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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?
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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!
d ❤
THAT ARSENAL WOMEN PODCAST on:
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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.
A very subjective look into AWFC 