eball24

[eball24]

I noticed that too. That’s actually very respectable. A lot of team wouldn’t have done so

none of our players took off their second place medals. remember that.

we will be back. tornarem! 💙 ❤️

[eball24]

hell yeah

[eball24]

At this point play the academy keeper.

I say we play without a goalie and have another defender on

no i agree. i understand zinsberger hasn’t played as much as what she usually has in previous seasons but to concede nine in the past two games its needs to be better. of course can’t put it all on her as the backline hasn’t been the best either and there’s been sloppy play all over the pitch but it’s frustrating.

[eball24]

Die.

I'm sorry but WTF? What is happening? I know Daphne saved them a lot of times and now Manu is playing.

They conceded 9 goals in two games.

What are they going to do against Barça??

[eball24]

Honestly nightswonger needs to go. To not get on the bench means Slegers has no confidence in her. As much as I love Katie Reid, if she’s getting a full 90 in this game then nightswonger should at least make an appearance

How to kill a promising start to a NT career taught by Jenna Nighswonger

[eball24]

What did they say? https://x.com/angelperezpx/status/1911393913207730553

yes, here you go:

aitana: we found out close to match time. it's something that doesn't depend on us. we've always said we're on our teammate's side, and this is a matter for the club, for the competition committee. unfortunately, she can't play, and it's a significant loss, but we'll get her back soon.

patri: well, you know that we always want to have everyone around, on the grass, and what we have been saying these months, a lot of support for our teammate, for mapi, and we are with her.

yes, i think all of these points are very fair. but as to your second point my thoughts are that it seems like the club is basically phoning it in administratively with the women's team. if we are relying on admin carla as the only person to put together any type of statement, then that's super concerning. 😒

anyway, as to a sub section of fans online, this tweet sums it up for me:

"the thing about people and parasocial relationships with female players is so stupid, they ARE NOT YOUR FRIENDS, why do you put aside your morals and values ​​for someone who made a huge mistake?!?!? it's stupid and shameful. mapi deserves that punishment and that's it, there's nothing to discuss."

[eball24]

Does anyone else get why we bought nightswonger? Or why sh agreed?

With Katie and Fox, it’s hard to imagine her playing fullback.

She probably has less of a chance of playing as an attack minded midfielder behind mariona, Russo, Frida, etc.

Unless there are surprise departures in this summers inevitable squad shift it’s hard to see where she fits

[eball24]

To be honest, for Kafaji this is probably a bit of a punishment. I think the club gets that players will be unhappy with lack of minutes, but there was always going to be some sort of response to the post

Annnd Rosa is not even making the bench again

[eball24]

I would add, and this is not an insult but simply a fact, is she probably got tired of playing in a league that is not even remotely competitive. Barca fans love to watch their team put to the sword what essentially semi pro teams every week. She probably got tired of playing in a league where who will win ALL the silverware is a forgone conclusion. Yes, Chelsea dominate the WSL, but the league is leaps and bounds more competitive than Liga F. After years of beating the same sub par teams for everything bar the champions league, a professional is going to get bored.

Her national team spot is not in question. Players from worse teams with less standing are called up.

She really can’t be compared to Laia Codina. Not to be insulting towards Laia, but their careers have been completely different. Even just currently, Laia had never nailed down a starting spot even before Leah Williamson was fit.

honestly i think mariona made a huge mistake leaving barca

i know she wanted a change and stuff but with how poorly her team's doing (not her though she's probably saved arsenal several times this season, and should be getting more recognition for her effort imo) i don't know how much longer she'll get called up to the national team & get additional recognition (i.e BDO noms)

i mean we've seen with codi that there have been a few times that she hasn't been called up despite being fit to play

although i am thrilled that we brought in pajor and kika to make up for her, and that esmee and pina are getting more minutes up front. pajor especially, what a signing

once again for the millionth time, mariona left barça for personal reasons to be with her girlfriend. not for the “challenge” of the wsl or frankly to be guaranteed trophies. and she just won player of the month for the league so she is doing fine PR wise.

she’s already won champions multiple times, she’s won the world cup, and all that is left is the euro, barring injury.

mariona is a lock with the national team and is still one of the best for spain. period.

so honestly, if she wants to prioritise her personal life and happiness, she earned it!

[eball24]

some general thoughts, or what NOT to do in a crisis*:

we can all acknowledge that the last 24 hours have been a clusterfuck in many ways, and i think we can all agree that everything that happened today should have been handled differently.

first and foremost, we can acknowledge the pain that daniela caracas has and is experiencing. it's not easy being a person of colour in spain, let alone a black woman and a female footballer at that. there is already coded language in how we speak about black players in our league and any type of harassment or abuse towards her is wrong. daniela felt violated and that deserves recognition. period.

we can acknowledge that mapi acted physically in a manner that was wrong. i'm not going to sit here and argue with internet lip readers as to what was or was not said. but whether the touching was incidental or not, the fact was that it happened. period.

we can acknowledge that there are right wing elements who are using this incident to further their own agenda. they are spinning narratives and putting out messaging to further their own agendas. that's wrong. period.

we can acknowledge that mapi is a person who may face criminal liability and thus her statement was directed under legal advisement. but we can also acknowledge that tone and messaging matters. you can protect your legal rights but still put out a statement that doesn't feed into anger or defensiveness.

we can acknowledge that our favourite players are human and will fuck up in life. but that doesn't mean we shouldn't call them out or demand that they learn and grow from their mistakes.

we can acknowledge that barça waited too long to put out any sort of statement. the club should have turned off its scheduled social media because those posts came off as flippant and oblivious. my personal feelings are that the club should have put out a separate statement first, and not relied on a statement through the player involved in the incident. again, you can put out a statement of concern without waiving any legal rights.

we can acknowledge that this team is at a crossroads and that no matter how frustrated you are in a match, your players need to be disciplined enough not to loss their cool or react in such a manner. and we can acknowledge that there needs to be concrete steps at the club level to address this behaviour collectively as a unit and not to hide it away.

and finally, we can acknowledge that the club has let many of us down today, and we should demand that it do better. period. more to come. 🙏

*i'm writing this from the perspective of someone who works in legal and compliance and deals with investigations all the time. i understand the potential legal ramifications here, but there are much better ways to have handled the situation.

[eball24]

Emily Heaslip is the Michael Oliver of the women’s game.

[eball24]

A brutally honest assessment of Arsenal’s squad this season:

(Pelova/Amanda - come back soon. We need a defender to score a header and Pelova’s vibe in the midfield.)

Youth

Kafaji: Who knows what’s happening there. Not sure why she hasn’t heavily featured in games like Leicester and Everton. Came at a bad time when Eidevall is not going to take risks.

Kuhl: At 21 at with the time she has been here, Arsenal has had enough time to see her. She is obviously not rated/what she was bought to be. Needs a move.

Assorted youth: with no conti cup group games, they need loans. They’re not going to play.

Forwards

Stina Blackstenius: Looks to still be finding her way back to form. Was injured all summer with that hip thing. Hard to expect her to be firing on all cylinders with the amount of playing time she gets.

Russo: Confidence in front of net looks shot. Spends more time in the position of a winger or number 10 than the striker. It’s hard to tell if that’s her style or is she is told to do so.

Foord: Our best forward this season. Looks the most like/assured of herself. Having Caldentey to rotate seems to have taken the load off of her.

Hurtig: N/A. Will be lucky if we see her again. Undoubtedly her last season.

Mead: Like Russo, confidence is gone. Whether it’s Vic being gone or the post acl hit in form has come late who knows.

Midfield

KCC: Has stepped up with Pelova out. Is unlucky not to get on more. Like all managers on the ropes, he is going with what’s worked before with Walti and Kim. It has been at The expense of KCC.

Walti: Has looked fine, but you get the sense this is her last season or two. It’s becoming apparent youth in the midfield is needed.

Kim: Same as Walti: but somewhat less assured in herself.

Maanum: Our best midfielder so far. One of the best in the team.

Caldenty: Has done good. Expectations should be low at the moment. She has to have a transition period. Going from a league with ZERO competition to fighting every week will be rough for her.

Defense

Lotte: Average with a dip from last season. Seems to be recovery from lack of consistency because of recent knocks.

Laura: Doubts about. The injuries are a bit expected post acl but come at a terrible time. Caused her to miss her shots at playing time.

Fox: Has been as good as expected with her situation. Got zero summer break and because of injuries to fullbacks has had ZERO break.

McCabe: Like fox has been overplayed. But has been solid.

Catley: Hasn’t played. Age/profile in team makes her a need to be replaced soon.

Codina: Solid. Unlucky to not play more.

Williamson: Looks out of depth and composure. Can’t get out of my head when she stops tracking Ramirez claiming the ball had gone “out.” Against Chelsea, looked like she needs benched for a bit.

Net

DVD: As good as expected. Bought for potential and not the now.

Zinsberger: As good as expected.

-Trading back and forth does not look like it will be good for either them or the defense. A consistent back five looks needed.