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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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Second place?!
Today’s match was bonkers. The epitome of “game of two halves.”, wasn’t it? I will over lots about this match on this week’s podcast which should be out by tomorrow morning pacific time, but I’m not sure yet.
What I will mention now before I let you go is how crazy it is that we are in second place. I find that hard to believe after the early results but we have been fortunate with City dropping points, as well as Spurs.
Gotta love when the mathematics work in our favor. And overall we have to say it was a stellar weekend for Arsenal as a club. Both squads winning, both squads in 2nd place.
As per usual on the weekends I’m leave you with this video by the one, the only Shebahn. And in case you haven’t done so, please subscribe to her channel.
d ❤
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Laura Love
I’m coming to you a little later than usual today because I totally forgot that I hadn’t posted anything today. And by the way, can I please just take a moment to thank all of the new readers that have been so kind to visit this blog. I truly appreciate you being here and dedicating your time and mutual love for all things AWFC and women’s football.
I know we are all super excited about seeing Beth and Viv get minutes. I’ll stick to a footballing perspective for now and I know you can see it too, but we’re a totally juggernaut of a team when those two are available and on the pitch. It’s magic. You know things are going to happen and it’s only a matter of time for that to happen. That is something very special and to have that with them too plus Katie and co it’s incredible. We’re very fortunate.
However, these offensive positions are sort of eye catching so to speak. And yes, it goes without saying we miss Leah… I miss her very much and you’ve read me say how much I think she means to the team and how chasmic the space she has left feels to me. Anyway, I wanted to show some love to Laura, who sometimes doesn’t get mentioned as much as she should.
For all intents and purposes the club has players that can “replace” the injured trio mentioned above and even some starters. No Viv as a 9? We have Stina, Alessia. No Viv as a 10? Frida can play there… No Beth? We have some options. Midfield gets injured? Khul, etc… yes you can argue that Lia doesn’t have a replacement but that’s another blog.
Leah’s absence is covered by Amanda, Jen and Laia. etc.. I mean that’s literally what a squad depth is about…but honestly, the way I see it, we don’t have a like for like cover for Laura/Noelle. That tandem worked so well last season until what happened happened.
Everyone loves Laura, from fans (my self included) to her fellow players. Her smile is always lighting up pictures, cameras, rooms, stadiums and I can’t bloody wait for her to recover. She’s gonna get just as much love as the other girls and she absolutely deserves it.
The bond they have established over there at the ACL club is something that I don’t think any of us could ever come close to understanding. It’s not a club anyone would ever want to be a part of I’m sure, and I don’t even feel its my place to add a “but” to that.
You know, I am not one of those people that thinks that things happen for a reason. I understand how some people are that way. I totally get it and I respect that way of being/feeling. I however, feel that it’s more like: things happen, and I’ll create a reason why it’ll be for the better.
So no, I won’t ever say that getting an ACL injury happens for a reason. Its a very delicate thing. I’m just happy to see how positive (not always I’m sure) things seem to be for them judging by their smiles, the support they have, interviews they give, etc.
Family, friends, coaches, physiologists, fans. These are all ingredients of the bigger cake so to speak, but at the end of the day they are the ones that need to make the choice and take action. They have to reach out, to talk to themselves, to make the calls, to send the texts, to read the tweets and letters sent to them. All of that. Takes effort, takes vulnerability.
Gotta run but I’ll be recording another pod again most likely post match tomorrow or later on.
d ❤
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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
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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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A very subjective look into AWFC 