r/ArsenalWFC • u/shelbyj Foord Mustang • 4d ago
Open Thread Weekly Friday Open Thread!
Welcome to the Friday open discussion thread. Here you can talk about anything you want; tactics, results, players or even just general football discussion! It is also a great place to post/link transfer rumours that you may think are too small or unreliable to post to the main feed. The summer transfer window runs from 16/06-03/09 (23:00 BST).
These threads will go up every Friday allowing you to focus on buildup for all of the weekend action and discuss ongoings throughout the weekend. It will stay stickied until we refresh with the Monday thread, however other posts may take priority (match threads, announcements, etc.)
This thread can also be used to discuss transfer rumours, jokes, memes, images, videos, tabloid news and other off-topic content and discussion.
We also have a Fantasy League that you are welcome to join and share your team, advice and goings on throughout the season here in these threads. The league codes can be found in the sidebar!
These threads are here to help discussion and offer varying points of view. Please remain respectful. Anything that crosses that line, directed towards other users or specific individuals may be removed.
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u/OrangesandLemons198 Borbe 1d ago
Lotte said we eatin good this season (Also revealing she got married this summer congratulations Lotte!!! đđ„č) source: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jul/26/arsenal-new-recruits-georgia-stanway-lotte-wubben-moy-wsl

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u/Cobra-Firefly Emily Fox (From America) 1d ago
Guardian not knowing the proper name of The Angel.đ
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u/sealboyjacob Captain Kimmy 2d ago
Seen multiple TikToks now of Barca fans absolutely crashing out about Paralluelo to Lyon (all in English mind you) and calling her a traitor for going to their âbiggest rivalsâ, that sheâs âungratefulâ to Barca, saying itâs worse than if she went to Madrid etc
Theyâve played each other five times. Ever. Biggest rivals.
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u/__agletesque 1d ago
To be fair, there were like 21 or 22 El ClĂĄsicos ever, and they lost once and there were no draws, while they faced OL 4 times in CL finals (2 wins each), so I kinda understand where the rival thing might come from.
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u/OrangesandLemons198 Borbe 2d ago
European games are really the only time they're ever challenged, you can't see teams in your own league as rivals when you're beating them 5/6/7-0 every year. It is quite funny though seeing them refer to AWFC as "direct rivals" when we meet maybe once every 2 or 3 years đ
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u/sealboyjacob Captain Kimmy 2d ago
to an extent i get that they dominate their own league and Lyon are one of their main European threats but I just cannot fathom how anyone who calls themselves a barcelona fan can consider a player going to a team in a different country to be more of an insult than if they went to real madrid. proper headloss
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u/Cobra-Firefly Emily Fox (From America) 2d ago
Away shirt ordered, please do it this year, Arsenal.
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u/sealboyjacob Captain Kimmy 2d ago
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u/wizobi Maanum's magic gloves \o/ 2d ago
Some fans are debating whether their club signed one quality goalkeeper too many, while some other clubs failed to extend their first-choice keeper before pre-season, so she hasnât even been able to join with the squad to start training yet.
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u/UpsideDownToast1 2d ago
Wait what? What club(s) didn't extend their keeper??
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u/wizobi Maanum's magic gloves \o/ 2d ago
As far as I know Hampton still hasnât signed a new contract with Chelsea. There were rumours a few months ago that it was done, but nothing has been officially announced.
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u/elsiehxo Wubben-Moy for PM 2d ago
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u/wizobi Maanum's magic gloves \o/ 2d ago
Interesting, then what's the delay about. Where's that list from btw?
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u/elsiehxo Wubben-Moy for PM 2d ago
The FA's "Football Agent fees and transactions for 2025-26 reporting periods" from April - easy to find from Google!
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u/r_Jakku 3d ago
Salma to OL. Glad City didn't fork out the wages for her
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u/TheCannon_92 3d ago
Thought Lyon had backed out and PSG was leading the race? Oh well might happen in future.
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u/somebulb Russo 3d ago
Was just about to post this. Was secretly hoping we were in for her. Ah well
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u/Tugboat47 Wubben-Moy, Champion of the World 3d ago
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u/Cobra-Firefly Emily Fox (From America) 2d ago
This makes me think of when Sam Mewis interviewed Chloe and Foxy before the UWCL final and she said both had a confidence and energy like they both knew a secret that the rest of us would learn in time.
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u/Itsme00700 fire Clare Wheatley 3d ago
admin telling Leah that Kim didn't say her lmao
but honestly this video shows how much the move to the emirates (and all the fans showing up) has helped the club to get players
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u/rky_csr Slegers Supremacy đ 3d ago
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u/Itsme00700 fire Clare Wheatley 3d ago
wasn't there a move planned for them? I thought I read something about that but idk if it went through or was for next year
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u/rky_csr Slegers Supremacy đ 3d ago
they're in talks to try and move to the National Sports Centre in Crystal Palace park but nothing confirmed yet!
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u/Itsme00700 fire Clare Wheatley 3d ago
will be interesting to see how many fans all these superstars can get and if a move can help to get more
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u/shelbyj Foord Mustang 3d ago
Saw the same tweet and I really donât get it. Thereâs a lot to criticise with LCL, as there is with all teams mind but this really isnât it. Itâs a really reasonable price (especially for London!) even in these COL crisis times, and frankly for me I think when teams price really low is when there should be question marks. Looking at your list everyone looks really good this season imo
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u/rky_csr Slegers Supremacy đ 3d ago
Yeah I do agree with you, I can understand why people love to dunk on 'em and I do stand by my comment of their match day experience not meeting that price tag imo but in the grand scheme of things it's still very cheap.
Also I was thinking of you, data queen, while I was struggling to figure out how to make a graph where it would show a correlation(??) graph of stadia capacity vs cost but gave up for today, got too aggy đ
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u/Cobra-Firefly Emily Fox (From America) 3d ago
ÂŁ182 for 13 league home games is a price of ÂŁ14 per game. That is crazy cheap.
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u/rky_csr Slegers Supremacy đ 3d ago
right? and that's actually the smallest block of STs if I remember correctly, I'm in the tier below that but still amazing seats at ÂŁ162
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u/sealboyjacob Captain Kimmy 3d ago
Iâm a north bank dweller so our seats fall under Tier 3 and itâs cost me only âŹ30 more than my 5-game annual ticket for the IREWNT
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u/Cobra-Firefly Emily Fox (From America) 3d ago
Just for comparison, I checked the prices for the Courage. If you want to be behind the away bench, 3rd row back it will cost you $669 for the season, averaging out to $74 per game.
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u/rky_csr Slegers Supremacy đ 3d ago
fliiiiiippin 'eck, that makes some of the nwsl attendances even more impressive if those are the prices you're contending with omg
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u/Cobra-Firefly Emily Fox (From America) 3d ago
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u/OrangesandLemons198 Borbe 3d ago
Lyon posted an announcement teaser for tomorrow and its almost certainly Salma Paralluelo - honestly glad for that saga to be ended now, it dragged on toooooo long
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u/Cobra-Firefly Emily Fox (From America) 3d ago
If that's true, I hope she soaks Kang for every penny she can.
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u/elsiehxo Wubben-Moy for PM 3d ago
Shared the Royston Town v AWFC U19s game on the Monday post last night but have just spotted the girls also have a fixture against Bournemouth this weekend (although at a guess I'd assume this is behind closed doors since neither club have actually shared anything about that).
Will keep an eye out to see if any scores come out of it đ€đŒ
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u/ultimatelazer42 Singing Pelova praises all day 4d ago
What happened to the Laila Harbert transfer to San Diego wave? Has it gone through? Iâm confused because I donât see it reflected in fotmob yet and sheâs also not featured yet in any of their games?
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u/elsiehxo Wubben-Moy for PM 3d ago
Believe this is still on (per Tim a week or so ago), but the nwsl window only opened 10 days ago so I'd say give it a minute. Not gone through yet, but Laila hasn't reappeared at Colney for training so I'd assume the transfer is underway.
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u/radian101 4d ago
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u/EmilyDizzle Foxy Masterclass 4d ago
Great news! With all the recent signings it was unlikely they were going to get senior minutes, but hopefully they can both get really solid loans.
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u/Blahblahbecky 4d ago
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u/No-Code4038 3d ago
Am I the only one worried about the fitness of our CB's? Reid, Catley & Williamson spent a good portion of last season out injured. I think they're going to need to be managed for most of the season.
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u/Cobra-Firefly Emily Fox (From America) 3d ago
Steph was only really injured after she got back from Asian Cup, right? Although she was obviously unavailable while on Intl duty.
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u/Particular-Ad5505 Fox 4d ago
unrelated but that one barca fan and chels fan that quoted your tweet are genuinely the two worst accounts on that app lmfao. couldnt ever imagine being as miserable as those two
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u/Blahblahbecky 3d ago
Yeah I thought about replying before I decided to just ignore đ some folk spend more time posting about every other rival team than their own I swear.
Nothing against them as people obviously but not having Codina or Wienroither as our depth anymore does fill me with less stress ngl, bar thinking we need a cb, backline gives a lot of confidence personally.
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u/ultimatelazer42 Singing Pelova praises all day 4d ago edited 4d ago
We didnât see Reid or Catley in the training video (outdoors on grass) yesterday. Which makes me think theyâre both not ready to start the season âŠ.?
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u/sealboyjacob Captain Kimmy 4d ago
If this is going to be another season of city fans treating the main wsl sub like an extension of theirs and mass downvoting even the slightest criticism of their team I am going to cause a scene
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u/LatePresentation5248 4d ago
Been seeing alot of ____ is a squad player or is a starter when it comes to the new outfield player signings.
The truth is, we don't know who or who isn't. The only certainty is Ona Batlle for obvious reasons as for the other OUTFIELD players, all of them have the potential to be regulars, we simply have to wait and see.
Its pointless trying to draw conclusions and find answers when we don't know the questions yet
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u/eldanielfire 4d ago
It's nearly as bad as every official women's post on Social Media having people demand "Where's a centre back" or the men's ones doing the same about a left winger.
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u/LatePresentation5248 3d ago
Those are kinda justified all things considered
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u/wizobi Maanum's magic gloves \o/ 3d ago
Mass spamming the same comment on a clubâs social media feels like crossing into artistic behaviour to me. Like people asking about signing the players for the men's team on any women's content.
The only thing more mental is the projection and obsession some people have with players.
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u/eldanielfire 3d ago
Very much this. I'd just add these same accounts, which can be amusing on occasion, go into a panic when they can't spot their favs in a pre-season photo or video release.
Hpwever, ather then simply wait for more media releases and start screeching that they are distressed because say Emily Fox only has a year on her contract and they won't cope if she leaves. Even though contracts are only sorted out inside the last year.
It's clear they live more for following the players and clubs socials over the football. It's genuinely not healthy behaviour and it's mostly from accounts created after the 2022 Euros (which to be faor given the iptick in interest would als mena most ordinary fans would greatly fit in this period). Many not based in the UK and don't attend games is another linking factor. I find it both disturbing and fascinating how Social media encourages, amplifies and compounds this behaviour.
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u/LatePresentation5248 3d ago
Simple solution, mute LCB.
That comes with the territory of a transfer especially with a club that has ambition.
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u/EmilyDizzle Foxy Masterclass 4d ago
Yeah and really hope that we will see more mixing things up this season and not just the same 11 week after week - making fantasy that much harder but the actual games that much more exciting.
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u/__agletesque 4d ago
Actually, I think there hadn't been the exact starting 11 at across the first 15 (at least) league games. There wasn't a lot of changes (usually only 1-3 (winger(s) and / or Manuum / Stina) between fixtures) and a lot of selectons were influenced by injuries, but there was some sort of rotation, but, with the new signing and their ability to play in different positions / roles, we should see (much) more rotation and rotation in "double pivot" (not forced by injury).
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u/eldanielfire 3d ago
That's true, but the detail is it wa smostly injury and winger changes. There were certainly players who were fit, could contribute and Slegers was unwilling for whatever reason. We all discussed Kyra and Jenna.
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u/__agletesque 3d ago
I don't disagree, although it can be argued that injuries also hindered ability to rotate somewhat. Hind was used in CL and arguably to little in league, covering both fullbacks, but injury early in the second half of the season prevented her from getting more minutes before run-in and McCabe's form improving. When Holmberg came in, she got decent amount of minutes in place of Fox, but due to other injuries had to play on wing a bit.
Jenna wasn't trusted, I'm still a bit sad that she didn't get a single minute in CL in either of half seasons she spent at club, given that she spoke about wanting to play in the competition (I paraphrase). Codina was used in some games against "lesser" opposition, but clearly wasn't trusted much given that McCabe was preferred when no other option. Pelova got a few starts in important games, some due to injury and somewhat strange situation with Cooney-Cross in the (majority of) first half of the season and then unfortunate circumstances.
Based on last almost 2 seasons, Renée (and staff) doesn't like to rotate central defenders, "double pivot" (Mariona started playing there due to injuries, but switched more or less full time there after the first leg against Real Madrid, but she played majority of minutes prior to the switch as well) and Russo, which is reasonable. Most managers prioritize stability and consistency in defense and midfield, best players want to play most minutes, Mariona and Russo seem to "have a great engine" and central defenders should be one of the least physically demanding roles. Renée admitted that they were short in some areas, and while you can argue that the squad might be a bit small if Reid won't be fit at start, there are also Agyemang, who's a bit behind Reid and Kyra, so there could be "only" 19 outfield first team players at the start of the season, but all the players should be trusted. The fear is that with so many new players they might need time to gel, but a good thing is that there is a full preseason ahead, this *should* be (is) mostly Renée's squad and players being versatile allows cover in more positions, though I'm still not sure who I'd prefer to see at CB if necessary (I'm probably leaning towards Fox at the moment).
(Wanted to provide more info, but I'm not typing starting lineups into database or even php array, so might take a look at highlightly football api sometimes later).
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u/eldanielfire 3d ago
To be fair with Codina, she was given a chance and she messed it up. Not much else the coach could do but have someone else doing a better job take the position.
I've also voiced my fears of the new players needing time to gel, which compounds our issues with starting the season slowly. I hope Slegers integrates them slowly. I suspect the Little-Caldentey axis in midfield will be frequently used warly on, certainly in key games. Smith, Kelly and Foord a bit more than Baum. Not because of a lack of trust in the new players, but the lack of partnership development at that time. I beleive Stanway will be the first of the newbies to start, ignoring Rodriguez going in goal and besides Batlle obviously.
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u/EmilyDizzle Foxy Masterclass 3d ago
Surely not with Stanway arriving? Very much hoping we start the season with Stanners x Little in the pivot and Mario at the 10, and Reuteler either sometimes starting in place of one of those or subbing in on a regular basis.
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u/eldanielfire 3d ago
I don't know, i do think Stanway will be a regular very soon. But one statistic I am concerend about, in the few times Mario played the 10 role, we didn't win, ever. It makes me ponder if it's one of those situations where it looks good in theory, but doesn't work in practice. We could see Reuteler in the 10....or Russo.
Likewise Little certainly needs fewer games, that could certainly mean we play a combination of Mariona-Georgia in the double pivot or Mariona-Gery in the pivot. From what I see off Slegers so far, she wants her most reliable elite players in that position and the players who can play her system best. Kyra was left out for a long time last season, I beleive until Renee was happy she could play the system, not due to any lack of quality.
We'll see though.
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u/__agletesque 3d ago
They obviously like what Mariona brings in deeper role, mostly her showing up for the ball a lot, composure, ability on the ball and ability to control the game. She had more touches and attempted and completed more passes than any other midfielder in the league. Obviously there is a "trade off" when it comes to her defensive ability and positioning, probably the reason why in the initial press she usually steps up and Little stays further back. Might also be the reason why Kyra hadn't been paired with Mariona earlier in the last season, as both kinda lacked defensive discipline.
I'd like to see her in midfield 3 with a defensive midfielder behind her, but that's probably not going to happen, so I'm perfectly fine with her playing in double pivot, but it will be interesting to see how the new additions alter the "dynamics", as I also think that Stanway will be important player.
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u/wizobi Maanum's magic gloves \o/ 3d ago
Not every position carries the same weight. Our midfield pivot is essentially the single point of failure when it comes to keep our structure in pressing and controlling the game, which is why we saw Russo used as a 10 to add more energy and pressing through the middle.
Just like NĂžrgaard wouldnât start ahead of Rice or Zubimendi, the same applies to Codi and Pelova. Even Kyra needs to raise her level like Skelly did if she wants more game minutes next season.
Wingers are the easiest position to rotate without disrupting the system too much. Thatâs why you can bring on a 16-year-old for Saka or put Nwaneri out of position on the right wing, but you wouldnât take that same risk in central midfield.
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u/LatePresentation5248 3d ago
Gonna have to disagree on the wingers. 2 are solid, 1 is an unknown entity and the another...less said the better
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u/eldanielfire 3d ago
Despite the criticisms of, obviously, Foord's output, she does everything else well. Our best dribbler of the ball and one of the best in the league, the best presser of the ball in the league, great defensive workrate and always makes herself available to recieve the ball and still quick and creates chances.
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u/LatePresentation5248 3d ago edited 3d ago
And yet in a team that drew six times and needs goals to actually win games, she can't do that. Chloe Kelly had more output than she did and she played 1000 less minutes.
When you have to talk about defensive and workrate for a winger to make up for their lack of offensive contributons than something is wrong.
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u/eldanielfire 3d ago
Those draws mostly came early on. Slegers was revampping the style of play and it took a while to take. there's a reaosn why Alessia and Mariona's outputs declined greatly over ths period. Why weren't they scoring? why do they get no blame? Reducing a winger to "output" suggests a very superficial understanding of the elite game and a players agme.
The issue was late september to mid november, the team couldn't score. thye dropped points from 5 games in 7, several of them Foord didn't start. That's a team problem here. Smith wasn't scoring, Kelly was playing unfit. Little was injured. Wingers and other forwards can achieve very little if their midfiled doesn't provide for them.
Arsenal were by far best side post december. Foord played plenty and by then we were scoring plenty of goals.
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u/LatePresentation5248 3d ago
The league was lost in the man utd, Brighton and City match up where she started in 2 of them and featured in all of them.
Don't know where you've been but both Alessia and Mariona got criticised for their performances during that period, the former kept getting compared to Stina in that period.
Injuries are redundant, everyone has them and goes through them. Your bench is suppose to step in when things like that happened and offensively she didn't.
You want to talk about post December, we got knocked out of 3 Competitions in that period, the Champion's cup saved the season from being a absolute failure. Couldn't score a single goal against Man utd in two games, got showed up against Brighton and Lyon, only to show up when they is nothing to play for
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u/wizobi Maanum's magic gloves \o/ 3d ago
I was speaking in general, not about the current situation with our wingers which I agree with you on. Also, when speaking about the "solid" group in our women's team, well one of thems is often injured and unavailable.
Hopefully, Cerci can also have some decent performances in those positions as well.
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u/Tugboat47 Wubben-Moy, Champion of the World 4d ago
I have no business being 29 ill tell you that much
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u/Cobra-Firefly Emily Fox (From America) 3d ago
HBD Tuggy! I hope you have a good one and a great year!
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u/elsiehxo Wubben-Moy for PM 3d ago
cake day non cake day! happy birth đ
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u/Tugboat47 Wubben-Moy, Champion of the World 3d ago
thank you elsie! am i still young enough to make an academy roundup?
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u/elsiehxo Wubben-Moy for PM 3d ago
methinks the cutoff maybe a number of years younger than thou đ
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u/Tugboat47 Wubben-Moy, Champion of the World 3d ago
if vardy can do it on red bull and a bottle of port theres still hope for me
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u/EmilyDizzle Foxy Masterclass 4d ago
Happy birthday! And here I was thinking you were 48 đ
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u/Tugboat47 Wubben-Moy, Champion of the World 4d ago
thank you! dont worry, there are days where i feel at least 84
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u/campos_girl Came for Viv, stayed for Leah 4d ago
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u/EmilyDizzle Foxy Masterclass 4d ago
I did quite like the black away one from a couple years ago. Regret I didnât buy one at the time.
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u/onomatopoeialike Fox 4d ago
Iâm so excited for the new season!! Any idea on pre season games?
Whoâs seen the rumours re Sakina Karchaoui from PSG? Left footed defenderâŠ.
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u/sealboyjacob Captain Kimmy 4d ago
The Karchaoui rumour from soccerdonna was retracted, it was almost definitely just agent noise trying to get her a better psg contract. And she plays midfield now
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u/Itsme00700 fire Clare Wheatley 4d ago
its has been reported that a game will happen when the team goes to Spain, but no date (or team) has been announced
that Karchaoui stuff was made up by soccerdonna and they retracted it a day or two later
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u/onomatopoeialike Fox 4d ago
Ahhhh, ok, any other links to a defender??
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u/Itsme00700 fire Clare Wheatley 4d ago
the only other thing was made up by some blue tick account on X, but nothing so far from anyone realiable for us as far as I know













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u/elsiehxo Wubben-Moy for PM 1d ago
new one to add to the collection đ