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There are other great clubs, you know?!
I don’t understand how some people want former AWFC players to fail in their new clubs. I truly don’t. It’s so unthinkable to me and I’ve tried to justify it but I can’t. I’m sure the people that do, can. I’m not one of those people.
This phenomenon popped into my mind today with my favorite player ever and Arsenal legend aka DVD, won yet another title with Lyon. I have lost count of how much she’s won since she left us. Same goes for Jill Roord and Dom Janssen, among others.
A lot of people have their football club as such a big part of their identity that it’s almost like someone dumping them… they cannot possibly understand why they did it. But it’s not about us is it? it never has been and it never will. Some people question other’s loyalty and they are doing so from their living room, in pajamas, watching The Office, while these professional, trail blazing women are trying to make great decisions for themselves, their families and their friends.
Why are people absolutely certain that AWFC is the best place for everyone? I certainly don’t think so and I know for a fact that some former players are happier today than they’ve ever been. So if we are their true fans and want what’s best for them, why would we wish them nothing but?
I remember when Lyon lost to Chelsea there were so many tweets about how DVD had left Arsenal to win a CL and “look at her now, losing to Chelsea” …. How absurd is this??
Did you hibernate while Dean won the Champion’s League last year??
That is just laughable to me.
I say this but watch me cry myself to sleep if any player I like signs for Chelsea ever. I would want Chelsea to lose, but not the player though, if that would even be possible.
So much emotion. I need a nap.
d ❤
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time is weird
I had written down the wrong date on my calendar and I thought the match Vs Everton was on Saturday but it’s actually on the 17th and I just breathed an audible sigh of relief. I normally can’t wait for the next match. I usually know the exact date or the number of days til the girls get on the pitch again. It’s just how I operate… the second the match ends I am desperate to see AWFC play again. That’s why the off season and extended breaks are absurdly brutal for me and my egotistical way of thinking.
During this latter part of the season, the total opposite has applied for me. I want the most amount of days in between matches to go by. Obviously it’s because of the injuries and the prevention of them too. Moreover, I just feel like they have all worked so damn hard in the last few weeks that it also would seem that those weeks alone could feel like a whole damn season to most humans.
At the same time, I am absolutely desperate for the season itself to end because I can’t wait to lose my sh*t during the World Cup (which I will try to cover as much as possible on here and vice the podcast).
So you see, my friends, I want time go by both quickly and slowly. I’m just a damn mess.
I’m also really struggling because for the first time since I’ve been following AWFC I find myself not being a massive fan of EVERY player. It’s a feeling that’s alien to me and I still don’t have the words to express exactly what I feel.
There’s this dissonance I feel when average players are overhyped and I find myself judging people’s opinion and its a lame, unproductive rabbit hole and I am trying to have self control and remind myself that my opinion is truly irrelevant.
Can/Can’t wait for next season.
Also, a kind reminder that THAT ARSENAL WOMEN PODCAST is now on YOUTUBE
You can subscribe, like and do all that YouTube stuff.
thank you
d ❤
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the audience (aka lia) is listening
One of the things I have learned along the way in my career as a professional musician is that you should always respect the audience, wether they are there for you directly or the artist you are playing for.
This respect if for the art itself, for the audience as a whole and for ourselves as artists and people. There are countless examples of your favorite musicians or actors saying how after x performance someone important sought them out, or asked them to be a part of their band… There is also an infinity of examples as to how phoning it in, being irresponsible, disconnected and unprepared has prevented people from getting work.
Ok Demian but what does this have to do with Arsenal? Well, it has a lot to do with it.
Us fans sometimes forget our reach. We sometimes forget how players can read our comments, watch our content and listen to our podcasts. I struggle with that too because sometimes I want to say something and then I remember some of the people who follow me and I stop myself.
An important question we need to ask ourselves is: why does my opinion matter? The irony of me typing that in a blog post when NOBODY asked me to, is just chef’s kiss. My point is that this is why I do my absolute best to be positive and optimistic. I’ve gone on and on and on and on about this since I started talking about AWFC in 2019.
I’m a champion of this not because it is what I do and I think you should do it as well, but I know first hand how social media can affect people, their craft, their insecurities and so on, so why not build them up, point out their strengths and how they inspire us?
I go back to empathy all the time. We need more of it and this is a reminder to myself. I haven’t been the kindest to Pelova or LWM for instance and I need to curb that and focus on the positives, and I’ll tell you when I find them. (just kidding, they’re doing great…. kinda… maybe? ok sure… seriously though LWM is playing fantastic and I’m very proud of her and her growth).
Your words have power and so do your videos. You have power. Our mislead youth has power too.. power to say stupid things and we forget how technology has amplified our message to places we could never imagine.
The art spin to this is that it doesn’t matter if they read it or not… the connection with the universe and art itself is the process of creating it and sending it out there when it stops belonging to us fully.. it’s out there, it belongs to others too. So the tweets, the Tumblr blogs about their personal lives, the memes, the gossiping, the insults… you are part of that. You ARE them. You ARE the tweets you send from your accounts.
The same way that Lia is Lia under @wally131313 or whatever. That’s her. She meant what she tweeted. It was true.
People always say “at the end of the day ______” but I always felt that’s easy… hard convo at the end of the day? you can just go to sleep and boom… new day. I rather say: at the start of the day, with all those hours ahead of us to think and feel, we need to realize we are humans that type and there are humans who read.
d ❤
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Players of the year
It’s almost that time… and I say this without having a clue when it’s actually time to vote for/announce who our Player Of The Year is. For me, this is both very difficult to choose and at the same time it’s pretty clear to me.
It’s not that I have issues with choosing only ONE player in general because I understand there has to be one. There are years when it’s quite clear who it is if we look at stats. I’m not really a stats person unless it’s convenient to me but overall the players I have chosen I think have a fair shout, regardless of the order.
The predictable comment is that we don’t really have many to choose from because of the injuries but I totally disagree. Lia, Steph, Frida, Rafaelle and McCabe have been absolutely magnificent in many different ways at many different times. They have all stepped up day in, and day out when it has mattered the most.
If I follow stats I would have to put Frida in the top 3 but if I just go with my heart, my biased opinions and what I see my top 3 are:
3 – Rafaelle
2- Lia
1- Katie McCabe
It’s unfair to pick one and I would be happy if any/all won.
d ❤
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BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!
So, after battling with self doubt, after debating wether or not the lighting was right, after feeling I had to get every little detail absolutely perfectly before doing this, I decided to ignore all that and do it anyway.
That Arsenal Women Podcast is NOW A YOUTUBE SHOW. The regular podcast will still be available on all platforms but I just wanted to do something a little more interactive and simply add another dimension to what I do and also offer something different to YOU.
As ever, please know I wanna know what you think and I promise you I will do my best to never actually say “please subscribe and click on the notification bell” or whatever it is I’m supposed to say.
Much love.
d ❤
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apophenia
I don’t love talking about other teams but what I do love is day when we don’t play any matches and we still get a favorable result. Liverpool beating Man City was a great, needed thing for us in a few ways, and I’ll do my best to explain some of those reasons here.
One of them is the clear and obvious fact that they dropped points. A direct rival for CL spots losing points against a team they should’ve beat could mess with their heads. Another reason is the potential momentum change… they lose, we won, and the respective matches coming up are trickier for them, with the Manchester derby in about a week or so. But the most important reason is that the result gives us the power to control our own destiny. If we win all of our matches we will make the next seasons CL’s qualifying round.
Ironically this is happening in the men’s league but with the teams being in opposite situations sort of. Arsenal were top of the league, dropped points at Liverpool and the momentum changed for a few weeks, and although there’s still some hope, they don’t actually control anything and they very much depend on other teams beating City.
OMG as I’m typing this I’m watching Stranger Things (for the 5th time) and I swear to you this just came up:
Apophenia… the tendency to perceive a connection or meaningful pattern between unrelated or random things
HAHAHAHHAHAHA
I love things like this.
d ❤
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Next, Next season
Just about 3/4 of the season had gone by (I think?!) and I remember talking about how, even though we could still win a trophy or two this season, it seemed like Jonas’s project was going to come to fruition next season. At the time, it make total sense. I remember feeling that yeah it would be awesome to win something but the true vision, the progress, the right system and players, were all going to harmoniously work and we’d basically become invincible.
And then, in a blink of a eye, 4 ACL injuries have sent the future of the club into a very uncertain area. If these weren’t ACL injuries you would think that right after the World Cup, our girls would be recovering and maybe miss just a few weeks, but I’m afraid that this might just change whatever strategy or vision Jonas had. How can you plan for so many injuries? How do you recruit people when 3 of the best players will be out for a while?
As if this weren’t enough, the WC can be a worry for clubs in case players pick up injuries and we know that there will an insane amount of transfers too. And this is key to me. Had things gone to plan maybe Jonas signs X player, sells a few and what not. Maybe during the summer a player like Walti might’ve left but negotiations take on a different tinge now.
I certainly don’t have an answer or a clue as to what would happen. Part of me would like to write a ton and mention players I’d keep and others I’d sell but the past few weeks have made me embrace some of them more and I feel gratitude and debt. I also feel lots of guilt because why would I want players that played vs Wolfsburg and gave it their all to leave? Actually that answer is way easier to give but that’s topic for another blog.
What I guess I’m trying to say is that all things considered I would understand if next season is a transitional one. I’m not saying that I will agree with anything Jonas does (as if me agreeing matters whatsoever). What I’m saying is, to borrow from a previous post, that this isn’t a normal season, the summer won’t be normal and neither will next season.
Before I go! I have a special announcement that I’ll share with you all real soon. Just finalizing a couple of things but I should be able to tell you all about it within 48 hours.
d ❤
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phewwww
This past week I went to visit my sister up in Portland. It’s always an amazing time with her and husband and kids. As you would expect I’ve tried here and there to indoctrinate them and make them into Arsenal fans. They have shirts, a flag and sports cards. I knew there were no games we could all watch together this week so I was a little bummed, but then I remembered the girls played yesterday, aka Friday.
This meant that at the very least I could watch it with my sister who, even though she doesn’t know much about AWFC she loves to support me and has also done all my logos for anything and everything relating to my AWFC content and ALL my music/albums/EP.
BTW, I released a new EP which can be heard on all streaming platforms.
Anyway, instead of staying at home, we went to The Sports Bra, which is an absolute gem of a bar/restaurant which EXCLUSIVELY show Women’s sports. How great is that? The food as incredible, all the decor was about women’s sports, legends of various sports, and more. Truly lovely day out.
Although the match was wayyyyyy close than all of us would’ve liked, getting the 3 points is all that matters and I’m not really bothered as to how we got it or will get it done.
You hear people talk all the time about how important the style of play is and all of that. And of course I want us to win in style, play well, elegantly and very attack minded but I don’t expect or want that when I can barely predict what the lineup will be due to all the players that are missing. It’s just funny how selective we can be when it is convenient, and I’m super ok with that.
I had hoped for us to run up that goal difference since I don’t see many more options to qualify for next season’s CL with the league table being so tight. Thankfully the next match should be somewhat straightforward (I know, no such thing!!) vs Brighton who aren’t much better than Leicester.
Haven’t read any updates regarding Catley but I hope it’s nothing serious. As much as we need her, I personally rather her be rested for the World Cup campaign.
d ❤
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run up the score
And just like that, the highs and lows of the CL match have to be put away. It’s Leicester in a couple of hours now innit?
I feel this needs to be a proper smashing and you’d say… one of those OG 7-0 matches where we absolutely annihilate the opposition, totally dominate and basically take out our frustration on them.
Assuming that Chelsea and Man Utd will be 1st and 2nd respectively, we have 2 games in hand that, if we win, will have us level on points with Man City at 44 pts. But that’s where the goal difference comes in. We need all the advantages possible and these games are a perfect chance for that.
I am of the belief that we can’t lose faith until it’s mathematically proven we can’t reach X position so until then, I choose to believe. We need it. The club needs it. And as far as the opposition: Leicester has the 2nd worst goal difference in the league so this is just tailor made for our queens to slay.
I tried to figure out what the lineup will be but I have been traveling and haven’t had a moment’s time to do any sort of decent research. I have no updates on players. I have no idea if Caitlin is fit or if Gio is NOT injured. I wouldn’t mind seeing most of the team from the last match, especially Jen Beattie. Wouldn’t mind seeing Teyah getting a few minutes either, same with Kuhl.
d ❤
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Could fans help?!
As the ACL injuries keep coming so do people’s comments. For every announcement by the player or the club, there are hundreds of replies which fall on 2 basic categories: a. Support & good wishes for the player such as: “you got this!” and b. Complaining about how there’s little research and criticizing the pitches.
Neither category actually solves anything. I understand the complaints but its stating the obvious. Yes there’s more research, boots can be better, etc etc etc. I find it hard to believe that the clubs themselves don’t already know what you and I can be tweeting from our own couch. But, although it might seem like I am, I’m not trying to criticize those comments. I get why they are said.
What I’m truly curious about is how, if at all possible, us fans could be part of the solution, and not just complain about the problem. What could we do? What is actually in our power and control? I really don’t know and I’m very curious to know what you would say. If the clubs, squads, and players can’t control them how could we? There’s a part of me that hopes that there might be something we can do.
One thing would be to raise awareness. To start some sort of campaign like people do for a noble cause or activism campaign. But how does that actually get people to do the research? If we were to raise money, for what and how and why?
All of this comes from a point of desperation, not because I just woke up wanting to challenge us all as a community.
d ❤
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A very subjective look into AWFC 