Shocking scenes in the Conti Cup final after Maanum got stretchered off. Marred the occasion and the atmosphere around the tie was definitely dampened after that point.
Glad to hear that she is conscious and stable, however. Thoughts are with her for sure.
Red hot exclusive from The Telegraph as they suggest #Arsenal Women may shift their focus from Earps to van Domselaar for the summer transfer window.
van Domselaar has been a stand-out performer for Villa and the Netherlands, but Earps is out of contract and is still the better immediate choice. Big loss for Villa though.
On seeing #Arsenal's last goal again, it's not the howler by #Alisson that I thought at first, The reason it goes through his legs is that it takes a deflection of Van Dijk's boot. So an unfortunate goal rather than a second catastrophic one.
I'm more interested in other properties of the Mike subparticles.
For example, quantum teleportation of state.
If Mike Taylor starts chanting YNWA whilst he is at the Anfield Road stand, does Mike Lawton's state change immediately, instantly in a faster-than-light fashion, as he's standing on The Kop on the opposite end, and he begins to sing it too?
For the record, I really like Onana as a player. Last season he was immense in undoing us at Goodison. I get that he's not what we need as a priority right now but at 22 I can see why Arteta would want him and I did think he could give us other options tactically (especially important if Partey does leave). I'm not sure there's any substance to it all anyway. #Arsenal
Forty minutes of highlights from the commentary relayed to Swindon Hospital by The Swindon Hospital Broadcasting Society. #vinyl#vinylrecords#soccer#futbol
In case anyone on the #mastoadmin tag is an #arsenal fan, the admin of the arsenalfc.social is looking for someone to take it over. They've received sufficient donations to keep going until the end of January for now. See linked post for contact info
BBC - Arsenal's Lia Walti says club have 'built something huge with fans'
Love to see it:
"We've had every away game sold out so far this season I think which shows how much the club is doing all the right things to help the women's game grow"
Arseblog - an in-depth look at Arsenal Women's lack of ethnic diversity
This is a good long read on the issues around diversity in Women's football in England, and puts the recent furor over the Arsenal squad photo in context. I am once again in awe of Alex Scott for how she's managed to thrive in spite of the barriers she's had to push past.
I do like that Hale End had their own thing where the employees do a bit of groundwork themselves. I’ve also read about how tech is playing a role in it where aspiring footballers can upload their stuff on to scouting networks. That should be made more accessible.
Analysis: Why have Arsenal Women struggled against deep defensive blocks this season?
From Tim Stillman: "The technical instability at centre-half and number 10 has made Arsenal less convincing in the exact area opposing defences have clogged up and targeted. This has meant a high number of crosses, with Arsenal averaging 35.3 per game so far this season, compared to 24.4 last season."
I miss Rafa. And Leah. I think any analysis of the women’s team’s defence has to account for losing them and signing a whole new pairing in Codina and Ilestedt, even if they’re not starting every game or anything. The standards are also just getting higher and higher in the WSL. That being said I mean Jonas said it himself: too much opportunistic crossing. And the GK situation needs work…
Attention now turning to #LUTTOT. All the tin hat conspiracy theory waffle about VAR is so tedious and there are more interesting things to look forward to.
If we win, we go top.
If Arsenal beat City, we stay top.
Now there's a nice little exercise in ambivalence for #Arsenal fans.
@hallenbeck@Jfrites@notthatmilo@spurs Sadly not. It’s nigh on impossible to get tickets even as a Hotspur+ member. I log on well before the tickets go on sale, wait in the queue and grab what I can. Managed to get singles not sat next to each other but close enough for Sheff Utd but Liverpool had none in the same block, same for Newcastle. There is so much excitement, it’s such a contrast to getting tickets last season!! Will try again next ticket window for those games but won’t hold my breath…
