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Wiegman for England
Insane day for me today but wanted to share a video since I don’t have time to write today, maybe later I will but for now watch this:
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Lift Players Up
If one thing is predictable is the vitriol, criticism and hate that footballers will get on social media anytime they make a mistake. The higher the stakes, the higher the amount of insults and abuse athletes receive. It’s easy for us to say: “ignore them” but the reality is that once you’ve read the comments, once you’ve heard the insults, that’s already in your brain, heart and soul. None of this is ok, none of this is excusable and social media has empowered so many people to just be the worst version of themselves. But you know this… this isn’t something recent… and it is not getting any better and won’t get any better any time soon. You won’t find answers here but I will try to put things in perspective as to why those comments are not only ignorant but they are fundamentally wrong. Be aware that this isn’t too AWFC centric today.
The same people that cling onto a player’s single mistake don’t seem to understand that football is a team sport and 11 players on the pitch have a job to do, a job that is very fluid and reactive. They can be 5 inches off position and its enough to make a difference, for good or for bad. Aside from the collective, macro vision that all players must posses, there is also the reality that a million things happen but they are magnified when those things are mistakes made by players in defense or a goalkeeper. You will always remember more a defensive mistake that “costs” the match, than a forward missing a one on one chance in the 90th minute.
The most recent example of this was Ellie Carpenter vs England. To even reduce her career, tournament and match into a single “mistake” is insulting, ignorant and pretty f*cking stupid. We’re talking about a multiple Champions League winner, multiple French league winner etc etc etc. She recovered from an ACL injury and was a star player for a historic squad during a historic tournament. Ellie quite visually, careers her emotions with every ounce of her, and it’s palpable, its inspiring and its infectious. She never stops running, she’s always on it. You can see the concentration in her eyes, her drive, her energy. These things are not even remotely questionable. Yeah you need this to be an elite athlete but she’s on another level, otherwise she wouldn’t be where/who she is.
She has had an absolutely magical tournament and let’s not forget about THAT penalty she took! Are you kidding me? The power, precision and confidence in that was absolutely insane!!! Did you see her celebrate? Do you actually think she feels this any less than any man that as ever played in any World Cup ever? I know this last questions isn’t too relevant but just wanted to throw it out there.
You don’t need a reminder because you get it, otherwise you wouldn’t be here, but she’s a human being, with emotions, with feelings, with friends and family who are also affected by the hate she gets. People always assume its the player who is affected only but if you have ever been in sort of the public eye, you sometimes read things about you or something you’re involved with and the first thing you say is: “I don’t give a f*ck but I know my parents will!!!!” It’s a very weird feeling and it’s not a feeling that people should experience just because it happens in the men’s game.
So, during the game vs England she mistimed a jump and her momentum carried her too much and Lauren Hemp took advantage of that and scored. I’m sure she’d be the first one to own up to it but what about all the chances her teammates missed?! OBVIOUSLY I’m not here to say that Sam Kerr is the one that should be on the receiving end of abuse, not at all. The point that I’m trying to bring up is that it’s a collective thing and she’s not to blame. Other people had other jobs to do and they didn’t do them as well as we would’ve hoped at the time we would’ve liked. This is life. It’s not like Ellie was caught totally distracted looking at the stands… there were plenty of chances on the other end.
Look, I’ve definitely been one to blame a defender. Lotte Wubben Moy’s mistake vs Wolfsburg sticks out in my memory but she wasn’t the actual reason we lost! She just happened to be the last link in a chain of events and as much as she has worked hard and deserves to be in that chain, she didn’t choose to be that specific link. It’s a collection of things. I also remember Nouwen making a mistake vs Spain but she’s not the reason we lost.
And I think this is one of the many ways football can teach not about who we are, but about who we chose to be. We choose what we do with those feelings and emotions. If someone chooses to send out abuse, criticism and insults they are unwanted in this sport. We don’t need them and they sure as hell are NOT fans. They are a shell of a person who needs their misogynist tendencies validated somehow. Most of these people are men, that’s a reality but its not excusable coming from anyone at any age, from any race/background.
We can sit here and say she’ll come back stronger, and LWM will come back even better and more experienced and they probably will, but we don’t see the actual mental, emotional work that it might take to get there. Ideally they wouldn’t have to but the hate is there. We need to continue to overwhelm the players with support and love and drown out the negativity.
Have you done that today?
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Mixed Feelings
I expected this World Cup to be an exercise for me as it relates to managing my emotions. I knew that, aside from wanting the dutch to win, I would be very invested from an emotional point of view because of all the Arsenal players involved. My emotions are also put to the test in the sense that there are players that normally terrorize arsenal and I usually want them to lose but because they play with some of our players for their countries, I now want them to succeed? it’s so strange.
Take Chelsea’s Sam Kerr for example. She absolutely destroys Arsenal… I’ve seen in person. It hurts. She’s so good but I also want her to lose as often as possible which will benefit Arsenal directly. But when she plays for Australia, alongside our girls Foord and Catley, I want her to do well because it means our girls do well. But I’m so programmed to not want her to succeed that it’s just a mindf*ck (BTW Part of me was bitter and might still be bitter that Steph carried this damn team and then Kerr recovers and gets the captain’s armband… She doesn’t strike me as the leader as far as being vocal and from what I’ve heard in interviews, but that’s irrelevant when you play like Sam plays… that’s just me being super subjective).
Clearly I want all women to succeed. I don’t actually want any player, from any club ever, to suffer, or to go through the heartbreak of missing a penalty or anything like that. With the men’s sport I totally do though. This World Cup has so many of these situations when you want a country to win or lose and it will affect your club team loyalty directly.
England is a perfect example. I don’t want England to win without Beth or Leah. They should be there and there’s no way in hell they wouldn’t have contributed to this team and have had them play even better. There’s no question on my mind. I actually think the Euros were much tougher than this World Cup but that’s another conversation. The fact is that yeah Its lovely that England win overall. and I want them too, but it’s bittersweet. I’m very happy for our new girl Russo and Jordan Nobbs of course. I also love Alex Greenwood.. hate how good Millie Bright is for Chelsea, but have always thought she is outstanding. Do I feel Leah should be there? yes but she’s not. That’s life. These things happen and people have to deal with those feelings.
Now, take the Dutch for a sec. Did I want them to win the whole thing? Yes and there’s also the caveat that I don’t think it would’ve been the same (or possible) without Viv there. Like I need her to win. I need her to lift a trophy and it wouldn’t be the same without her. Would’ve been amazing had they won it yet I would’ve also been super bummed. It’s obvious that I would’ve LOVED to deal with those conflicting feelings because it would’ve meant we’d be world champions but that wasn’t to be.
With Spain I have zero emotional attachment or investment really. I don’t particularly mind if they win or lose. They have players I love like Hermoso, Aitana, Ona and Alexia but it’s not like I would be sad if they lose. There are no Arsenal players in that squad so it’s very easy to root for England in the final. Plus the whole situation with their coach and federation is very strange and I don’t even know how to unpack that.
All I keep thinking about is the collective wins this World Cup has brought. I know there’s a lot of resistance still… I know not a lot of people are watching in England, or as much as you’d expect, but it’s been magical and the Aussies have written their names in history and folklore FOREVER. More on this tomorrow…
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And another one… (about empathy)
II have learned an infinity of lessons from women. From my mom, my sister, my wife, friends, previous partners, teachers, musicians, students, tour managers, and more. I have learned different things from them at different times that have had lots of impact in different areas, with various levels of depth and relevance. If I had to summarize it all and choose just one lesson or one thing I’ve learned the first thing that comes to mind is empathy.
England just beat Australia to reach the World Cup Finals but that’s not what I felt like talking about today. A few Arsenal and arsenal adjacent players will play said final, but that is not why I wanted to talk about today. The one thing that came to mind and I wanted to at least mention is how, again, women will always show us the right way.
Arsenal Football Club has been dealing with ACL injuries in the recent past. 4 to our girls and now now to our new signing Jurrien Timber. He’s basically out for the season. Instantly Vivianne Miedema posted a message of support, or some emojis that implied that. Now, I’m not saying that no men’s player has ever shown support for any of our women when they have publicized their terrible setback, but sadly its absolutely safe to assume that they haven’t, and that they won’t unprompted. Like, if they don’t post when these trailblazers are happy, winning, making history, do we expect them to support them at their lowest and when they might need them the most??
The answer might be in the question… they don’t need them. My guess is that, and I’ve written about this so much, they don’t expect a single message or anything like that. I hope I’m wrong. And that reminds me of an incident recently when a friend accused me of having a really poor vision of men to which I said: of course. But that’s a very nuanced thing.
This is not about criticizing men, its about how natural, easy, LOGICAL it is to show support for a fellow player at your club, a coworker and in this case a fellow dutch person. It’s as simple as a direct message, an emoji, a text.
Anyway, I have to drive 2 hours to a recording session and can’t expand on this as much as I would like, but I feel this could be a good podcast topic.
Also, sad to see Steph and Caitlin lose. Excited for Russo, LWM and more importantly Jordan!!!
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Elite Emotions
I’m not really someone who enjoys going to a coffee shop to work. The way that I work is that I need the least amount of distractions and even though I get the whole “leaving the house” to get work done, I don’t necessarily enjoy it. It might depend on what it is that I really need to do, of course, but I need peace and quiet. Today though is a day where I needed to do some stuff away from home and I didn’t have time to write a post until now, and I promise you I tried really hard sitting at a Starbucks but I gave up. Nothing came to mind, there was a very annoying person a couple of tables over talking on the phone, and that little detail of the smell of coffee which I don’t like, so I’m not typing this on my laptop in a random parking lot. This uncomfortable situation makes me laugh because of how minuscule the stakes are. I’m just writing a blog… I’m not even a paid journalist or writer, yet I feel all this pressure, albeit self imposed, to come up with something interesting regarding Arsenal Women and the World Cup, yet with the very first, tiny piece of resistance I froze and came up with excuses as to why I am not writing anything.
Then Caitlin Foord came to mind. So did Steph Catley, Alana Kennedy, Ellie Carpenter and all the Aussies that are playing a semifinal against the eurocup champions. That’s pressure… Yet, I’m positive they embrace it, they cherish it and they feel empowered by that. This is the elite mentality that is needed to get to this point in all sports, let alone in women’s sports. This is precisely why I’m such a champion of women’s football… the amount of obstacles they have to go over only reveals more obstacles and so or and so forth. This is so impressive and never gets old to me.
I also think about Alex Greenwood when she was asked recently if she was intimidated by playing against the Australians with all their momentum and she, within milliseconds, said: NO. That was ice cold and I love her for that. That is the type of mentality that I can only hope I have when dealing with a big challenge. Like I’d like to think that I possess it but do I really?? It’s worth auditing ourselves and using these heroes of ours as inspiration.
Now, this is all about mentality but what about emotions? What about “elite emotions”? Because if there’s elite mentality there has to be an emotional answer to this, right? And the way I would define this is just by being absolutely open with emotions… the crying, the body language, the yelling, the screaming… the feeling of feelings. I LOVE THAT. We also see tears in the men’s game, we also see body language expressions but with the women’s game its like I’m transported to when they were kids and there was ZERO platforms for them. There was nothing. And here they are.
As a musician, I get asked very often about stage fright and how I deal with that. What I always say is that emotionally speaking “fear” is not the right descriptive. I needed to understand what it is that I felt to understand how to deal with it. My brain and soul cannot wrap around the amount of emotions that would go through these footballer’s hearts. In music even though stakes are high, there’s a job to do and you usually do the same thing, the same way, all the time. In football, every second of every minute of every match is unpredictable and a set of actions, reactions, acting to achieve a reaction and reactions to actions.
IThe reasons why I admire these women has no limit. I grow, I learn, I expand and I am so grateful to every single one of them.
d ❤
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Semis Preview
There are so many arsenal players in the last 4 teams remaining that it’s hard to keep count. This is such a great thing for us and to be honest it’s a great thing that is happening for many clubs like Barcelona and that horrible team also from London. It’s amazing to see so many familiar faces in the last 4, at least for me who just started watching the sport 4 years ago.
If I were to put my AWFC fan hat on you’d know that as far as Spain vs Sweden is concerned I am 100000% rooting for the swedes. Not only because they have 3 Arsenal players but because Spain beat The Netherlands so I absolutely hope they lose. This concept of wanting the team that beat yours to go on and win so you can say you were beaten by the eventual champions is non sense. I want Spain out. Yes, I’m that petty.
Do I think Spain are going to lose? No, but someone I also don’t think that Sweden will. It’s not that I think Sweden is better than the dutch, but I think the way they set up and their size is an advantage. They have a tall midfield and defense… and everyone really is tall as hell and I think this can be a good thing for them especially at set pieces and this is where I particularly think that they will succeed, since Amanda Goalistedt *insert trademark emoji has been on fire and Stina is due for a goal.
What the dutch didn’t have, since DVD was out, was that creative forward thinking midfielder to scare the Spanish and Asllani is that for me. What a player… I think she is going to have a stellar match, her attitude is incredible and she is a real winner. I know she’s at Milan at the moment but I wouldn’t be surprised if she makes the switch to the WSL soon, and the sooner the better and if it’s to Arsenal I would love that. Not that I think we need her but so that no other teams have her. Again, petty.
So I’m gonna go with my heart and not my brain and I’m going to say that Sweden win 2-1.
Now to the big one… Caitlin and Steph vs Russo and co. If there has ever been a match that I would think would be even as hell and in which I couldn’t pick a winner it’s this one. But something tells me that the Matildas can pull it off only because they’re at home and they have that magic. Not saying they will though. My point is that I could see it happening. England have been on the other side of that, playing at home as a host nation during the Euros. They know what that crowd can do, so it’ll be super interesting.
Footballing wise I would say that England have a better midfield than Australia. Foord vs Bronze is a tasty matchup. Not sure if Kerr will start but I think she’s the only one that can do something down the middle against Millie and Alex, because she’s used to playing with both of them, in different capacities. Russo should be a very tough player to play against for Alana Kennedy because of her speed and I think down the middle is where England will be more dangerous. But I have no idea… this is just something I feel. Also it feels like we haven’t seen many screamers from outside the box so as fate would have it I wouldn’t be surprised if we see one.
Not sure how many goals we will actually see but I’m just gonna throw out there that England win 3-1
d ❤
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THAT penalty shootout
I’m sure I’m not the only who can this this but holy sh*t is my sleep schedule messed up. Not only are we all getting up at insane hours throughout the world, but we are also inundated in so much adrenaline that makes it quite difficult, if not impossible, to try to “just go back to bed.” Normally during the WSL season and during the premier league season I’m absolutely used to waking up a couple of days at 4am but I usually can just go to sleep, but doing this several times a week is just not sustainable. No moment during this tournament encapsulated this situation more than the penalty shootout between Australia and France.
Of course we can talk about the whole game, stellar performances by players like Bacha and Gorry among many others but this is, after all, an Arsenal Women blog and the thing that was the most incredible for me was the fact that we got back to back arsenal women penalty takers. This was such a beautiful thing to witness and I was overwhelmed with pride.
That’s OUR Caitlin.
That’s OUR Steph.
And because of this feeling of pride and how I see some sort of sense of belonging in/with/around them and I for instance, it’s very difficult to not root for them, even against England. I will preview that match in a couple of days. Its near impossible to not root for Australia, their people, them as a host nation, their colors, their enthusiasm… everything about Australia and Australians just feel right. By the way, much love to New Zealand as well, which to a degree have been overlooked but good on them as well.
This shootout was honestly the most insane I have ever seen in my life. It was specially hard because I saw players like Renard, Bacha and Le Sommer (all teammates with DVD) and on the other side Ellie Carpenter and Alana Kennedy, both players I’d love at arsenal + our arsenal girls. It was just insane. And I couldn’t forget about two former arsenal keepers, on either side!! Lydia Williams for Australia and the nutter Peyraud-Magnin for the French.
I’m just glad this wasn’t the dutch because I can tell you now that my heart would’ve exploded and my brain would’ve melted and I wouldn’t be able to write this because I would be just a damn skull pretty much.
We have been rewarded with some tasty matches and I can also say that it sucks without the Dutch. I would be ok with the World Cup just being over now. haha
d ❤
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BIJNA! Final Oranje Leeuwinnen Special
Here’s my latest podcast exclusively about the Oranje Leeuwinnen
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Last Oranje leeuwinnen post for a while 😭
The Oranje leeuwinnen’s World Cup dream is sadly no more and I’m very sad about it. It’s always difficult to see your team lose a match, let alone a quarter final tie and last night was very difficult to watch and process for me. Gonna try to explain it all and as a matter of fact I will probably do a podcast on all this later tonight. I have thoughts on substitutions, players, formations and all of that but I will cover it all on the podcast because I think its important to have context and for you to know exactly how I say what I mean and why. I also have some thoughts on the evolution of the team, if there has been one, and where do we go from here.
For now, here are some thoughts.
When I tell you that it was difficult to watch I mean that quite literally. The game started at 6pm Pacific time and I had a show last night here in LA. Our set time was 8pm so I knew that if the match lasted the normal 90 min plus stoppage I would still be able to watch the whole thing… unless it went to extra time, and of course… it did. I had my phone on the floor with the game on but I was literally working and couldn’t see anything. Believe it or not, I’m a professional haha. I just couldn’t watch the game while I was playing drums, connecting with the artist and engaging with the audience. But in between songs I was able to sneak a peek and sadly, the result was what it was.
Without getting into details or trying to analyze players what I will say is that it must be so damn difficult for Viv and DVD to have watched this. Not the game itself or the performances and choices… what I mean is just how it must have totally sucked to not be able to help and see/know that they could’ve made a difference. I understand the stats and that Spain outplayed us and “deserved” to win but the facts are that they beat us by a single goal, in extra time, so they weren’t that much better. Like who “deserves” it more? the team that attacks or the team that is missing DVD and still pushes the other to the limit? Its all relative and although I totally understand how we lost, it still sucks.
Its not possible to rationalize some things for me as I’m extremely biased and subjective. Overall I feel a lot of pride on the team and their effort and I’m excited to see what happens in the olympics and the euros, of course. I believe we have a lot of work to do and some players will need to move or and dropped for there to be any forward motion and progress.
The reality is that there hasn’t been a true progression to this team and Mark Parsons has a lot to do with that. Jonkers has tried and also Wiegman leaving was always going to be a factor that clearly brought along more negative things than positive ones. This usually happens when the best coach in the world leaves anywhere she works at. I’m really bummed and sad and don’t wanna think about this anymore. 😭😭😭
What bums me out the most is that the world doesn’t get to see DVD again because she was one of the best players of the tournament.
d ❤
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Netherlands vs Spain preview
9 hours to go til the most intense quarterfinals I’ve seen in years, but who’s counting?? Me. I’m counting. And I have to tell you, I’m very excited and confident. I know it’s Spain we’re talking about but as the saying goes: “to be the best you have to beat the best.” So, today I’m gonna chat about a couple of things that I feel are key for the oranje leeuwinnen.
DVD
The first thing that you would expect me to talk about is not the elephant in the room, but the goat not on the pitch. DVD not playing is heartbreaking for me and the entire nation. With that said, this happens… we’re also missing Viv and we move. This is what tournaments are all about. People need to step up, be motivated by her absence, make her proud and put in a display worthy of infinite praise.
WHO COMES IN?
I think we all know what is going to happen: Damaris will start. Basically everyone keeps their positions, which is not a bad thing, minus a change or two.
MOST IMPORTANT PLAYER
Every player in the first 11 has had either an assist or a goal, except one: JACKIE GROENEN. I think that if there has ever been a match where she needs to and will shine is against the Spanish. She’s a Rolls Royce and she is due for an outstanding match. I believe this is it. BUT for me, the most important player for this match is Dom Janssen. Not only for her positioning and defensive skills but her leadership, her set pieces and her long balls which I think are key to this particular match… and she’s one of the best in the game at them.
THE LINEUP
I honestly believe that we need an out and out #9 for this match, but that’s not really gonna happen I don’t think. My guess is that Jill will play a little farther up the pitch almost as a false 9 and have that midfield of Damaris/Jackie pretty active. I also think we could have a back 4 and move Sherida in the midfield with Damaris and Jackie.
I think Pelova also has to play a stellar match but I personally think we need Casparij’s speed more than Pelota’s je nais se quois. She is also due for a standout performance so since she will definitely start, I hope she kicks some ass from the early go.
I am hesitant to make a prediction but I actually believe that we will win. Possibly in extra time but I will not be surprised if we win, honestly. Also, if we don’t win I would still be super proud of these girls and its very hard to beat some of the best players in the world without 2 of the best on the planet.
Enjoy every minute!
d ❤
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A very subjective look into AWFC 