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Dinosaur Keegan
We all know how fast the news cycles are all over the world and the footballing ecosystem is a prime example of that, now more than ever, it seems. I think its understandable to a large degree because of the nature of the sport, how many matches there are and how much happens in so many leagues all over the world. We haven’t even processed one insane VAR situation and next match day comes around and an equally insane VAR decision comes around and we focus on that.
There are some news that are left behind that sometimes hit you a few days or weeks later and makes you say: “holy sh*t! that was not good” And even though I made a comment when it happened, I thought about it this morning and it truly bothered me.
Around the first week of October, former England manager Kevin Keegan was at an event in Bristol and was reported to have said this:
“I’m not as keen, I’ve got to be honest, and it may not be a view shared. I don’t like to listen to ladies talking about the England men’s team at the match because I don’t think it’s the same experience. I have a problem with that.”
I have a problem with him having a problem with it but that’s not relevant, since the issue at hand is not my opinion but his thinking, which I’m aware that I cannot change or affect in any way, nor do I want to.
He isn’t wrong, its not the same experience, factually he’s right. But not because women can’t be as good. I’m hanging on to the semantics and express how silly he was. Those comments didn’t add anything positive so what’s the point?
All experiences are different. Men aren’t better just because they are men.
We have ex-players as pundits who have had ZERO communications or broadcasting training and have massive shows on some of the biggest stations and TV channels in the world. Just because they are men or played the game doesn’t make them great at that particular craft.
So, to negate women’s experience not only as pundits, analysts but also as former players, is really lame and it’s wrong.
Currently some of the best at the game as a whole are women. It’s just a fact.
Karen Carney and Jill Scott provide incredible analysis. Suzy Wrack is among the best journalists in the game. Caroline Barker and Shebahn Aherne are incredible behind the camera, interviewing people, covering matches. Laura Woods is about as good as a host as it gets, and so are Kate Abdo and Rebecca Lowe are all absolutely incredible.
Thankfully we’re at a time when saying things like what he said just makes you look so old and bitter and silly and frankly, dinosaurs like that are becoming irrelevant… when he said it, it was one of those: “GET OFF MY LAWN!!!” moments.
Anyway, women are better.
d ❤
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Take breaks if needed
Hey all. As much as I have and will try to stay away from geopolitics, I wanted to drop a line real quick to remind you of how important it is to take breaks from social media, from the news, and from being bombarded by bad news all the time.
This doesn’t mean to ignore what’s happening or what you have going on from an activist or just a normal human being. What I mean is that taking a few minutes here and there to unplug can be and will be very beneficial to you.
And no, I don’t mean that you should do that by reading my blog or listening to my podcast or even watching Arsenal highlights or whatever. I meant to take a break to sit with whatever it is your feeling and feel it. Process it for as long as you need, want or can. You owe that to yourself.
If you choose to not do that and AWFC is your escape, like it is for me, then I would encourage you to not let the results get to you too much. Life is hard enough as it is with so much stuff going on that putting so much of your life into what the girls do or don’t do is unfair to you.
Now, regarding the match tomorrow, I don’t really have much to say other than I forgot completely that there are groups and I assumed it was knockout already. Shows how much I actually know.
I expect Beth to start, actually, and Stina, Sabrina and Kyra as well.
I’m also hopeful that some players get a few min off, like Katie, Lia and Kim.
Not sure this is the season to make reliable predictions but I’m assuming a good old 5-0 would be quite nice.
d ❤
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You have responsibilities as a fan
As you might’ve heard on my podcast, I recently returned from a week’s long vacation which was my first one in my adult life. I know it sounds insane and unhealthy too but it’s just a fact. I haven’t been able to plan anything basically ever because my career always takes more importance, and there are several reasons as to why that is and I believe there is common ground with being a professional footballer.
The first thing that I’ll say relates to the idea of making sacrifices in life to make our dreams come true. I reject that notion but mostly from a neurolinguistic programming perspective in that I don’t like that the word “sacrifice” implies loss, and a lack of something… it implies having to miss out. I talk A LOT about this with students, mentees and at schools, and this usually resonates a lot with people. I choose to see it all as an investment. An investment of time, energy, money and more. Why? Because investing implies getting something back, in implies things returning to us and hopefully tenfold or at least breaking even. And I know this can be boiled down to semantics and that it’s also true that actual sacrifices are made, sure, but I choose to see things differently.
Among the investment situations that I’ve had to face/make, was when I left Venezuela when I was 19 to go to college and pursue music. I think about how this is similar to some footballers that leave their cities and countries to join an academy at a young age, and how their lives are shaped by this decision.
As a musician abroad, so to speak, you have music itself and you have your peers to serve as a support system and thankfully in cases like mine, they are all so reliable that you feel empowered and end up being very active and are fortunate enough to make a living.
Footballers have a team, a club, management, agents and all of these things that are not too different than what musicians might end up having, but there’s another element that might seem very similar but it’s not quite the same, in my opinion. And that is the role fans play and more specifically when they play their role.
Imagine you are a 20 year old guitar player in a college. You dream of playing with big artists and touring the world and yeah, having your own fans or being famous. Now keep in mind that during that process, during those years at school and getting started, a few years that are so important, so personal, so sacred and so crucial to your future, you have thousands upon thousands of people on social media telling you how terrible you are or how good you are. Imagine those people would speak about your weight, or how beautiful you are.
The point is that this usually doesn’t happen in music. The arc is very much behind the scenes until you’re actually blown up. For the most part, you are shielded from negativity and public scrutiny. The process is OURS. And it should be OURS.
In football nowadays everyone is exposed from the moment they have a social media account and launched to places they can’t imagine from a young age. So what I’m trying to say is that we as fans have to be very responsible and know that what we say might reach someone at a very crucial place in their lives during which they are about to make massive, life changing decisions.
I’m not saying that you should’ve have an opinion, but if it doesn’t add value, we can either keep those opinions to ourselves, or at least share them with a friend and not social media.
There’s always room to improve, and I can do better as well, bet on that.
d ❤
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Many Happy Returns
Here’s the latest That Arsenal Women Podcast
d ❤
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Very relieved
My time management skills today have been below standard to be completely honest with you. And I’m not here to blame anyone but myself because I could’ve written something after the match but kickoff time was 4:30 am for me and I wasn’t thinking straight.
I will talk more about the match tomorrow on my podcast but the one thing I’ll mention is how relieved I am that we won this match. Not saying that we were lucky or anything like that because the girls put in a great shift but honestly, with that team, to beat them when they had most of the possession for most of the match, is a relief inducing situation.
I’m also relieved for the girls. All things considered, to be only 3 points off Chelsea when we haven’t been playing anywhere near our best is a remarkable thing AND I do have to say that I change my mind… I think Chelsea are gonna be tougher than Man City overall if nothing else because of their will to win for Emma Hayes during her last season.
I saw people criticizing Kim for missing yet another penalty but I honestly couldn’t care less. She’s a legend, and she usually puts those away… she missed my inches and the GK make a great save.
I gotta run now but I will record a podcast tonight here in LA which will be up super early in the UK/Europe.
3 much needed points!!
d ❤
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Citeh at Meadow
Man City are the team that worry me the most in the WSL. Yes the level has risen to the highest of standards we’ve see yet with teams like Liverpool, Tottenham and Leicester starting the season absolutely flying. Yes Chelsea and Man Utd will be there and the former being the favorites to win a 5th straight title, ugh. Yes, Chelsea worry me, and I have never shied away from stating why I dislike what that club used to be under Abramovich. But City is the team I think can will the title. I don’t say “will” because I actually believe we can win the whole thing.
There’s something to be said about the depth of their bench, and to a degree it might the deepest/best in the league. Casparij, Roebuck, Coombs, Houghton and Deyna… these are players that would be first choice in most teams.
Keating has come out of nowhere and benched established names… Alana Kennedy and Greenwood (here’s to a speedy recovery) are towering, solid, reliable as they get. The midfield trio is technical and has bite, as I wrote on my previous post, and that front 3 is just terrifying.
And again, I don’t care what anybody says: JILL ROORD IS A BALLER.
So, as I look at Sunday’s match I have to start there and by there I mean: how the hell are we going to cope with that front 3? Well, my first answer is what will our front 3 be? Because if they score 4 we have to score 5 or more, so I’m less concerned about our defense as much as I’m excited to see who our front line is.
Bottom line is that Katie has to play, and I say/think that about her on every match day that she’s available for, but I would also like to see Cloe get a run in the wings. I don’t see Frida getting a start so I would love to see Alessia as a 10 and Stina up front. I think she has what it takes to hold the ball off for other’s to make runs and I specially would like to see Beth get between 25 & 35 minutes.
Then there’s the goat in the room. Will we see her get minutes? I truly hope so and this is a match that we need to get something from.
Here’s how I would line them up and as usual, this is NOT how I think Jonas will do it, this is just me having fun:
Whatever happens I think this is a great test and I can’t wait to see our girls beat city 3-0
d ❤
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Jill.
If you were to look at my twitter page, you will see three very recognizable players as my header picture. These 3 dutch players are the main reason why I started following AWFC. Two of them have left and come back to play us with their new teams, and now one of those two will be coming back with yet another team. Jill first came back with Wolfsburg and now she’s back in the WSL with Man City which is a very interesting situation on many levels.
Since I first saw her play til today, and regardless what happens on Sunday I can tell you that I LOVE Jill Roord. I have always have and I always will. She’s one of my favorite players ever, and she’s one of my favorite dutch players too.
Jill seems to somehow divide opinion on social media but to me it’s very, very clear that she is an incredible player. She’s a unique talent and a serial winner. She has won titles with Twente, Arsenal, Wolfsburg and I can see her winning titles with Man City, as I actually believe they are currently the best team in England. She has also won the Euros with The Netherlands, made it to WC Finals, etc. So, regardless of what her detractors might say, she’s in fact very fucking good.
When she left Arsenal people gave her stick which really bothered me because they were doubting her professionalism. When they did that, they also doubted her abilities and implied that she wasn’t good enough for AWFC, which was very strange and basic.
This whole abuse she seems to get is irrational to me and there’s no way to rationalize irrational behavior, there just isn’t. For the sake of this blog post though, what I will mention is how some people take digs at her and I wonder how they will react when they see her live.
Some bloggers and people that work very close to Arsenal have tweeted things about her or made snarky comments and I truly wish I could be a fly on the wall when they interview Jill and act as if nothing has ever happened.
I tweeted this back in July: Jill Roord doesn’t owe anything to any AWFC fans. Get over yourselves. No player ever has to justify x decision just to please you. They are elite and have designed their lives to make whichever decision fits them, while you’re on your couch watching love island.
And I stand by this now in November. But more than fan criticism this was mostly about the overall symbolism of hate towards someone which ultimately is a testament of the ones carrying out the hateful behavior.
The bottom line is that Jill doesn’t deserve any abuse, regardless of what people think she has said or what she has meant or whatever. Whatever misunderstanding, insults and hate are definitely not something she should be hearing or reading. It’s just not cool.
If nothing else, Jill is one of the most misunderstood players I’ve ever seen and that is a compliment in a way. That’s how artists are, true artists. They are misunderstood, they are different, they are hard to read. Blessing and a curse I guess, but I for one think having Jill in any squad makes it stronger and that’s what she has been doing with Man City.
The whole team is stacked. Bunny, Hemp and Kelly up top is insane, and Jill with Angeldal and Hasegawa makes this front line pretty incredible. With that said I truly believe we can get a result, specially being at Meadow park which I think will be great for the girls.
Meado didn’t travel with England did she? We know Viv did and played, but I’m curious to know if either of them feature in such a big match.
d ❤
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Statue For Maria
I have been privileged enough to visit the Emirates/the Armoury a few times and without fail, the first thing I do is go see the statues, specially the DB10 statue. And more than idolizing a male figure, what I like about it is the immortality granted to him by the club. You have to be very, very special to achieve this.
Nobody seems more important to me, than Maria Petri. Yes, there are other figures around the club, like Vic Akers and so on and because there isn’t a shortage of them, I think it would be very special if Maria got a statue at the emirates, and I mean very very very soon.
I also understand, and I might be very wrong, that she is mostly linked with AWFC and she was a staple at Meadow park and that the emirates wasn’t as much of a home for her, so to speak (please let me know if this is totally wrong). But as Viv said, the emirates is the club’s stadium, not the men’s stadium.
Numerous players and coaches will be in line but if the club really wanna set a standard of love, of class, of dignity, the one person that deserves immortality is her.
Wish I would’ve met her!
d ❤
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One more thing…
Regarding the ballon d’or… and I tweeted about this but I wanna make sure that I am on record on any and all platforms to express how absolutely insane it is too me that a body of experts, journalists, etc think that Katie McCabe is ranked all the way down as the 22nd best player in the world.
This is an assault to the sport and to common sense, but more than anything, to my opinion hahaha.
In my mind she’s among the top 5 players in the world, certainly top 10, for club and country. And to not break the top 20 to me this is something that is nothing short of absurd. And by the way, this is coming from someone who still thanks Danielle Van De Donk is top 20 in the world and she gets no love either.
Weird.
Anyway, make sure you watch Shebahn’s post this week about that and more
d ❤
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A very subjective look into AWFC 