20230421 Raven Newsletter

Hail GFOP!

I type with fingers giddy at the prospect of all there is to come. And by that, I don’t mean the 100% certainty of Everton being humiliated by an Ayew brother at Crystal Palace. This has been a quite bonkers week at MiB. One that began last weekend when we filmed with UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin and ended with the most American shoot we have ever done in which Fulham’s Tim Ream and Antonee Robinson joined us at the same time as Brenden Aaronson and Weston McKennie for a footballing recreation of the Bohemian Rhapsody video.

We shot with Čeferin in New York City last Saturday. A pretty remarkable conversation about the future of football in Europe and the United States. As a former criminal lawyer, the UEFA President is a rare football bureaucrat who revels in the give and take of an interview. Some of his responses really surprised me and I can’t wait for you to see it on Tuesday on Pod and YouTube. The Ream/Antonee/Weston/Aaronson convo was a very different but just as fascinating experience. It is an often hilarious, truly soulful piece which drops ahead of this weekend’s Fulham-Leeds “Premier League Bowl.” The four of them relish the opportunity to answer your questions and cut it up. It dropped this morning as a FULL POD and on YouTube. Do not miss the video version of this as it is particularly delicious.

Two more seismic releases this weekend: The first episode of Becky Sauerbrunn: Road to the Cup drops tomorrow. It is one of the most life-affirming pieces I have filmed this year. I’ve been trying to do a series about Becky Sauerbrunn for many years now. I have learned so much about life by watching her on and off the field as a footballer, captain, and activist. This series attempts to illustrate all of it, in her own words, capturing the journey towards the biggest World Cup ever as a back-to-back defending champion. I have loved taping it. Becky's wisdom and generosity puts the rest of us to shame. On Sunday, Ivan Gazidis, the South-African American CEO who transformed AC Milan, joins me to talk about his journey from MLS, to Arsenal, to Italian glory. A gent I have wanted to speak with for a long, long time. Really, a seminar on leadership. Presented by Camarena Tequila. Arsenal and Milanistas, this is flava for ya ear. Drops Sunday.

Four days of content. Four very different people. All of them fascinating for different reasons. Incredible days to be alive and covering this game we love in our nation. I will never take it for granted.

PS. Next week I tape with Jason Sudeikis and my friend Brendan Hunt for all things Diamond Dog. Send us your questions here.

2. 🗣️ The Men in Blazers American Football Awards, Presented by Bud Light  

It's voting SZN. I am so thrilled about the response to this new endeavor: As you may have heard on the Pod or seen on our social, we are launching a pair of awards to celebrate what has been a season unlike any other in the Premier League. And we are asking you, dear GFOPs, to select the winner.

The nominees for American Premier League Player of the Year are:

• BUKAYO SAKA 🇺🇸🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

• HARRY KANE 🇺🇸🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

• MARCUS RASHFORD 🇺🇸🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

• ERLING HAALAND 🇺🇸

And the nominees for American American Premier League Player of the Year are:

• MATT TURNER 🇺🇸

• TYLER ADAMS 🇺🇸

• TIM REAM 🇺🇸

• ANTONEE ROBINSON 🇺🇸

Voting runs through April 30. Winners will be announced on a special edition of the Men in Blazers Television Show, featuring some extraordinary guests. It's scheduled to air May 28, the final day of the Premier League season on PeacockTV. Vote early, vote often.

PS. We will do the Women’s Awards at the end of the NWSL Season

ONE REQUEST: Please share this newsletter with as many of your football-curious friends as possible, and encourage them to vote. We want this award to be as true a reflection of the United States fan base and their passion as is possible.

3. To the Football 🍻

Our FA Cup Overfloweth – Semi-Final Weekend Preview, Presented by Bud Light 🏆🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

I. Manchester City vs. Sheffield United 🏆 (Saturday, 11.45 AM ET, ESPN+)

The relentless, remorseless winning machine face up to the second place Championship side, Sheffield United, who will be aware Haaland & Co. blasted six past second runaway leaders Burnley in the previous round. Erling scored a 27-minute hat trick in that one. Expect him to be on the scoresheet as often as Elon Musk is in my “Who to follow” box on Twitter. For City, Real Madrid await in the Champions League semi-final. The Treble, a strangely stealth Treble, is on.

More: Behind the stats that allege this is “Ederson’s worst season in the league.”

ii. Brighton vs. Manchester United 🏆 (Sunday, 11.30 AM ET, ESPN+)

Battered and bruised United drag themselves off the floor of the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium in Seville after their latest humiliation by self-destruction. A must-win game they were never in with David De Gea imploding after doing Harry Maguire no favors as that giant cranium continued his traumatic decline. The 3-0 beatdown by La Liga’s 13th placed side was a performance akin to a collective karaoke version of Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now and they must now display the necessary resilience to save the optics of true progress on their season. De Zerbi’s Brighton with their eager high-press are purpose-built to expose the injury-riddled exhaustion taking its grip on Ten Hag’s transformation project. Teen scoring sensation Evan Ferguson is out with an ankle injury, so 32-year-old Danny Welbeck will charge around seeking to destroy the club who spotted him in a park aged six.

More: How Brighton lose managers and players and keep on rolling. The importance of a System.

iii. Arsenal vs. Southampton (This afternoon, 3 PM ET, USA)

Saliba-less (and possibly Zinchenko-less) Arsenal go again, after back-to-back 2-0 collapses, knowing that every game from hereon in is a must-win. They are Kasparov. Manchester City is Deep Blue. Lose once and human will never beat machine again. All Hail our Robot Overlords.

More: I liked Arteta’s answer to the question “does he think about anything other than football?”

iv. Fulham vs. Leeds (Saturday, 7.30 AM ET, USA)

Fulhamerica host Leeds United States of America. A game so US-inflected, Hank Williams Jr. should be dispatched to sing “Are you Ready for some Football?” before kick-off. Four of our nation’s finest should go against each other. A Mitrovic-less Fulham will seek to slap Leeds around in the style they did to Everton. Two weeks ago, Javi Gracia was being hailed as the second coming of Bielsa. He has since leaked 11 goals in two games and will pray Max Wober is available to bolster a beleaguered backline.

v. Liverpool vs. Nottingham Forest (Saturday, 10 AM ET, USA)

Trent Alexander-Arnold’s artful attacking play and defensive vulnerability make him a majestic midfield player. Who would have thought it? The Scouse-American’s propulsive poetry obliterated Leeds on his first showing. Listing Nottingham Forest have not won in 10 games. They should be very afraid. Liverpool’s attackers appear to have suddenly summoned their clinicality now that Luis Diaz has finally returned from injury.

vi. Crystal Palace vs. Everton (Saturday, 10 AM ET, P’Cock)

I spoke to a Palace-supporting mate of mine who was flying over to Selhurst Park for the game and said “Do us a favor. Go easy. Have mercy on us.” “Will we hell,” was his curt reply, which stung for so many reasons. Mostly because I am old enough to remember exactly a month ago when it was Palace who were on the precipice themselves. It was March 21 when Roy Hodgson was re-appointed to howling existential screams. Three straight wins have ensued. The oldest, most-moth-ball and leather-book-bound smelling New Manager Bounce of all time. I will watch in fear of all Ayews, and not a single ounce of hope at all even though DCL is back, so at least, Everton’s cologne game will be at 11.

More: Everton’s closed door loss to non-league Chester is “nothing to worry about” according to Dyche. 😢

vii. Newcastle vs. Tottenham (Sunday, 9 AM ET, USA)

Another week, another gigantic moment of chaos at Tottenham. Fabio Paratici has resigned as the club’s managing director of football after failing to overturn a worldwide 30-month ban from the game. The man who was meant to be overseeing the search for a new manager has now gone. Tottenham are just an English US Soccer. However, they remain just three points behind 4th place Newcastle (who also have a game in hand) after the Toon’s damp squib of a performance against surging Aston Villa. The ankle-knack undermining Bruno Guimarães’ performance has a negative collective effect on the entire team.

More: Spurs meet with young hot flavor o’ month manager Will Still.

MORE: Full Premier League schedule here.

4. More Football, Did Ya Say?

i. Real Betis legend Joaquin hangs up his boots after 23 years. Tears.

ii. Great piece on Ollie Watkins. The symbol of Unai Emery’s Villa Renaissance.

iii. West Ham fans deserve happiness too. Declan Rice half-field run goal o’wonder. Europa Conference League is where it at.

4. From the tasting menu at Chez MiB this week

  • UNAI EMERY YOUTUBE EXCLUSIVE. Low-key manager of the season in the Premier League. An incredible transformation that has Villa in the European mix.

  • ROG REACTS TO USMNT 1 - 1 MEXICO. Recorded at 1 a.m. ET Thursday morning. Have you ever wondered if you can hear Bud Light? LISTEN HERE

  • ROG AND DAVO FULL VIDEO POD, presented by Camarena Tequila. The most awarded Tequila.

5. USA-Mexico bid for 2027 Women’s World Cup. Enormous 🇺🇸🇲🇽

The U.S. Soccer Federation and Mexico Football Federation announced they plan to bid to co-host the 2027 Women’s World Cup. The bid was announced Wednesday night, the deadline set by FIFA to submit expressions of interest. The vote will be made in May 2024. Competing bids include South Africa, and a joint bid of Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. With the 2026 Men's World Cup already in USA/Mexico/Canada, to go back to back would propel this sport to unprecedented levels in our nation.

More: Here’s Jonathan Tannenwald on the background to the surprise bid.

PS: Devastated for England captain Leah Williamson who will miss this summer's World Cup after suffering a ruptured ACL in Arsenal's WSL loss at Man Utd Wednesday, according to Sky Sports. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿♥️

5. Not Football, and All the Better for It

i. The End of Newspapers. Fascinating read though to be honest, I did not know they were still going.

ii. New Balance makes me so bloody happy. Like Clarks, I have worn them since I was a kid. Honestly, every time their Raz and Saka commercial pops up, I feel better about life. This ranking of their best models is worth arguing about.

iii. NYC woman sentenced to 21 years for trying to kill her lookalike with a poisoned cheesecake. Death by cheesecake via your crazed Russian doppelganger replaces dying in my sleep as my way of choice to go.

iv. The Greatest Sorority Freak-out Email Ever turns 10 years old this week. Celebrate with this masterclass from Michael Shannon.

v. 'Price is Right' contestant, uh, 'wins' a 6-night trip to Mall of America. The 'Price is Right' valued the trip at $6,726(!!!). That's how many trips to the Rainforest Cafe?

vi. Dog restaurants pop up all over the country. I'm not taking my dog to one of these until he gets a real job and starts contributing to this household.

vii. Stunning thread of Harry Potter movies as if made by Wes Anderson. Will die on the hill that Rushmore's Max Fischer was just prototype Ravenclaw.

ix. I LOVE THIS BOOK: “In Memoriam” by Alice Winn. A devastating novel set in the First World War. Two English public school boys navigate their love amidst the horror of the trenches. As magnificent as it is heartbreaking.

xi. I love this song: Spici Water by Angry Catfish

That is it for today. I will end by repeating two things: please share this newsletter with as many of your football-curious friends as possible, and encourage them to vote for our awards. We want them to be a thunderous reflection of our nation’s football passion. Second. It is such an honor to do what we do at MiB as the sport’s profile is surging in our nation. We never take it for granted. I will be back on Morning Joe at 7.50 AM ET on Monday. Until then, let’s make great memories through Football.

Big Love.

Courage.

ROG