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A win is a win…
It’s difficult to not see a NLD win at home and not be very positive about it. Even though I wasn’t impressed with the match overall I’m gonna do my best to, as usual, focus on the positives and look ahead.
All in all, the 3 points is all that matters and it feels good to have had some payback at a sold out Emirates. Let me say that again: A SOLD OUT EMIRATES STADIUM for a WSL match… not a cup final, not a CL semi. A WSL match. It’s just worth repeating a few times
Among the positives I’d like to point out how I thought Laia, Kim and Lia had really good games. Alessia scoring again is also a great thing and getting 9 corners or so was also a positive.
However, let’s be real now, getting ZERO out of those corners and set pieces is absolutely something to worry about and it has to be addressed. We had like 5 corners in the first 5 minutes and none of the felt like we posed any threat at all.
I also love a team with McCabe but she feels like she’s on a island. Sooooooo far from the action and it’s just not cool at all. Yeah we need her there but come on Jonas, there has to be different options. Play 3 at the back or something. She’s also a much better option on the left than Foord and it’s literally giving the other team an advantage when she is basically tucked away.
I know in my heart and in my brain that I should be more positive but I am not feeling that way today. We aren’t clinical, we aren’t ruthless and that to me falls on the manager because he picks the players and Is supposed to set them all in winning positions and for success. I don’t think he’s doing that at the moment.
We need a Roord or a Horan. We need a different formation from time to time. We need Stina up front. We need the USWNT to lose today so Emily can come back and Katie can be Katie.
I also think we need a female manager, ASAP.
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Who’s fit and who fits
Tomorrow’s match is one of those that challenge my puzzle solving/tetris playing ability, and you’d be correct if you thought that I wasn’t good at either. Usually though, we have a good idea of who is playing were but because we don’t know a certain someone’s fitness situation, it all gets very confusing.
That certain someone is Katie McCabe and she has become, in my mind at least, the most important player this year and is in fact the only option for player of the season. She is it. I know a lot of people want other players but they aren’t as crucial, effective and relevant. They just aren’t. They don’t carry the same weight.
I’ve said many times, and I still think this way, that Lia Walti is the barometer. How she plays, arsenal play. How her season goes, ours goes. I will die on that hill. This doesn’t take away the importance of Katie McCabe.
I’ll just mention 2 things: her versatility and her power.
Let’s start with the latter… it’s unquestionable, undeniable and unmatched. She is a force of nature and ANY team with her in it is that much more intense, powerful and dare I say: mean. And we need that.
I’m sorry but I would bet large sums of money that an opposing team looks at our team sheet, sees Pelova, LWM, KCC or Frida and are terrified or intimidated. But they see McCabe and they are like: oh shit.
I guarantee it.
She is also absurdly versatile. I mean her not playing at right back tomorrow can throw the whole damn thing into a crazy spiral. Now we’re thinking about 3 at the back, having players play out of position and all this at a sold out Emirates.
I’ll definitely talk about this on the next pod, but at the risk of sounding arrogant, if you don’t see her importance I kindly suggest you watch the games and ignore twitter and TikTok.
So, with that said, who is fit and who fits in the squad tomorrow? Well its hard to say if Katie’s involvement is not confirmed. Assuming she is not…
A change in formation is what I’m expecting and what I’m afraid of. 3 at the back isn’t something I feel Jonas excels at. Also, these are incredible players that will adapt and play anywhere for the good of the team.
I wouldn’t be shock if Beth plays RB.
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Talking ≠ saying something
In the long list of what can be frustrating as a fan, feeling like we’re not being told the truth has to be right at the top of the list; and this is coming from someone who definitely feels the club doesn’t have to disclose everything and people should mind their own business, hahah.
What I mean by this is that if you look at the comments Jonas made about Viv, Leah and co, you’ll find that he talked a lot but he didn’t really say anything. And to be fair to Jonas its not that I don’t think he’s saying nothing but I just wish I would get more information and I would assume that you would like that too.
I didn’t read which knee Viv is getting an operation on but we can assume it’s the same one she did her ACL on, but if that’s the case then we would process it differently than if it was the other knee. Then, when we hear about Vic’s “muscle injury” it would be great to know which one because there are over 600 muscles in the human body.
Basically I’d love it if there was less cryptic “news” and more assertive and informative truths. But again, they don’t know us anything, and we definitely don’t have a right to know things that aren’t our business and that they want to keep under wraps not only for the player’s privacy but also to not give our opponents an advantage as it regards to planning against us and so on.
All I care about is the players being ok, mentally and otherwise. That’s literally the only thing I care about and I don’t care if we lose every NLD ever if it means our girls being solid in every way possible.
With that said, we should still beat spurs at a sold out emirates because, let’s be honest, we have a world class squad and they don’t and there’s no reason to doubt that we’re gonna get a result.
Lotte and Laia played well together, Steph will play on the left and not sure what will happen with Katie. If she’s not fit I would assume we’re playing 3 at the back, but I’ll speculate more on that tomorrow and Sunday.
Oh, and if you’re subscribed to The Athletic, I was privileged enough to chat with Katie Whyatt and you can read a bit of what we spoke about here
https://theathletic.com/5289629/2024/03/01/male-fans-womens-football-interviews
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When to engage and when to ingore
Women’s football fans deal with so much stupidity online, it’s quite exhausting. Day after day, post after post, tweet after tweet, the slimy rats appear and express hate, homophobia, misogyny and more. It never seems to decrease, does it?
I have definitely changed as it relates to when I engage with these people and when I choose to ignore them. Lately I have felt it’s way more productive, important and healthy to ignore them. But sometimes I feel guilty, as if I’m letting down the women I admire, the sport, and what’s just in life. Like we have to fight against them, don’t we?
That dynamic is very weird and odd. Not sure I know how to navigate it a lot of the times but I think the important thing for me is to try to identify not just what they are saying but how and to read the message a few times. To try to understand first of all and often we find that they clearly have some personal issues and things they’re dealing with. 99% of them big men and I feel truly sorry for their partners and family members.
Sounds rude, but it’s how I feel.
A couple of days ago the Venezuelan football federation released their new shirts and they were modeled only by male players and I commented on it. Shortly after dozens of dudes that clearly hate women, said some really horrible stuff and normally I would’ve replied to each and every single one, but I didn’t.
Not replying works for me, but am I ignoring some sort of duty? Should I have tried to change their mind? to explain themselves more? for what? I don’t know really.
What I know is that if this is a crappy situation to deal with, I can’t imagine what being a player is life. When these attacks are not about my opinion on a marketing strategy, but a direct attack and insult.
We gotta do better as fans and calm the f*ck down sometimes.
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NLD, The Olympics & more
Here’s the latest episode of That Arsenal Women Podcast
d ❤
THAT ARSENAL WOMEN PODCAST on:
APPLE PODCASTS
SPOTIFY
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Something needs to be done
This is not something that I’m alone in thinking. We all know this… the players play way too much and they will be affected by the. busy calendars in every way, shape and form. From their knees, to their emotions and their brains. It’s becoming too much.
So for something to change, something has to change…
There has to be a seismic shift. A change from somewhere has to start and I think that the most likely place will come from a National team, such as The Netherlands, just like Jonker has hinted at.
Not sure what the answer should be but definitely culturally we need to normalize players declining to join their national teams and not being seen as traitors or ungrateful or unpatriotic.
The point of something being done implies that its preventative. The sooner something happens the less likely injuries will be. And no, of course I don’t have the answers nor do I think I know what they will be, but there’s no way a lot of this isn’t about money and revenue.
Clubs, companies, federations etc see a clear marketing opportunity and I just don’t see a way for it to mellow out unless some competitions are totally gone, such as the Conti Cup.
And let’s not fool ourselves, it’s only a matter of time until an Europa League situation happens and that will be absolutely great for some players and brutal for others.
If I sound anxious and nervous it’s because I am.
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No Going back, is there?
Once again I am smiling from ear to ear after reading that there will be at least 50 thousand people at The Emirates to watch our girls play against Tottenham. This is incredibly wonderful news and when these numbers come out it fills me with joy not only for the players and staff, the fans as well, but the club as a whole. The amount of work behind the scenes, the red tape, the bureaucracy, and everything in between.
The reality is that this is becoming the norm. Maybe not a full sell out but definitely way more than we can fully understand. Like a WSL match with 30k people is wild and we’re getting to that place.
It’s not as simple as just having the women play at The Emirates because there’s so much logistics associated with it but what we have proven time and time again is that the numbers are there. I’m sure though that they will want to see a crowd vs say Brighton or Leicester and not one of the bigger clubs, yet I was literally there against Villa it was over 50k I believe.
I find it very difficult to see a universe in which Arsenal Women don’t play A LOT of matches a The Emirates. I really don’t. There’s no going back. Feels like Borehamwood will be for boutique matches or something, and it feels like the script has been flipped in what can seem like a closing and opening of out collective football eye.
One thing that I don’t understand is how people can afford to go to both men’s and women’s matches but the answer can be a very beautiful one: there are thousands upon thousands of people that only go there for the women’s team.
In other words, there are so many humans that want to support arsenal women exclusively that playing at The Emirates is warranted. At least that’s how I interpret this.
Not positive if I will be able to record a podcast today as I have lots of music to work on and I’m on a one track mind kind of vibe today.
Have a great week!
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I feel for Lotte
If I started this blog with anything else than an admission that I haven’t been LWM’s biggest fan, I would be a bold face liar. My subjective opinion is that: subjective, and I am gutted that she can’t get a start under Sarina, regardless of how good of a season you think she’s having.
I wouldn’t say its an issue with Lotte more so than an issue with Sarina in that, coming from a massive NL fan, she sometimes fixates on players and sticks with them forever, like she would do with Van de Sanden.
Not lost with me is how stupid I sound criticizing the best manager in world football. I get how silly I sound but the question of: “What does LWM need to do to get a start?” Is not much different than when I shout that as it relates to Merel Van Dongen. And just to be absolutely clear, I trust Sarina 100% but ONE start isn’t gonna derail any plans.
I understand why LWM doesn’t get a start when Leah, Bright, Greenwood etc are fit. But when Sarina makes so many changes and the match is PERFECT for Lotte to be rewarded for her ability, tenacity, drive and determination, you’d expect her to play. So I’m baffled that she wasn’t given the start.
I have said this many times before but I think LWM should be played as a RB at Arsenal and if she’s gonna be played there for England it obviously implies that Lucy Bronze isn’t fit, so again, if you’re not gonna start her at CB, I am positive she is deserving of a shot somewhere on that team sheet if you’re fielding a second string side.
She’s clearly someone who possesses qualities that Sarina feels adds to the squad and the culture of that team, and I hope that she has the mentality to stay optimistic and overcome adversity like this.
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One more chance
Ah, that was a tough match. Even though I couldn’t watch it live I have seen the highlights and honestly I don’t see the point to go over what happened because it won’t change anything. I do have to say I LOVED that lineup and I’m quite amazed that we lost 3-0 but again, shows that I don’t know anything.
Same will probably happen with Arsenal to be fair, when I think I know who should be in the lineup and all that stuff and then we lost 5-0. As usual, please don’t take anything I say too seriously.
The fact of the matter is that The Netherlands now have to beat Germany if they want to be at the Olympics this summer.
I don’t see Germany being anywhere near as much of a threat as Spain was, for obvious reasons. So, I’m going into this being very confident actually. Famous last words… right?
In Arsenal/Lionesses news it was fantastic to see Beth and Alessia scoring and playing well. Actually this is just me assuming that because I haven’t watched a single minute of their match except some pre match analysis with Kaz, Laura and Wrighty. Among, if not, the best trio in the game for me.
I gotta run but hope you have a great weekend!
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NO-lympics
I have never ever put stock in the role of football in the Olympics. I really don’t usually care about any of it, unless The Netherlands are involved. As a default I want them to win every match they ever play in any competition but my reality is that I am not interested in players being over played so if the Olympics isn’t a reality, then for me, as a fan, that’s absolutely OK.
Football already has competitions that matter, you know this! The World Cup, The Euros and now the Nation’s League. That’s more than enough and I honestly don’t ever think about winning the olympics as one of the things that ever stand out when I look at a player’s career.
However, maybe I’m just being selfish and I’m not thinking about what the players want. There was a time when the Olympics were perhaps a more interesting competition for them as the Euros weren’t as big as they will be from now on? I’m not sure and I’m very interested in learning about this.
But what it boils down to for me is player’s well being, in all aspects and the potential of another high stakes competition at the end of a grueling season for everyone its pretty wild to me and I hope all of the players are managed properly and if we have to see 5 or 6 players that don’t usually feature, I’ll be cool with that as well.
So looking ahead to today’s match I’m super pumped and I want NL to win, emphatically as always.
Casparij needs to be our starting right back. She’s a much better option than anyone we have. I also don’t know, for the millionth time, what Merel Van Dongen has to do to get more minutes.
Dom at the back makes everything solid and reliable and any team with DVD means it stands a very probable chance of winning, add to that Viv. So, safe to say that as per, I’m confident of a squad with all those players.
Whatever happens I will be happy… a lot of players want to go to Paris this summer and a few don’t. I wouldn’t mind the time off for myself and not have to worry about another tournament to keep my eye on when I’m already obsessed with the sport every moment of the rest of the year.
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A very subjective look into AWFC 