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What NOT to do
In my career as a musician I have learn an infinity of lessons. Some of these have come through teachers and instructors, others have come from my peers, and I could go on and on. As you can imagine, it’s easy to think about things that we have all learned directly from people as it relates to what to do, how, why and when. But I know you agree with me, that sometimes the best and most important lessons come from what NOT to do. How NOT to behave, what NOT to say, when NOT to do it, etc.
Every time I think the men’s game is somewhat stable or scandal free, I am quickly and often reminded of how wrong I am. To be fair, it’s not that I ever think its stable… it’s that some time has passed between insane situations and today/yesterday had so many examples of these.
If you think that I am going to judge people and the men’s game please know that you are absolutely correct. So I’m gonna go over some of these ridiculous things that make me feel so damn proud of being a supporter of the women’s game and why I cherish it so much, because even with the game growing exponentially, violence and xenophobia have not come into play.
Brazil vs Argentina was an absolute mess. The violence between fans was atrocious. Just as bad was the violence between the Brazilian police and the Argentinean fans. Oh and De Paul completely play acted being “hit” on the face by an opponent (I wanna say it was Joelinton) and got him sent off. Horrible…
In another match, USMNT player Sergiño Dest made an absolute embarrassment of himself by getting sent off by being a petulant child in many ways. He kicked a ball to row Z and then blew kisses to the ref once he gave him a yellow card for said kick. After the kiss blowing absurdity, the ref sent him off and he then basically lost the plot…
Peru hosted my home nation of Venezuela and that was also a mess. Not only did the Peruvian authorities announce that they would check the immigration status of all Venezuelans at the stadium, but at the end of the match, the Venezuelan players were assaulted by police when they tried to gift their match worn shirts to the traveling fans. Oh, and also, on a TV show, the Peruvian hosts all but said that Venezuela shouldn’t win otherwise Venezuelan women would “cost too much.”
Not gonna dignify that rubbish with a comment.
So, as you can see there is plenty of this to go around, all over the place and you know what I’m gonna say… THIS DOESN’T HAPPEN IN THE WOMEN’S GAME. They just don’t. And not only are we “lucky” but we need to make sure that we, in a good way, become gate keepers and don’t allow any of this garbage seep into our beautiful game.
And let’s be clear… the violence and xenophobia are never the answer. I don’t care how much a player dives or pretends to be injured or whatever. No violence, racism or xenophobia are ever ok. They don’t deserve it in the way that women players don’t deserve it but there’s no way to separate toxic masculinity from toxic masculinity.
I’m proud to be a women’s football fan and my life has gotten better exponentially. And honestly I think I would be deeply hurt if I hear of any Arsenal player, or any female player, receiving horrible racist abuse or being assaulted by a police while representing their countries.
I refuse to think that it’s “only a matter of time.”
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England Calling
Right when we’re in a groove… right in the middle of all things going our way… right when we are used to lots of matches every weekend… the international break is around the corner. And I’m being completely selfish here but as much as I love the nation’s league, I really don’t need it interrupting our campaign.
Thinking about seeing players like Katie, Lia and Amanda play 90 mins for their countries while we need all of them to be as healthy and safe as possible is something that gives me a bit on anxiety to be honest, less about potential injuries and more related to just exhaustion, although I can appreciate both of these things being related.
But let’s look at the positives and nothing is more of a positive than seeing our very own Beth Mead get called up to the England squad. This is absolutely massive news every way you look at it so to say that I’m excited for her beyond words would be an understatement.
It’s not just getting called up after being on the sidelines for a couple of months. We’re talking about being out of the England squad for over 12 months. That is absolute insanity. 12 months in which I assume that playing for England again is something that crossed her mind every minute or every hour when she’s not sleeping basically. OK maybe not that often but a lot??? Imagine you being away from your life’s calling for over a year.
I’m also very excited to see what Sarina does with the Lionesses and how Beth fits back in. I’m clearly biased but I would take her over Kelly, Hemp and James on the flanks. Will she change the system? the lineup? I guess we’ll never know!!! or we will know in a week or so haha.
I’ll remind you tomorrow early but I will be doing an AWFC show tomorrow on the Highbury squad YouTube channel. Stay tuned for that which will be at 8pm uk time.
xo
d ❤
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Zombies & Turkeys
Today starts a very weird week here in the USA. As some of you know Thanksgiving day is upon us and with it lots of emotions and thoughts arise. As a whole, being grateful is basically my life philosophy and it would make sense that I would see this holiday as one of if not my favorite time of the year. In theory maybe. I’m not gonna get into the dark history of the holiday but it’s worth looking into if you haven’t.
Then there’s the lovely side of it, for those lucky enough, who can spend time with family, eating a lot, resting etc. And then there’s Black Friday, which is fantastic if you’re at home ordering some stuff you’ve wanted or needed for at a discounted price, but going in person to a store that day is basically as close to a zombie apocalypse as one could ever experience, and I would even say it would be safer because zombies are slow and they don’t say mean things.
But what the hell doesn’t any of this have to do with women’s football or Arsenal? I honestly have no idea other than, overall, I’m thankful for this club and the amount of joy that they have brought to my life the past few years. But seriously though, I am of the belief that in order to achieve anything important wit a true deep impact on others and on ourselves, we have to be grateful, not only while doing so but the action itself is a means to thank people and give back.
The issue some people run into though is that they give thanks or do things for people but they do so fueled by what they will get in return, and this is one of the beautiful things about life and being a football fan, specially a women’s football fan.
We all know that there’s nothing we could ever do to repay all they joy, excitement, acceptance and even sense of belonging and identity building that a club gives us. Even as a musician, who has to be not only obsessed mentally with music, but emotionally too, there’s always room for Arsenal. It’s part of who we are and it’s something that I’m very proud of.
Among the things that young people can learn from the AWFC players in how to be grateful always and this is something that a lot of people criticize about the new generation, although that’s been going on forever hasn’t it? Anyway, the girls are always thanking the fans, expressing how much it means to them to see and hear them. They get the travel, they understand the sacrifice, they truly do, otherwise they wouldn’t be where they are and have been for the past few years.
Weird post, I know… but I’m a weird guy.
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Solid, solid, solid.
I’ve been up since 4 am because I set the wrong alarm. Normally I set it for an hour before kickoff time so I could see the lineups, ponder about how we will play and everything in between. Today though I set it up for an hour BEFORE the team news aka 2 hours before kickoff. So to say that I’m not at my most lucid would be an understatement.
The lineup isn’t my preferred one for a few reasons and it’s always a thing with me when its not. Usually, if the players I want to see aren’t there, it takes me a few minutes to get into the game to be quite honest with you but there was something in the energy and vibe of the match today that was very much invigorating.
KCC has been playing incredibly well and I cannot wait to see her play with Kim and/or Lia. And don’t get me wrong, I still think Kim and Lia are cornerstones and barometers of our squad, team, match, season, but it’s very good to see someone so dynamic and intelligent at our club.
Ever since I’ve watched football if noticed that there are players you watch and you think to yourself: “pass it here” or “do this!” and when they do it feels like you’re connected in a way. Then there are some that do the total opposite, in a frustrating way or usually in a: “shut the f*ck up you don’t know anything” way, and they’re correct too haha.
Kyra is a player that I think makes the right decision all the time and even though I usually disagree with who gets POTM, this was an absolute no brainer.
Speaking of brains, you know I’m a Roord fanatic. Her goal today was so damn smart. I miss her 😦
A trip to the south coast is next for the girls on Thursday, when they will play Southampton.
I gotta go rehearse but as always: THANKS FOR READING!
d ❤
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You had one job…
I really don’t like depending on other teams for anything. It’s just a helpless position to be in and we can get all existential and talk about how that is also a good way of living etc but the fact of the matter is that Liverpool not beating Chelsea today absolutely sucked.
In all seriousness I didn’t think that Chelsea would lose or even tie this match but I just wished I could go to sleep and wake up (the match was at 5:30am my time) and be greeted with better news, that’s all.
But holy sh*t Chelsea are good. Yes Lauren James is great but the rest of the team look very solid and its gonna be a very interesting match next month at The Emirates. If you’re going, please enjoy every second. If you’re not going it’s ok, it’ll be super cold haha.
Our girls face Brighton tomorrow and don’t really have much to say other that I’m hoping for another resounding win. It’s the only thing that will suffice. Not just winning but winning but a lot.
Going back briefly to depending/not depending on other teams, can I just say that I know that this is literally how it works BUT you can’t just think you’ll go a whole season unbeaten. But anyway, the Manchester derby will be interesting. A draw would be the most favorable result in my opinion as the idea of both teams dropping points is fantastic.
Some days I can get more creative than others and today my brain is fried.
I’ll do a podcast tomorrow after the match at some point.
Enjoy your Saturday!
Enjoy your week!
d ❤
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Don’t worry about who’s next…
The music industry is absolutely insane. If I were even to develop this point in a more detailed way, there would be so many examples of how ludicrous it all is, that I wouldn’t know where to begin. And I guess if we take a step back this is one of the things that both music and football have in common: absolute insanity.
One of the things that some musicians face is actively pursuing bigger and better gigs as a goal. I don’t like to compare artists or legitimize them based on the size of their crowds, but to make it as objective as possible, some musicians want to play with artists who play at bigger venues.
That is understandable to a large degree and I relate to this in a way. The issue is though, when you lose focus. When you are on a gig (literally during a show or while you’re part of a project) and your eyes are on what’s next, it doesn’t allow you to be fully present. I get the distraction and the ambition, but I’m also talking about the responsibility you have to be there, to be respectful of the artist and music as a whole.
As women football fans we know that players have a finite career, and that they can change teams every year it seems. And with that comes the understandable vision of who will the next “X” player.
Lately there’s been a lot of talk about Pelova being the next Kim Little. This is something that I definitely don’t agree with for several reasons. First and foremost Victoria is her own player, she’s an individual, she’s unique in her own way like every player is and should be seen as who they are. Not a copy of or anything like that. Secondly they play different positions and more importantly, Kim is still here and is not showing any signs of slowing down in my opinion.
For the record if I had to pick “the next Kim little” I would go with Khul but that’s not the point. The point I’m trying to make is that we need to realize what we have, while we have it and not worry about the next Kim. Nobody will be the next Kim Little.
She’s one off, she’s historic and its unfair to put that pressure on anyone. I choose to enjoy having Kim for as long as she wants at our club and I encourage you, if you have an eye o what’s next, to truly focus on the here and now and know how lucky we are to have Kim as our captain.
Enjoy your week!
d ❤
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Who needs clean sheets?
The most basic of principles in sports is that in order to win you have to score more than the opposition. You can also flip that and assume you’ll win if you allow less goals that the rivals. At the moment we’re doing the former, but it seems like we are doing the latter. I personally find these types of things very interesting as it can be very much a perception situation.
We all know clean sheets do wonders for the team in more ways that I can articulate. And if you think I have any intelligent analysis or have some sort of misplaced confidence where I express how we can stop other teams from scoring, you are way too kind and I’m not that smart.
One thing I do know is that the staff, coaches and players are aware of this situation and they don’t really need anyone chiming in or pointing to the clear current state of affairs as it relates to goals being let in. It’s what’s shiny at the moment.
I much rather like to focus on 5 games unbeaten. During those matches the girls have scored 17 goals and let in 6. Those six goals don’t make us scream of confidence but that’s a +11 goal difference and I’m not a mathematical entity but I can tell you that is a great stat. And, it will only get more favorable when Beth and Viv get more consistent and efficient minutes on the pitch.
So like I’ve said before, I’m not one to obsess over stats but if the issue is goals against, then score a boat load more, and that’s what we’ve been doing. Yes goal difference matters but you can balance that out by not missing sitters, by being ruthless.
And I think that is something that we have to take advantage of during the WSL season whenever possible, as we did with Leicester. We need to demolish Bristol, Everton, West Ham and Brighton, all of whom have a negative goal difference.
Before I go I wanted to apologize for cancelling my show yesterday on The Highbury Squad but I will be back soon. Also, and I will write more about this either here on via Twitter, but the backlash my friends on that pod are receiving after their interview with Aaron Ramsdale’s dad, is way too harsh.
If you haven’t watched it, do yourselves a favor and check it out HERE
Enjoy your week!
d ❤
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CANCELLED -AWFC Show today!
Sorry friends, have to cancel this
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Sometimes this blog is about ideas, sometimes its about matches, sometimes its about things related so women’s football in general and on days like today, this blog is all about shameless self promotion.
As some of you know I often appear on The Highbury Squad, which is one of the most important Arsenal YouTube channels/podcasts out there. It’s hosted by my friend Sophie Nicolaou and Arsenal legend Kevin Campbell. Whenever I’m on we speak about the girls so, if you are around at 12pm Pacific / 8pm UK / 9pm Europe you can watch me host for the first time a full show on that channel.
Here’s the link for the channel and once I know the actual link for the show I’ll come back to this and edit and post it.
https://www.youtube.com/highburysquad
Come hang out and ask questions!
d ❤
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Halftime Speeches
Among the many things that intrigue me about professional sports, and sports in general if I’m being honest, is the power that a halftime speech can have on the rest of the match/game etc. We have heard and seen examples of this and we’ve probably also cried watching some of them on TV. Yes of course there are pre-match speeches, but there’s something super interesting about halftime talks that interest me.
To be a fly on the wall, right?
But among the things that fascinate me is how in my mind, a lot of these elite athletes do not need the actual speech, the actual extra motivation. Almost by definition they are already at such a high and developed competitive and resourceful mentality that it makes me wonder if they even need it.
There are reports of Arsene Wenger barely saying anything and there are also the infamous hair dryer treatment talks that Sir Alex Ferguson was famous for. Two totally different situations and I don’t call them styles because I don’t think one always did it one way.
It wouldn’t criticize anyone for thinking that vs Leicester, at halftime, Jonas gave one of the most motivational speeches ever right? But maybe he said absolutely nothing. Why would he say nothing? Because everyone knows what they have to do, or maybe everyone knows what they didn’t do as well or how something didn’t go to plan collectively.
Everyone can use motivation, of course, but I believe that the truly elite might need it a little bit less than most. What do you think?
I honestly don’t think someone like Kim Little needs or could be more motivated for every kick of every minute of every match of every season. Same goes for the squad and staff, of course. But it’s also more than ok to need that motivation from time to time and sometimes we need it when people assume we have it.
So I might be writing this about Kim, just an example, and (had she been playing) might’ve needed the motivational talk more than most.
I don’t know… it’s just a very interesting thing and I’m curious to know what you think.
I do think that the best scenario would be a combination of all kinds of motivation, including internal and external, as often as possible, in every which way and through various means.
d ❤
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Two Halves
Here’s the latest podcast!
d ❤
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A very subjective look into AWFC 