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Ballon D’ewwww
I have such a weird relationship with these types of award shows. I mostly dislike them but truly enjoy seeing so many incredible footballers I admire in one place, the little stories they tell behind teams, etc. Like the production for the most part is terrible and don’t even get me started on the musical guests, but just overall what keeps me usually watching is what I said, lots of footballers I like in one place.
But make no mistake, this award show does actually celebrate women. They are filling a quota or something so that they can prove to the eyes of the average football fan that “they do a lot for women’s football.”
It’s a clear case of “don’t tell me you love me, show me you love me” and its so clear that they are just telling women they love them. If you needed any proof, in case you didn’t know, just know they scheduled the award show during a women’s nation’s league match day, with nominees being all over Europe and couldn’t make the damn event except a handful.
This is so disrespectful and I just imagine how terrible women that work for this damn thing feel. They have to feel ignored and just disrespected all the time through these things, and honestly some days it all feels like its a one step forward, two steps back situation.
This is why we keep supporting women’s football, why we keep blogging and podcasting, why we keep showing up to matches, chanting, supporting the players’s books, appearances, etc.
I didn’t even think I was gonna write today because I’m flying back to LA but I have some time but sadly I cannot watch any of the matches. Fran Kirby just scored for England to go up 2-1 and Lieke Martens just went off injured but not sure how bad it is. Surely I will write about that match either tonight or later tomorrow.
d ❤
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Rubiales Banned
Today is my last vacation day so that means I’ll be back to my normalish posting schedule in a couple of days. In the meantime please check out this article about Rubiales and his ban, which you can read HERE
d ❤
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Oranje Blogje + Nations League
Ok my dutch isn’t great but you know was great? The Oranje Leeuwinnen’s performance against Scotland. To be fair, I should know much more about Scotland because not only do I bloody LOVE the country but it’s an incredible footballing nation and lots of their players play in the WSL… or so I would imagine. Caroline is out injured, and I have no idea where Erin Cuthbert is so maybe help me figure this out?
Anyway, in case you’re new here it’s important for me to tell you that when on international break, this blog usually becomes very, very oranje. I support The Netherlands fully and I’m really excited about today’s match and of course, our Viv coming back, but what I’m mostly excited about is how well DVD played and how far up the pitch she was. When this happens, we win. It’s just facts.
I love that both the Dutch and the English Lionesses seem to have dropped the idea of a back 3 being the way to go and both managers have shuffled things around. Both nations playing extremely well, from the highlights that I was able to watch. And speaking of being able to watch, I haven’t been able to find any highlights of Katie McCabe and Ireland’s win over Albania but once I do, make no mistake that I’ll be writing about it.
Gotta run for now!
d ❤
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ON VACATION
Hi!
Sorry for the lack of activity here but I’ve been on my first vacation in 16 years or so. Still, my commitment to you and to this blog is a constant in my life and I wanted to at least share other people’s content.
If you can, please listen to this amazing podcast by Caroline Barker, Jen Beattie, Rachel Yankey and Izzi Christiansen.
d ❤
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Flying
No, like literally flying so since I cannot post anything (I’m scheduling this post haha) here’s an amazing video by Shebahn, aka the goat, aka the best YouTuber out there. Someone who I had the chance to meet in London last week and couldn’t have been a kinder person.
d ❤
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Viv is football.
Simply put: we are living through really terrible times. Among many things, we are currently dealing with 2 simultaneous wars, horrific things happening through Africa, far right governments winning elections in South America, and an infinity of things added to that.
From a sporting/footballing perspective not everything is great either and an example of this is the whole situation transpiring with the Jamaican national team… a group of historic women who have systematically been taken advantage of for years and just take a second to contemplate the fact that if this is the stuff that we know, imagine the amount of abuse, sheer misogyny, and countless instances of discomfort that they have lived, as women, let alone footballers. It’s a lot.
To remain sane though, we must search for outlets and distractions. I definitely haven’t gone through wars or anything anywhere near as terrible but 4 years ago our house burned and it was a really tough, inconvenient and trying situation and oh yeah COVID hit months later too. During that time, among the things that gave me sustenance was AWFC, and more specifically the dutch contingent of DVD, Viv and Jill. They will always be at the very core of why I love Arsenal Women so much and as a dutch football fanatic, this meant much more than people can imagine.
So this team has been a constant source of inspiration, motivation and much more than what a bad result here or there can do or how it could make me feel. Unless the girls suffer, or when I see them cry or when I see them injured. That fucks me up, a lot. All of these things have a deep impact in my emotional composition. And to that point, not one moment in my life as a fan has had me more worried than when Viv did her ACL. But I was worried for HER, not that I didn’t think she couldn’t recover mentally or physically, I just worried about the amount of stuff she would have to deal with.
I don’t actually know Viv but I’d like to think that I have a good grasp on how elite she is in every way and that includes her vulnerability, how outspoken she is and of course how intelligent she is on and off the pitch, so I never ever want anyone like that, to suffer in any way, even if they’re gonna be better for it. Like I get it, I understand growth and expansion, but I don’t like the suffering or hard times for them right before the actual growth. Does that make sense?
313. That’s the amount of days since Viv last played. Listen… just counting to 313 at a steady pace is exhausting, imagine what it is dealing with recovery every single day, 313 days and counting. I couldn’t play drums for like 6 weeks earlier this year and I almost lost my shit.
I am proud beyond words. There’s not much more I can say aside from that. I’m honored to have been following her career and seen her play at least once in person. Today’s few minutes on the pitch were much more than minutes of course. It was almost a year, a goddamn year.
But let’s make one thing extremely clear.
That pass with her first touch is football reduced to one play. It’s basically like this: you either get what that pass is, what it meant, what it tried to do, how difficult it is, how natural it was for her, how logical it is, or you don’t. It’s that binary… on or off, you get it or you don’t.
If you know me, you know that Bergkamp is my number 1. After he retired the only person I ever compared to him was RVP and of course DVD and Viv are in that conversation, and I will say they overtook Robin to be fair. But anyway, Dennis has a very famous quote that I usually mention whenever I give a masterclass or speak at a school whenever I touch on the topic of intentional behavior. His quote is that: “behind every kick of the ball there must be a thought.”
That pass was it. Every pass has been it, every goal as been it, every touch of the ball has been it, every match watched has been it, every experience has been it.
Viv is IT.
Viv is football.
And…
The only way to be truly football is to transcend it.
To be more than the activity itself.
To BE and to BEHAVE in a way in which that gift is only part of who you are, even a small part at that.
To embody things that nobody could ever even begin to comprehend.
Our lives are better because of Viv, it’s just a fact.
d ❤
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Halftime thoughts
There are times when I watch a football match and I feel like I have a really good grasp of what is going on. There are also times when I can pinpoint exactly what is going in our favor and there are other times when I think I have a good idea about what is not going well and why. I’d like to think that my opinion about the match and personnel have some sort of relevance because like I said, I “see” what’s happening. And then there are matches like today, specially this first half against Bristol when I have no idea what is happening.
Yesterday I wrote that we had to win and we had to do so convincingly and that is not happening at all. To me, it all lies on the manager. Players can’t make mistakes if they aren’t on the pitch, and I mean that in the nicest and most factual of ways. Also, if the team is trying to implement a certain way of playing or strategy and it’s not working, at some point it’s not the players’s fault.
Katie just scored again. Yay.
Anyway, I thought it might be interesting sharing thoughts in the middle of the match and not before or after.
Lastly please know that I will be taking my first vacation in 16 years and I might not be able to write or post every single day but I promise you I will try my very best.
d ❤
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Bristol Preview
Not much of a preview to be honest with you, other than to say that if we don’t win tomorrow, and do so convincingly, the alarm bells that ring from journalist and pundits and fans will be shared by yours truly. Needless to say I’m very confident and just for fun, this is how I would like to see us lineup, not what I think will actually happen.
A full start for Beth would be lovely and definitely wanna see Laia and Cooney – Cross at some point.
d ❤
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Quick growth doesn’t mean overnight success
One of the recurring themes in my conversations with people about women’s football has to be the growth of the game, especially in the last 5 years. I’m pretty sure that this is something you’ve spoken about before more times than you can count, and also I would bet money that you think about it all the time.
I’ve only been watching women’s football since 2019 and the growth I have seen is beyond exponential, in every imaginable way. I can’t even imagine what it’s like to see it from the perspective all of the former players, coaches, journalists, club personnel, etc who have all helped shape what we know today. Women’s football people who have been there against all odds.
Even though this is factual, and that the growth has been clear and has been in a steady trajectory upwards, we cannot lose sight of the past and confuse the rapid recent growth with overnight success.
I certainly am guilty of not making this point from time to time and me bringing this whole topic up is not a way for me to imply that I DO remember that key distinction I’m talking about. If nothing else, I’m using this post to remind myself of how I need to meditate on this idea and to devise a way through which I can pay my respects to those who got us here.
What seems like quick, overnight success to the outsider it’s never actually like that to the insider, is it? I’ve lived it in my life with music and have seen it happen to friends and also to pop artists. Also, calling this recent growth quick is not accurate either.
It’s not about the current players or England winning the euros… I mean that is a part of history that cannot be separated from reality, and another thing that cannot be separated from this reality is the fact that every ball that was ever kicked by a woman got us here.
d ❤
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McCabe as a 10
If you just randomly read any one of my blog posts, chances are that you will read a compliment about Katie McCabe. She will always have a special place in my heart because she’s also the footballer I’ve seen play the most and every single time I see her play in person, I am overwhelmed by her tenacious, infectious energy. I have never seen or felt anything like it. She’s just at another level altogether.
The slow start of the season has had many topics of conversation. We all have different opinions as to why things haven’t clicked. Or maybe what I should say is that we think we have good and valid opinions about what is happening or why we aren’t were we think should be aka top of the league and still playing in CL.
While Viv is gone, we really struggle in the 10 position. I sadly don’t think Frida is having a good season at all and I would be more than ok with her rotating. And like I’ve said before, she doesn’t start if everyone is fit. So, who are the options? Well we have many options up top and on the wings, but as a 10 who do we have? Who can play there?
I had never noticed Russo dropping so deep as she did after Stina came on vs Villa. People told me that she has done that a bunch before for United, but I never ever noticed that, so she’s a potential answer for that role, having Stina as the 9 with Beth and Caitlin or Cloe.
Coupled with this is the thought that a lot of people hold that Steph and Caitlin have to play together because of their understanding. But like I said on my podcast, it’s not like we are lighting the league on fire on that left flank, is it? Well I’m always going to pick Katie over anyone, but what if we play her central?
Among the things we lack, a lot, is shooting from outside the box and being direct. She only scores screamers, looks to shoot every available possible time, has incredible vision and is tenacious enough and elegant enough to play the role.
If you ask me, she has all the attributes for that position. Why not? We have dropped other players and slotted others in different positions. I can see that working and not sure how it would happen but I would love to see that be a thing, specially soon haha.
When I saw her play with the Irish team vs USA, and I wrote about it a lot, she was all over the pitch. She was taking free kicks, corners, dropping deep, spraying passes, crossing the ball, attacking, pressing. All of it. It’s just logical. And I would totally get it if she didn’t want to play there, but there is something McCabe-esque about Messi. (See what I did there?)
Anyway, Bristol is up next and although we all wish we would be thinking about the CL draw, that is water under the bridge and we need to focus on this season and this season only.
d ❤
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A very subjective look into AWFC 