply put: Jill is one of my favorite players ever and one of the reasons why I love Arsenal Women and the dutch squad. If you ever look at my twitter banner, you’ll see a pic of my 3 favorite players, and she’s one of them.
This isn’t a post about ACL injuries, it’s just me venting because I’m so fucking sad for her and yeah she’s gonna come back stronger and all of that, I’m convinced, but we all know what is ahead of her.
What I’m currently peeved by was looking back at how many people were taking shots at her when she moved to City. The hate, the insults, the criticism… even by one of the most beloved podcasters/reporters said shit about Jill. Seems unrelated but that’s just what is making my blood boil, because its normal to assume that all those haters will be happy about her getting injured.
They think they can post well wishes and I will forget about the things they said about her. And I get it sounds petty and immature but that’s just where my head is at.
I promise you Jill will come back stronger and I hope City to everything they can to support her as I know the entire NL squad, staff and country will.
That’s it for me today. Sorry.
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NOt sure what to title this
One of the best parts about being a musician is that I get to work with lots of different people. Some are well known, some aren’t, some play music for the masses, and others play the most niche stuff you can imagine. I personally love it all.
When it comes to sharing what you’re working on with friends, family or brands that you endorse, there’s something special about playing with big names or legendary people. No disrespect to people that do things that aren’t well known, but its the optics of it all that just make that situation special.
I am not a person that thinks of musical projects as a stepping stone. In other words, a lot of people in the business only look out for themselves and what’s next, and how the current gig is just that: the current gig. Whereas I try to remain present, committed and intentional. Gigs end, artists take different directions, sometimes they just don’t want to percussion for example. Things happen. So with that said, when a project ends its natural that you look for something “better” or “bigger” etc.
But since I’ve become an AWFC one of the main things that I look into as far as whom I’d like to work with are artists who the players like. It’s a way to feel like I can repay somehow the inspiration they have given me. I know it might not make sense but in a way it makes me feel like I can make them feel closer to the artist that they love.
Back in December I was part of a house band for an Xmas TV special and with all about country music. Not my cup of tea by any means but the first thing that came to mind was the fact that I knew for some reason country music is popular in England and was curious if any of the artists I would play with, were people that some of the girls are fans of.
So I did what you’d expect and went to the artists’s instagram and checked out who was following them. To my surprise the only one I remember was Leah liking Breland. I had never ever heard of him and I was just happy to play with him just because I player I admire likes him. Sounds silly but that’s me.
Not much of a football post but that should come tomorrow when I’ll chat a bit about the Liverpool match.
Enjoy your Friday night, friends!
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Absolute Poetry
Every single thing about yesterday’s match was fantastic. There are so many things that I was happy with before a ball was even kicked that I had a great feeling about it all and was also very surprised by others, all for great reasons.
We all had begged for squad rotation and we got that. It was lovely to see Jen, KCC, Cloe, Laia and of course Stina. All things considered we have such a great squad and we have to use these players more and more. Lovely to see Steph come back as well and anytime she plays there’s a sense of relief that is very welcome.
Lots of things seem to click and I attribute it exclusively to energy. The girls looked sharp and very much up for it and there’s no way an exhausted group of players can do that, its just not sustainable, so again, more of this please.
Now, it’s very clear that the two main topics of conversations will be Leah’s return and Kim Little’s 300th match (and also return from injury). However, I think there’s a lot of talk about both of them and I have sure contributed to that with that long special episode of That Arsenal Women Podcast.
I will mention two things though. One of them is that what I personally was super focused on and moved by was the fact that we had Viv, Beth and Leah playing together. Something that we could’ve taken for granted in the past… but life just makes sense when they are on the pitch. The collective football IQ goes through the roof.
The second thing, which I’ve spoken about before, is that people need to pump the breaks and appreciate Kim Little more. Sounds insane but the obsession with new players and what I’ve read online has been shocking. The fact of the matter is that Kim is one of the greatest players to ever play the sport. Every single player, coach, staff member from all teams speak the world of her and yet some out there think that we have players that can replace her. We don’t. She is irreplaceable.
I know lots of people are desperate for the future and worried about life without Kim and Lia, but I would encourage everyone to realize what we have in them two and also, with respect to other, know what we don’t have. We don’t have anybody remotely close to being as good as Lia, let alone Kim Little.
Things are not going back to normal, I’m convinced they will be better. And just for fun, here’s how I would field them.
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Special Podcast Episode
I have been so moved by both the article on The Telegraph and Leah’s BBC piano documentary, that I had to make a special episode featuring her, my thoughts on the article, my admiration for her and much more.
You’ll notice a different tone/attitude/production on this episode and I’d love your input and insight.
Thanks
d ❤
THAT ARSENAL WOMEN PODCAST on:
APPLE PODCASTS
SPOTIFY
You can listen to my music HERE -
REading away
Reading are not having the best of times. Whenever a club is going through terrible things due to their ownership and/or bad management I feel really sad for their fans and for their players. Specially because usually one of the main things to be affected is the women’s team, their allocated budget, the facilities they use and such.
If you need a short insight on what’s happening you can read THIS
The fact of the matter is that the girls play them tomorrow and as much as I wouldn’t want to be part of someone’s sadness or contribute to their demise, we need a win to top the group and make it to the knockout stages.
No matches are easy the days and I don’t expect this to be a walk in the park, when lots of rotation is expected or at the very least I hope there are TONS of players coming in, and I’m talking about 5 or 6. Play Stina, Kyra, Sabrina, Cloe, Beattie too.
Reading have a player I like a lot actually and she’s Rachel Dugdale. Solid, versatile player and she’s also a gooner, so I’m really excited for her and It has to be a very special moment in her life/career, so I’m pumped to see her.
They are way down the Championship table but they do have a game or two in hand and I expect them to climb up the table, but as we all know, cup competitions are a different beast and anything can happen.
Ideally we score a few goals early and can relax a bit and without taking our eye off the match at hand, we can then focus on Liverpool away.
Lastly, I have no idea where to watch the match tomorrow here in LA so wish me luck!
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3 in 8
Saturday’s match against Everton was one of 3 matches that our girls will play in the next 8 days. Normally knowing that I’m gonna get to see them play so often would be good news yet we all know that the amount of matches being played are too many, too often, yet I understand that this is the current situation.
Obviously squad depth is very important and regardless of the players, their attitude, their will to play or durability, I believe it is the responsibility of the manager to rotate the squad in the best way possible, bringing in as many positive results and wins as possible. That alone is so incredibly hard and difficult and I do not envy Jonas at all. I get that this is his job but it’s still absolutely insane thinking about all the things he needs to think about and decide!!
In the WSL we know every single game counts. We all sit around waiting for Chelsea to lose because it’ll feel like that title race is wide open when in reality it’s not, as if them losing once equals them falling out of the top 4. But… maybe it does blow it open?!
So… Who plays? What’s the keeper situation? Are we bringing players in? anyone leaving? If so, as it regards to the last 2 questions, what are we waiting for?
Overall I have a very good feeling with the squad. I would like to see more of Stina, Laia Codina, Lacasse and of course KCC. Beth came back from injury but am I the only one that thinks she’s being played way too much??
Know a lot of this is stuff that we have been talking about or thinking about collectively as a fan base for a while and this isn’t a ground breaking topic by any means, yet I feel sometimes the most talked about, obvious things tend to be overlooked as it relates to actual actions taken about that. And let me give you a musical example:
A lot of drummers, once they reach a certain point in their learning journey, become obsessed with drum fills. If you don’t know what those are, they are fancy bit in between sections that setup different parts too and somewhat feature the drummer for a second. This is a terrible explanation but stay with me…
Those fills are literally seconds in a song, usually less than a second, so becoming obsessed with them as normal as that is, implies that we are not focused on the rest of the song OR we assume we know the rest of the song. In other words, we put way too much attention into something that overall matters very, very little if you really think about it.
This happens in football as well. We as fans focus on things that are truly not important and demand things because we think we are owed something when in reality the game of football itself is right there in front of us screaming and yelling about what are the basics and the basic needs for a club.
Squad rotation is one of them. A healthy squad of course, and also a good one with as many strong players as possible.
It’s “simple”, right?
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We need to protect the love in the game
The reason I started watching women’s football was because I got tired of the corruption, the diving, what I perceived as lack of loyalty etc a bunch of things that boil down to me having a strong opinion about something, yet women’s football and it’s culture captivated me. It was different.
Women’s football has grown so much in the last few years that characterizing it as “unrecognizable” wouldn’t be too far fetched. We have seen exponential progress in ability, in coverage, in involvement, in investment and virtually in every imaginable way.
Parallel to this growth is the assumption that the women’s game has to follow the men’s in a way. As much as this can be kinda yucky at first, there are definitely things worth modeling in the imagine and spirit of the men’s game, but of course not all of them.
Unless you’ve been totally detached from anything having to do with social media, you will have noticed an upward trend in one very specific aspect of the fandom: NEGATIVITY. And it’s quite alarming.
I remember starting my podcast and talking about this growing trend a couple of years ago and I knew it would be very hard to stop but I truly believe if we all pull together we can at the very least decrease the abuse the players get online. There definitely are things we can do and it all starts with YOU, with ME, with US.
Among the things you can do to limit this growth in hate is to first of all don’t contribute to that. I know we all have thoughts and opinions and I sure as hell have mine and have negative thoughts or criticism, yet we don’t have to express those opinions. We just don’t! You’re not less of a fan if you don’t voice them, we all think things that we don’t say in public and this can be applied to football as well.
You can also block any and all accounts that spew things that make you feel uncomfortable. Or mute them if you don’t want the drama of the unfollowing being a thing.
If you’re not sure just ask yourself if the would say that to the player’s face, why they would and more importantly how the player would feel by reading that. You’ll know the answer.
Also, you can directly challenge the hatred and the negativity. Not the person but their behavior. In other words, staying silent might not be something you want to do and if you want to respond you can quote them and at least show your followers the kind of terrible things this person is saying.
Is it hard to battle yes? does love always win? Only if it’s louder and bigger and more consistent.
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Too Early/Late
Sorry for the late post but the day got away from me. I had a gig last night about an hour and change away from my house and we didn’t finish playing til 11:30. I was exhausted after 2 sets of non stop conga playing and I just wanted to rush home right after, but that’s not how it goes is it? You gotta break down all the stuff, play Tetris with you gear to fit it all inside your car, say your goodbyes and then it’s when you can go home. Usually though, the drive might be 20 or 30 minutes, but like I said this was farther than usual.
This meant that I got home around 1am, showered and have some late dinner and chatter with my wife about the show. Shortly after we went to bed and watched a show and when I was falling asleep I went to check the kickoff time and it was not so bad… 6am! However, Arsenal men played at 4:30am my time and I just couldn’t miss it either.
Thankfully the girls’s match was shown here via the FA Player app and I was able to watch it, but I have to be totally honest with you… I kept falling asleep and I cannot say much about the match without lying to you so I won’t do that. But from what I remember there’s a player that stood out: Lia Walti. Again she was a Rolls Royce of a player and that assist, with her left foot if I’m not mistaken, was absolutely perfect. Everything about it.
I did see Everton’s goal and although I feel Manu could’ve done more, the amount of vitriol and insults she was getting was disgusting and I’m so over that dark side of the fandom. It’s truly sad and these players never deserve it. Also this hate and negativity is very selective.
If you only blame the keeper for that goal I’m sorry to be rude but you have no idea what you’re talking about. A few things led to that goal and may I remind people that this is a team sport after all and it was not a howler btw… it was a slow reaction to Katja’s quick thinking but she wasn’t properly marked, was she? So blame Manu all you want, just know you might be wrong.
Gonna try to watch the game late tonight and have more things to say, and also, if I’m able to I will be recording a special podcast episode this week that will be potentially longer than usual, just this one time.
Amazing day for us gooners overall and I’m very excited to see what happens tomorrow with Chelsea hosting Man Utd at Stamford Bridge and here’s hoping that Mary Earps has her best game ever but that will not matter if her defenders don’t do their jobs, innit?
A very subjective look into AWFC 