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Chuffed for Manu and for us
Friends, make no mistake, this is incredibly positive news. Manu staying means the standard of goalkeeping can only get higher. Let me explain…
First of all its very good for Manu to get rewarded by the club after more than loyal service. No matter the amount of criticism and adversity she faces, she is always there for us, giving her absolute all and that is unquestionable to me. I understand people being critical about some of her performances and I’m sure she would be the first person to admit that she’s made some howlers and that she can and should be better. Now, please find me a single elite player that doesn’t think and know they’ve made mistakes and I’ll show you someone who is, in fact, not elite.
I get the emotional side of it and I know people love Sabrina and Kayla. If I’m ruthless and totally open with you, I personally don’t have any attachment with them whatsoever but I can still see their value and that they are very, very good GKs. However, to Manu is BY FAR the best keeper at the club, so if a new keeper comes in, say Mary Earps, then Manu would be our number 2 and that to me is a win win situation.
We all have opinions as to what the club should do, about how Jonas does things and about the short term future which in this day and age of instant gratification it’s hard to manage expectations and assumptions seemingly more than ever.
I certainly have very strong opinions that are not only NOT popular at all, but that they are so strong that I don’t even share them on this blog because people would basically cancel me hahaha. The reality is that I love Manu and I also love that the players love Manu and I also love the idea of Mary Earps and I’m not sure how the timing of this announcement might or could affect her arrival.
Maybe it’s done or she’s signed for PSG, or she might be staying at Man Utd, or whatever but what I do know is that her being an Arsenal player is the kind of thing that would send shockwaves across the women’s footballing world and if its not now, then when?
What we think or see from the outside has usually little to do with what the reality is and we only know things waaaaaay after they happen.
Congrats to Manu and congrats to us.
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Lia, Leah & Lies
New episode out!
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You can listen to my music HEREarsenal, arsenal blog, arsenal women, arsenal women blog, Arsenal women podcast, AWFC, AWFC podcast, beth mead, FIFA WWC, Katie mccabe, KCC, Kim little, Leah williamson, lia walti, Steph catley, that arsenal women podcast, UWCL, Victoria Pelova, Vivianne Miedema, women’s football podcast, Woso podcast, WSL, WSL podcast -
Exactly…
The transfer rumors aren’t just something that we encounter right before or during the windows. These baseless pieces of news are part and parcel of the daily lives of footballers and fans and frankly it’s annoying but believe me, I’m not above them and I’m just as guilty as anyone else to pull on threads and hope.
One thing I would like to think is that none of us are irresponsible enough to actually start the rumor itself. Not sure how that even happens to be honest other than at one point someone makes the decision to be speculative, to lie and to stir the pot. And I’m not actually judging anyone, I just don’t know how else to explain it.
A perfect (perhaps) example of this is the recent rumors about Lia Walti headed to Madrid and her resounding rebuttal of said rumor when interviewed after getting the Female Swiss Footballer of The Year award, which might be called differently but I’m calling it that.
Among the reasons why its unsettling is essentially how it makes fans behave and of course this is mostly younger fans that cling onto something and then spread it more, then click bait sites that claim to be news post about it, instagram and TikTok videos fly all over the place, etc… all having in common the fact that its based in lies.
Not really worried about the players as they clearly know the truth and they have so much more stuff to worry about that checking twitter to see what people are saying about something that should’ve never been said.
Of course we will never know what’s actually true and what’s not. We will have to take some chronological distance, as Arsene Wenger would say, to see what is what, who was right, and what was coincidence.
With that said, those Keira Walsh rumors better be true.
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Man City Next
We all saw it and we all have opinions about it but FIFPRO’s best 11 included Alessia Russo and I’m very happy for her even if these awards are always so weird and subjective and it also makes you doubt yourself all while realizing that the people who vote might be biased etc, who knows?
Alessia is without a doubt one of the best forwards on planet earth and we are very privileged to have her. Also, I’m chuffed for Alex Greenwood whom I’m a massive fan of and is my dream signing for AWFC but highly doubt that will happen.
Greenwood, a star for Citeh will be one of the players the girls will come up against on the next round the FA Cup and even though yesterday I had hoped for an easier draw, the reality is that we need to beat the best teams now or later on so we might as well get it out of the way.
I know people have lots of opinions about Jill Roord and I have mine which are all positive. I love her and I think she’s one of the most misunderstood players. She has quality, vision and bite. I would have her at Arsenal IN A SECOND and she would walk into the team. That’s my opinion and I get that you don’t share it. So, playing against her always worries me.
We have a good record against them and I’m not actually worried worried, but. they seem to be on the rise and playing really well plus any team with Lauren Hemp, Shaw, Kelly etc is frightening for anyone.
Gotta run now BUT should be recording a podcast in a few hours, should be available before midnight UK time.
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Who’s next?
Few things make me happier than seeing the girls get a resounding win at Meadow Park. AWFC were absolutely dominant and I felt energized watching how the girls played, how a lot of things seemed to click at the right time and of course some individual performances were great.
Really enjoyed Viv’s game and her freedom on the pitch. You can just tell that it’s a matter of time until she scores and then that’s when the dam will break and she will get back to being unstoppable in front of goal, which we definitely need.
Emily Fox had a solid debut and I can’t wait to see her play against one of the top WSL teams and see how she deals with that type of pressure and players. No doubt that she can more than handle it, I just want to see what she’s capable of.
Lia not only got her first goal since the wheel was invented, but she, as always, is the barometer of the team: how she plays, we play. She was outstanding and made everything tick. Conductor of conductors. Rolls Royce of a player.
Pelova was great, reading the game well and releasing the ball quickly, and good things happen when she does that. That little dummy for Lia’s goal was so very smart.
Five different goal scorers, including Frida who might’ve scored her last goal in an Arsenal shirt?
The next round draw I believe happens either today or tomorrow so this will be a very interesting situation. Chances are we get a WSL team but I wouldn’t mind a favorable draw against Nottingham or Wolves.
What’s up with Mary Earps though?!!!
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Appreciate Lia
If you don’t appreciate Lia you’re blind. Sorry not sorry… I get this is not the most kind or nice way to start a blog post but if I hear one more person either say anything negative about Lia or hint at the idea of other players at the club being better in her position I swear to you I’m gonna have a heart attack.
We have one of the most incredible players at her position in the world, yet some people are just desperate to have a different partnership at center mid. It’s baffling.
Let me try to expand…
As you know I have been critical in the past of Pelota and Wubben Moy. However that position I take is nothing personal and it has everything to do with who they might replace and how high I rate those players.
So just for arguments sake.. if Leah to me is a 10/10, Amanda a 8/10 and Lotte is a 7/10, it doesn’t mean that I don’t think Lotte isn’t good, is just that I rather have 8s or 9s or 10s. Does that make sense?
Regarding Pelova, she has progressed beyond my expectations, yet I rate Kim Little so much higher that anyone ever, that of course I’m not gonna want Vicky to start or play or be called “the new Kim Little.”
The facts are that she has been playing incredibly well. She’s truly finding her spot and best position and her decision making has been quicker than ever. Even then, and this isn’t a dig at her, she’s not as good as Kim Little, and she’ll be the first one to admit that. If anything, the longer she plays with Kim, the more she will learn and if that happens to be the position she takes over, then so be it.
This would mean Vicky has continued to grow and that has to be great news. I’m here for it, and she needs to take that form onto the Dutch national team and not be player at right back where she isn’t anywhere near as good as she has been for us at the center of the pitch.
Like I said before, Pelova is not the new Kim Little. Pelova is Pelova. KCC is not the new Lia Walti. She deserves her own name, with her own set of abilities and attributes and comparing her to Kim is unfair to everyone, specially to whomever actually compares them… like, what are you doing? Let Pelova be HERSELF.
And at the same time, if she’s gonna take over or KCC over Lia or whatever, why don’t we give Kim the grace she deserves and not just assume that she’s declining because of the new shiny object? Same foes for Lia.
I love Khul more than most, but I still wouldn’t play her over Lia! Let Lia play and appreciate what we have, specially with Lia AND Kim.
Read that again if you have to: WE HAVE LIA AND KIM AND SOME PEOPLE WANT THEM BENCHED, WHAT?!!?!?!?!?!??!!?!??!?!?!
Anyway, I’m having none of this dismissal of Kim and Lia and I will probably post about this million times.
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NOt quite a preview preview
Friends, I don’t have a lot of time today (still morning here in LA) and nor do I have a lot of information as it relates to doing a preview for the match vs Watford tomorrow.
What I will say is that I truly hope we win the FA Cup this year. Yes, the WSL is the big thing, without a doubt, but we all know the FA Cup is a step above the Conti Cup so I would see it as progress if we were to win it.
Not to beat a dead horse but being away from Twitter has been amazing and I also have missed out on who knows how much. I definitely do not miss some of the absurd things that would pop on my feed from username: wittycombinationofnamesandsurnamesfromplayersplusawfc
Yesterday I logged in to post the link to my blog and my feed showed me a lineup without Lia Walti and I literally said out loud: NOPE…. Anyway, more than anything I’m excited to see them play and tomorrow can’t come soon enough. As per usual I have no idea where I’ll be able to watch if at all but hoping Arsenal.com show the match.
Looking at my FotMob app which I totally recommend, I can see that we’re unbeaten in 6 home matches, and Watford have not won a match in 7. That has to bode well for our girls and I’m expecting a resounding win. Which is the same thing I truly expected vs Spurs and look how that turned out.
Quick sidetone for my fellow Oranjeleeuwinnen fans: Katja scored 2 as Everton beat Villa! 3-0. Wild.
Nothing is guaranteed!
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Top 100 list, loans and press conferences
Some days I wake up and stare at my computer screen for what feels like hours when I don’t have anything specific to talk about. Then on days like today I feel like what I really should do is take a few things I want to talk about and spread them out into a few blog posts so that the first thing I just mentioned doesn’t happen. But no, I’m not going to do that. Instead, I’m gonna chat about a few things really quick.
As it relates to Jonas’s press conference, like with any/all coaches to me it’s always weird. Its oddly diplomatic and a lot of times just frustrating to hear. And to be clear, this isn’t against Jonas, it’s just in general. So, I’m not gonna go into what he said as it might come off as criticism but what I will say is that why not have 4 specialized full backs and not just 3? I don’t envision Laura playing again this season, so why not have kept Noelle? What am I missing?
Kühl is a player that I rate so, so, so highly. I cannot understand for the life of me how some people don’t see that or how they think other players are much better, when to me she is clearly the future of the midfield at Arsenal, not anyone else. So if Jonas doesn’t see that or does and has a different approach to her development and a loan is what she needs then I’m excited for her. However, the idea of letting her go for good isn’t absolute madness to me and if that ever happens I’ll go mad.
Now, to end this on a much more positive note, I have to tell you that I enjoyed going over the Guardian’s Top 100 Female Footballers list. In case you haven’t you can read it here.
Regardless of what I think of the order of some players (like DVD being outside of the top 50 HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAA WHAT!!!!???), the overall incredible amount of talent is out of control. So many players to choose from, with exceptional quality. Truly incredible and I’m so happy that lists like these exist! All the way down to the 90-100 part the players are incredible.
We’re very lucky as fans and may this continue! I also love, speaking selfishly, that a couple of years ago I might’ve been familiar with 1/4 of the names and I might’ve not recognized only 5 or 6 players today. Pretty cool.
I’ll do a little Liverpool preview tomorrow.
Enjoy your weekend and stay safe out there.
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Fox signs, Now what?
An incoming transfer, YAY! So what can we expect? You guessed it…. I have no idea but if one of those things is what I’m afraid might happen then I’m not over the moon about the whole situation. But let’s focus on the positives.
We have signed someone, which is GOOD!
From everything I have read she’s really good, strong and has amazing technique, again, GOOD!
The videos that I was able to find have had her play on the left side a ton, so I don’t know if she’s able to play on both wings or if its one of those thing where people flip the videos so its harder for them to be taken down or whatever, but if this is the case and she can play on both wings then GOOD!
Bringing her own culture, personality and mentality to the squad will also be good and I look forward to watching her play.
The gate keeper in me would add the caveat that it depends on if her playing more means Katie McCabe or Steph Catley playing less. At first this is obviously a big NOPE from me but it’s obviously a good thing in terms of squad rotation.
This is the most important thing for me and I need to keep the players’s well being in mind and not every player I love can play 90 min of every single match but that’s one of the struggles I face as a fan and that’s part and parcel of what being emotionally invested is, isn’t it?
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Back on the pitch
I know that I have spoken about similar things in the past but last weekend I lived something very interesting that made me think a lot about injury recovery, mental hurdles and more. Since I hadn’t felt this ever not only did I want to share with you but I also got to thinking about our squad and how incredibly built they are mentally and emotionally, let alone physically.
Ever since I can remember I played football. From the age of 12 til at least 25, not a week would go by when I didn’t play futsal, 7 v 7, 5 v 5, kicking a ball in a park, whatever you can think of. It was part of my life.
It’s very important for you to know that I wasn’t great. I had no ability to defend, and I got tired very easily. When I said I played its mostly with friends and the random league here and there, but nothing serious.
I started as a forward and the older I got and the less I worked on my stamina I kept going farther and farther back on the pitch and ended up in goal, which I loved with all my heart.
The busier I got with music, the less I played football. Then, in a blink of an eye I had gone 2 or 3 years without playing!!! Insane. At that point I just assumed there was no way I should play again anyway because I didn’t want to get hurt as I use all my limbs.
My amazing wife signed me up for a league as a surprise about 8 years ago and I got so excited. I played in goal for a few seasons, also at a futsal league, and would take the odd season off. Then in another blink of an eye I hadn’t played in 5 years. So wild. Even after knowing how incredibly fun it was, I was worried about injuries.
Last year I decided to rejoin, as a keeper again and one random day, you guessed it, I got injured. I almost tore my right bicep and it was the worst pain I’ve ever felt and my soul left my body knowing that I couldn’t play music in who knows how long.
Thankfully I recovered and now, I have re-joined my league but I’m an outfield player. My first match was Saturday and even though we lost 3-2, it was incredible. It hit me that it was the first time in over 10 years that I had played a match NOT on goal.
I was overwhelmed with so many feelings and thoughts. From gratitude to anger that I hadn’t played before… I was proud of myself and also disappointed that I should’ve played better and all these things.
Mentally I had prepared myself for a few weeks, and I felt like a kid again! And physically I had actually started training on my own for a few weeks and things were going amazing BUT 3 weeks before the match I injured my calf. I was gutted and thought I wouldn’t make it.
I took care of myself, iced my leg, used a Thera gun, etc etc etc and mentally I was shot. I was worried, doubting myself and also super confident that I would make it. HOW THE HELL DO PLAYERS DEAL WITH THIS ALL THE TIME!!!!??????????
The anxiety was absurd. The worry, the expectation, the excitement. All of these emotions were crazy and funny enough its what most people think I feel when I perform, but this is quite different.
Naturally I asked myself how Leah deals with this. How Viv does. How do they all do. And not that I need reminders but we do need reminders, you know??
The mental and emotional strength to deal with physical setbacks is not something that is part of my life and I’m very happy that I have lived this at a very small degree because of what it has done for me mentally and emotionally too. Of course I’m also much more mindful of my body the older I get.
Go out there and do what you love doing and makes you happy!
A very subjective look into AWFC 