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Holy sh*t
I know this might seem counterintuitive but one of the things I set out to do with this blog was to post things that people who don’t know anything about AWFC and/or that don’t care too much about football, could appreciate and understand. I might or might not have been able to accomplish that yet.
Unforgettable sporting days like today make it hard to NOT talk about the football we just saw but I’m gonna try anyway.
Going into this game I was quite optimistic to be fair. The reason? Well, I was clear about what my expectations were, which I think is paramount to actually enjoying (or not) any football match. I was absolutely aware of the injuries coupled with the uncertainty of what the lineup would be, changes during the match, potential substitutions and so on.I thought to myself that a draw or a single goal defeat would be incredible and that the return leg at home could be one of those magical nights where anything could happen.
I’ll dissect the game on the podcast Monday morning to the best of my abilities but some things stood out that I feel are worth mentioning.
Jen was involved in a horrible mistake that on another day, perhaps even at full strength, would’ve just shut the team down and cost us BIG TIME. However, she picked herself up, showed true meddle and leadership and kept us tight at the back against a great forward line. She ended up winning the POTM award and I’m all about that. Not every POTM has to be a goal scorer… why not reward people from overcoming a mistake? for showing mental fortitude?
Another thing I have to mention is how Noelle Maritz has absolutely won me over. Laura had been playing for her a few matches, as you know, but her recent performances at left back have been great and today she was incredible.
The second goal was one of those *Chef’s Kiss* moments when I’m painfully reminded that I know absolutely NOTHING about football… LWB passed to Pelova who then passes to Stina to score.
I would’ve not started LWB or Pelova yet here we are.
2-2 is a FANTASTIC result and I’m extremely proud of this team.
How could you not?
d ❤
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Who will they line up?
Tomorrow’s Champions League semi final vs Wolfsburg can bring up an infinite amount of questions and lots of analysis. But I can only think of one:
How the hell will they line up?
This is what I think Jonas will do:
And just for fun, here’s what I would do:
I HAVE NO IDEA ACTUALLY!!!!
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football & empathy
When I started this blog I made a promise to myself to write every single day for YOU. Some days are easier than others, due to many reasons. There are times where I know exactly what I want to talk about and there are also times when I have no idea what I want to write. And then, there are days like today when I know exactly what I DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT.
And I won’t.
What I will say though is that football can teach us a lot if we’re willing to be open minded. Football can teach us a lot more if we’re willing to listen. Football can teach an infinity if we’re willing to be empathetic.
Being empathetic is just about the most important thing people can be, and there’s a massive lack of empathy in the world. And I’m not here for social commentary, it’s just a fact because there can’t ever be an OK amount of empathy. We can always be more empathetic.
One of the ways that empathy can be taught via football is through injuries and more so through career threatening injuries. When these happen, it is most people’s reaction to think about how it affects THEM, their team, their dreams of winning X trophy, etc. And I know I’ve written about this before and I mention it on my podcast often, but if that is the FIRST thing we think about, we definitely need to learn to be more empathetic.
I’m not claiming to be a super empath and that you have to be like me. I wasn’t always actively trying to put myself in a player’s shoes. I instantly thought of Arsenal or The Netherlands campaign. No X player? well that sucks for me. Me, me, me, me, me. Us, us, us, us. But I started thinking about THEM when I started opening my mind and my heart thanks to women’s football.
The outstanding Suzy Wrack tweeted: “Feel very deflated. Not for Arsenal, not for England, for a person.”
That’s exactly what I mean. If we aren’t thinking about THEM, we are thinking of US and that just doesn’t make sense when you think about it.
But all things considered, our attitudes can shift and we can learn to turn that dial from thinking about “us” to thinking about “them” with practice and with an open heart. The good news is that we can always change and be kinder and more open. We can do whatever it takes to expand, to grow and to express gratitude.
Life has a funny and sometimes unfair way of teaching us lessons and the only way to learn is to truly listen. The only true way to grow is to listen. The only way to love is to truly listen.
Listen to Leah and listen to yourself
d ❤
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perspective
You don’t need to be a close friend of know me for a long time to know that I’m a very positive person. I’m always erring on the side of optimism and I have to tell you that even after the result today, there are some positives I rescue. But before I get to that, let’s briefly chat about the game and NOT about the possible you know what injury on you know who.
When I saw the lineup my fears were confirmed. I wasn’t feeling good about it at all and the same time I had all the confidence in the world that I was wrong and had no idea what I was talking about. Jonas has a vision and I’m willing to give it time. I say this because I already learned my lesson with Arteta. At the same time, that vision is conditioned by which players he might have available, and at this point it’s just absurd. We have SO MANY important players missing. It just keeps getting worse and its safe to say that we are all super worried, scared and concerned.
The WSL title, although still somewhat possible, is no longer a realistic thing after yesterday but I have to tell you that with Leah’s injury (and what that could’ve done in the player’s minds) and Viv, Beth, Kim, Katie, Steph and Caitlin missing, we were still in the game.
I’m gonna say that again in a different way just for some perspective: 6 of our best players, who would start every match we’re missing (yes I know Steph came in late – and she should’ve taken that free kick at the death) and we were away from home, against the league leaders, full squad, and we only lost by a single goal.
It was rough to watch and I feel terrible for the girls but I am so dam proud of them. All things considered I thought it was a good display and my takeaways are positives… at least the ones I’m going to talk about today.
I thought Manu was great. Noelle on the left has been pretty solid. Lia did what she could and Rafa was monumental IMO.
We’re still in the CL, regardless of what your predictions might be or what you think can happen, we’re still in it!!
d ❤
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Man Utd Preview + Prediction
It seems like every single match is “the most important match of the season.” and to be fair, it makes perfect sense. That’s what happens when you are up there in the title run in, only a few points behind first place… and also when you are in the CL semis.
You could say that the most important match was the Conti Cup Final and the trophy we won that day proves it. Silverware is always important and that triumph can mean a lot down the line. I would buy that.
But the thing about that claim is that it depends on the competition, the importance the club gives it, what the goals are and, you guessed it, our own opinion. For some the WSL is more important than the CL. For others, the CL is the pinnacle of excellence. So, it really depends on many factors.
I want the girls to win the WSL, for sure and without a doubt. BUT, if I had to pick between that and winning the Champions League, then I would absolutely pick the latter. It just feels like this is a good chance to do it after so many years and build upon that legacy we have, yet I believe without Kim, Viv and Beth, its just too big of an ask.
The more realistic thing, if that can even be a thing, would be winning the WSL and in order to do so we MUST beat Man Utd. Said team has been on fire and has exceeded all expectations and then some. With some stellar players having their best seasons of their careers. They have the largest goal difference with +37 and yet we’re just 3 points behind them having played a game less.
If we beat them today we would be level on points. That’s without basically the whole season without Viv and Beth. That’s absolutely wild. Of course United deserve the accolades but let’s be serious yeah? We’re still in it.
United have some tough matches coming up: away at Villa, then an easy tie with Tottenham, the FA cup final vs Chelsea at Wembley followed by the Manchester derby at home… Liverpool on the last day of the season. Honestly, villa and certainly City aren’t easy games so hopefully they will drop points.
We also have some tough matches but the title would be in our hands and the matches vs Brighton and Everton, both away, could give us a chance to close the goal difference gap. And whenever I think about this I think of all those chances Pelova and Stina missed in recent matches… but that’s another story for another day.
I predict a 3-2 win over Utd which will be an amazing result to get the girls in a fired up mood going over to Wolfsburg for the Semi’s first leg. I don’t see this match NOT having goals with LWB most likely playing in the back while Leah plays up front. We shall see.
I do think that Earps has mistakes in her and I wouldn’t mind some sort of spilled shot and some quick reactions by some of our players. My prediction as far as who will be our player of the match I will actually say Leah Williamson. I have a feeling she’s gonna score 2.
As usual, all of this is based on only feelings and speculation. Hope I’m right.
d ❤
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kim signs!
Oh my word…
I didn’t expect this at all. Like, I hope she would sign and extension and I honestly thought we would be hearing about it over the summer, not anytime before the season ended. But holy crap what an emotional ride to go from waking up yesterday to the news of her being out for the season, to waking up today to her extension.
I have to be honest and I have been worried about her leaving. Not because I don’t think she’s playing well (I think she’s better than ever) but because she’s at a stage in her career where she might want change. She signed for us when she was 17!! And I would understand her move.
Also, with the high possibility of Leah playing in the midfield soon, I worried that this could mean some shifts being made. BTW is is based only on feelings and speculation.
Here’s a quote of what she said when she renewed:
“I’m delighted to sign a new contract at Arsenal,” said Kim. “Thinking back to when I first joined at the age of 17, I’m so proud of the progress that we have made together.
“Arsenal has been such an important part of my life and over time this club has become my home. It continues to be a privilege to represent Arsenal and I’m still so motivated to move this club forward and to be a part of its success.”
You can also read the article here
290 appearances. What? That’s insanity.
We’re so lucky to have her as our captain and I can feel that next season is going to be magical and to be honest, I still think this season has something special in store.
d ❤
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KL OFTS FFS
For as long as I can remember, and my memory is terrible, the first thing I check online is anything and everything Arsenal related. Depending on the day, it can be lineups for an upcoming match, maybe transfer news or injury updates. Today was the latter and it wasn’t something I wanted to hear.
KIM LITTLE OUT FOR THE SEASON.
Bums me out for Kim, for the club, the fans and the rest of our season for obvious reasons. You don’t need me to tell you how good KL is, how important she is, etc etc etc. I actually had predicted she would be the player of the season.
My biggest worry is how her absence impacts the backline. I truly wish Jonas would have Lia, Frida and Kühl but we all know he’s gonna play Leah up there and have LWB partner Rafa.
This is not good for me. It gives me all levels of anxiety a la Rob Holding. There’s always a mistake bound to happen and I do not ever feel comfortable and I honestly can’t see this being a reasonable thing vs Man Utd, Chelsea and least of all Wolfburg! Oh and don’t even get me started vs Barcelona if that ever happens.
If the long term vision is to have the midfield trio be Lia, Leah and Little (and I’ll talk more about my ideal lineup for next year with current players only on a blog later this week), then Leah’s replacement at the back has to be miles better than we currently have on the bench.
Mind you, I much rather have Jen Beattie partner Rafa back there.
I guess Wednesday will prove to us what Jonas chooses to do and after the match I will most likely be proven incorrect, as I usually am.
BTW, here’s an episode I did on Kim back in September 2021.
d ❤
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International breaks are… good?
I used to always dread the disruption that international breaks cause on the flow of the season. That was until I started watching women’s football. Now, I quite like it.
I don’t know exactly how to justify it other that I’m just happy for them. I’m happy the game keeps growing and growing and so are the international competitions. I love the growth of the Euros, the World Cup, Copa America and events like the Finalissima are just awesome. (I know this last one isn’t anything other than glorified friendly but its still cool).
This dimension of feeling happiness for them is something that I don’t feel in the men’s game. Whenever the season is stopped because of qualifiers I get so bothered and those weeks feel like months. Its terrible to say this but I realized the breaks bother me because of ME and MY feelings and what I want. Which is silly. Why don’t I think about the players? the glory of representing their nations? I have no clue why I feel that way but it’s just how it is.
I love that I will get to watch players I love join other players I love that play in different leagues. It’s basically how I felt when I started watching the sport. The difference is that even though I support the oranjeleeuwinnen, I also want Ireland, England, Brazil, Switzerland, Australia, Austria, Scotland, Sweden and Norway to do well. Basically, I need and want every Arsenal player to do well, especially the dutch.
Anyway, I don’t really know what the point of this was other than to illustrate how I feel about there not being matches at the moment. I also do know that there would be matches had we qualified to the FA semis but we didn’t and that’s ok. 😉
Big match coming up vs Man Utd this week and I am personally very excited and super confident.
Bring it.
d ❤
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what is failure anyway?
One of the most predictable and tiresome narratives that we hear and read about is the idea that if we don’t win the WSL then our season is a failure. Not a single day goes by that I don’t see tweets about that, wether it relates to Arsenal or other teams, and I sure as hell hear something similar to this on talkSPORT and other outlets.
I couldn’t agree less. I mean, I totally understand why people consider not winning as failing, but that’s just not how I live nor is it how I define failure.
There’s a component of progress that has to be kept in mind and furthermore, it’s all a matter of opinion at the end of the day. A lot of it has to do with OUR expectations and OUR definition of winning, of success, of failure, of progress etc.
I’m on the camp that thinks that failing is when you don’t try. With that definition in mind there’s just no way that I could see the whole of our season being a failure if we don’t win the title.
How can it be? The girls already won a Conti Cup, they are about to play their first CL semi-final in years, they can still qualify for next season’s CL and mathematically they are still alive in the WSL title race.
I just don’t get why so many people are being so negative and doom & gloom. We didn’t win a title last year. We didn’t make the semis of the CL, etc… there’s definitely progress being made.
We also need to be much more open to what the club’s intentions are, what their aims are and see what their goals are. If the board, the coaching staff and players see eye to eye and all want a cup trophy this year, and that’s their benchmark, who are we to say that a. that isn’t good enough. or b. if we don’t win other things its also a failure.
Who are we? Well, we’re fans, and we all have an idea or an opinion. I’m not saying that you’re wrong if you think not winning the WSL equals failing… I’m just saying that there might be different ways to looking at it, with a more positive outlook that, if nothing else, might make you feel less stressed and anxious.
But… you do you, boo.
d ❤
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CULTURE > Commerce
I had a totally different post planned but I really can’t not talk about this. In case you haven’t read about it or seen AWFC’s post, it goes something like this:
During the 2012-2013 Champions League, Arsenal hosted Wolfsburg at Borehamwood for the semi-finals. Back then, the total attendance was 1,460 people. Fast forward 10, almost to the day, and the same fixture will now be watched by over 40 THOUSAND PEOPLE at The Emirates.
Holy shit. That’s just incredible. That’s most of the stadium.
Without a doubt, the Lionesses winning the Euros has had a lot to do with the growth of the game but Arsenal Women fans have been showing up more and more and more and more for years. The engagement online and in person has gone through the roof.
Arsenal fans are consistent, constant, reliable and the OG women’s football fans. That’s just the reality 🥶
Beyond the players themselves, the media team has had a lot to do with it. It’s all connected and impossible to separate. The work they have done the past few years, their creativity, their posts, their interaction with fans. It makes you feel special.
What IS actually possible to separate is that unlike most clubs, AFC is about CULTURE, not COMMERCE. We are different… maybe?!
Of course there’s commerce in mind, I’m not that naive. We’re one of the richest teams on the planet. My point is that there are fundamental, non negotiable, pillars that we adhere by as a club and it makes me very proud. These things matter much more to me than actual trophies, if I may say so without getting canceled.
Arsenal Women are deeply in the DNA of the club and that is factually not the case with other clubs.
d ❤
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A very subjective look into AWFC 