20230804 Raven Newsletter

August 04, 2023

Hail GFOP!

I write with fingers braced for the charisma and carnage of World Cup knockout football. I am also braced for darkness. To be honest, I cannot remember a more divisive moment involving our USWNT. Our dynastic women, back to back defending champions, have so far played in a style reminiscent only of the New York Mets. This was meant to be a Three-Peat campaign. But the cumbersome ball movement, absence of width and inability to maintain possession has been astonishing to experience. Like tuning in to see the Last Dance only to witness Jordan and Pippen be swept out numbly in the first round of the playoffs.

Coach Vlakto Andonovski summed it up well when he said “we played Crap.” The only times the team demonstrates their traditional swag is in the Fox pre-tournament commercial and when they roll up to games in those Nike custom-made suits. Everything that has come after has leaned more towards vulnerability than invincibility.

2. USWNT vs. SWEDEN, Round of 16 🇺🇸🇸🇪 (Sunday 5 AM ET, FOX, Telemundo)

And so we meet again, against a so-far perfect Sweden who have recently been akin to our East Dillon Lions but Scando. Worse, our midfield will be Rose Lavelle-less due to suspension. A midfield which has already been unable to exert any semblance of control.

Huge pressure on Vlatko Andonovski who already carries the scar of a damp squib of an Olympic tournament. To add the disaster of leading the first United States team to fail to reach the semi-finals to his resume would place him in the kind of ether known only to Bill Lumbergh in Office Space and Veep’s Selina Meyer in terms of management skills. Things can still change. England made radical changes after two flat performances and came alive in their third match by switching to three at the back and unlocking the sensational Lauren James. Our fate will be determined by Vlatko’s ability to do something similar and fundamentally change our play the five days between games. The reality is, our football has been so direct and predictable, that we are left hoping one of our pacy young stars like Sophia Smith or Trinity Rodman can make something happen. The midfield looks static, bereft of off the ball movement or passing patterns. Only people born in the state of Colorado seem able to score. The one thing we have excelled at is underperforming our Expected Goals. Worse, there have been no signs of being able to create tactical changes via substitution in-game.

Big picture, I remain struck by a conversation I had with captain Lindsey Horan in the first week of the tournament. Lindsey, who currently plies her trade at Lyon, bemoaned the emphasis on the “American style” of football which relies on athleticism in comparison the more European style she has immersed herself in. Her words have become truly prescient:

Lindsey has nailed the core of our problem. And it is profound. About the kinds of footballers we currently develop in the United States. Ones still molded in the dynastic days of the past when Title IX gave our nation a singular first-mover advantage in Women’s Football and our athletic and mentally ferocious players rolled over all-comers. As Women’s Football explodes all around the world – not only in England, Spain, and France – but most thrillingly in Colombia, Nigeria, and Morocco – the play has become increasingly tactically nuanced, overseen by coaches who are influenced by the melting pot of European footballing ideas, and often, the Men’s powerhouse clubs like Chelsea, Barcelona, and Lyon with which they are allied. Whatever happens Sunday morning, when this tournament is over, we must ask ourselves the hardest and most profound strategic questions about the roots of the American youth development system and coaching as the global game becomes ever more tactical, technical and brilliant.

📃 Want to keep up with all things women’s game? Make sure to SUBSCRIBE to our new newsletter The Women’s Game. It’s bringing you everything you need to know about the Women’s World Cup in four minutes a day. SUBSCRIBE TODAY.

The Women's GameWeekly newsletter covering the world of The Women's Game from Men in Blazers Media Network

3. The Case for American hope and a Swedish perspective 🇺🇸🇸🇪

We do have hope. I taped a magical preview with the inimitable Becky Sauerbrunn 🇺🇸 which will drop on Saturday morning. Few Americans are more familiar with knockout stages of the World Cup than her and she talked about just how different knockout football is to the group stage – like the difference between NHL regular season and Stanley Cup playoff intensity – and that the American mentality – the resilience and grit amidst chaos will kick in.

I also taped a tactical preview with the quite incredible Arsenal Women’s manager, Jonas Eidevall 🇸🇪, a Swede who has also coached in the United States. Although he admitted the United States has appeared to be a team lacking clarity in positional play, emphasizing single player attacks and an ineffective press – he described his Swedes as “lucky” to have nine points. I really encourage you to listen to the podcast which also drops on Saturday. He describes Sweden incredibly, as a team who “play in a way purpose-designed to get a lot of corners” getting deeper and wider, crossing in behind the defenders as opposed to cutting the ball back. They obsessively overload the right side, moving their 10 over to add to the pressure. Their weakness is they want to keep everything to the opposition’s left side. If you play it out right, they are vulnerable. There’s the cheat code. Lord, I hope Vlatko is reading this. 

Let us pray that muscle memory kicks in and our team re-summon their ferociousness. Remember this. It could be worse. You could be German or Brazilian. I am old enough to remember the first round of games when they opened up a can of whoopass scoring crackling goals of monstrous ingenuity and power. And now they are both out. We live. We live.

More: From Henry Bushnell at Yahoo Sports: USWNT’s Problems Explained. An important deep-dive read.

More: Your daily updates from the Women’s World Cup sent to your inbox our The Women’s Game newsletter. SUBSCRIBE TODAY and share with any and all of your women’s football fan friends.

4. Round of 16 on MiB Network. We go live with Sam Mewis and Eva Longoria

As that day approaches, a day that now looms so large on the calendar, we are going to be live, broadcasting for close to four straight hours. It starts on Twitch at 4:45 a.m. ET, where we have been sidecasting all tournament with a slew of special guests. This Sunday, World Cup winner, cereal mommy, and “The Greatest Showman” aficionado Sam Mewis will be joined by Eva Longoria, co-owner of Angel City and Necaxa in Liga MX, and comedian Alex Edelman. Follow us on Twitch and do not miss a second as we revel in what has been a tournament of tournaments.

And immediately after the final whistle, we’ll Do it Live! on AMP for a special USWNT breakdown presented by the GFOPs at ESPNW. Come and ask your questions live on the Pod. You can also listen on your Alexa by saying, “Hey Alex, Play Men in Blazers” while we’re live.

5. Catch up on our Coverage. Incredible to speak to these USWNT Stars 🇺🇸

In terms of pre-game listening, you will not want to miss our “Direct from Down Under” series, presented by Bud Light. It has been an honor to make this series of conversations with this team from their camp in New Zealand. These talks have been illuminating on a number of levels. You can listen to the first seven episodes with Naomi Girma, Savannah DeMelo, Emily Sonnett, Lindsey Horan, Trinity Rodman, Emily Fox and US Legend Brandi Chastain all RIGHT HERE. Video versions are also available on our YouTube page. SUBSCRIBE. SUBSCRIBE. SUBSCRIBE.

6. Can we all agree: This has been the greatest Women’s World Cup of all-time?

We tuned in to see if Western Europe had caught up with the United States, only to experience the true wonder of the rest of the world unfurling dizzying, audacious, collective football. This World Cup has been defined by the resiliently brilliant performances of Jamaica, Colombia, Nigeria, Morocco, South Africa, Haiti, and Portugal. There are only 10,000 Women’s players in Portugal. A football mad nation obsessed with Ronaldo and Figo. Young players there now have Jéssica Silva to look to as a role model. Project that forward — and the hyper competitiveness of this competition that will result, and that is truly thrilling.

My highlight so far: Seeing Morocco soar and become one of three African teams – and the first Arab team ever – to reach the knockout rounds, matching the delirium around their men’s team in December. The scenes upon qualification were humanly beautiful but they are no fluke. More the result of heavy investment in both sides of the game, mandated by the King. 🇲🇦

b. Germany. 🇩🇪 Good Lord. In the last four World Cups, men's and women's, Germany have experienced three group-stage exits and suffered two eliminations to South Korea. The Germans have reacted in the most German way. Preparing to launch a root and branch investigation into the strategic roots of the challenge which will overhaul the game there.

c. Farwell Marta. Brazil too were shocked. 🇧🇷 It was incredible to watch Marta, their six-time World Cup ace, act with such class to hug Jamaica’s star Bunny Shaw in the moment. No Man or Woman has scored more than Marta’s 17 World Cup goals. She did not make the moment about herself at all. Instead she passed the Torch with humility and respect.

We wrote about Marta in depth in our book Gods of Soccer. We will never see anyone like her again. Rog on Marta, from 'Gods of Soccer': “Like many of her male compatriots, Marta got her start playing barefoot on the streets of a small impoverished town in northeastern Brazil. Unlike the men who merely lacked boots, however, Marta also lacked infrastructure. Marta not only had to beat her opponents. She had to constantly prove women belonged on the football field in the first place.” Featuring 35+ of the Greatest Women’s Soccer Players of all time (according to us), Gods of Soccer is the perfect Women’s World Cup companion. Pick up your copy HERE. 📗📚📖

d. The Favorites? Japan. 🇯🇵 They can do things with the ball no-one can match. Their clinicality has been eye-popping, and their ability to rotate and keep fresh, unparalleled. Read more here. England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 too are stirring. Their unpredictability may be their strength.

For a daily recap of all the Women’s World Cup action, make sure to SUBSCRIBE TO THE WOMEN’S GAME NEWSLETTER, written by the inimitable Meg Swanick. Our goal is to deliver a concise, intelligent framing of every day of football during the World Cup so you can maximize your viewing pleasure. If you like this newsletter, SUBSCRIBE TO THE WOMEN’S GAME. And if you’re already subscribed, please do us a favor and forward it to a friend. It helps more than we can say.

7. Community Shield: Manchester City vs. Arsenal (Sunday, 11 AM ET, ESPN+)

Season’s curtain raiser. Let’s all read too much into it. Remember last year, how we wrote Erling Haaland off and declared Darwin Nunez to be a demigod?

Men in Blazers x Bud Light Sweepstakes - Exclusive Prizes for GFOPs 🍺

You’ve long known about the GFOPs at Bud Light’s support of the game we all love. Now, they’re giving us the chance to give away some exclusive prizes only to those of you reading this newsletter. Entering is easy: just head to budlight.com/MIB to enter for your chance to win signed gear, exclusive Bud Light merch, and more.*

8. Wrexham. America’s Team begin their New Campaign 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🐲

It has been amazing to witness Wrexham, a League Two team, power their way across the United States, playing to sold-out stadia as if they were a K-Pop band. Brilliant piece of writing here on the phenomenon here by Adam Elder.

A new J=journey begins tomorrow, when the Red Dragons kick-off their first season in the Football League for the first time in 15 tortuous years in exile, hosting MK Dons (Saturday 10 AM ET on iFollow) The game will be live tweeted for US Fans here.

b. Our New Wrexham Series is a bundle of Wonder: 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🐲

It has been one of the joys of the summer to go deep on this Wrexham story, which has been fascinating to witness from afar. We have just launched episodes three and four of our new series, “Wrexham in the USA,” Powered by the GFOPs at SToK Coldbrew. The third episode features goalkeeper, podcaster, golfer, cyclist, and triathlete Ben Foster. It is almost annoying when someone can do as many things as well as Ben. But hot damn is he good in episode three, where he talks about his history as a chef, and then his journey from Wrexham to the Premier League and back again. A truly lovely human being. LISTEN HERE.

And Episode four features the real Fresh Prince of Philadelphia, the one and only Rob McElhenney, a gent whose passion for football burns with the heat of 1000 suns. We admire Rob and everything that he and Ryan are building. The way they have listened first. LISTEN TO THE POD HERE. It is fresh out the lab and not to be missed.

And a special thanks to the GFOPs at SToK Cold Brew who have made this series possible. It is a brand that we love, both because of the product, which has long been in our fridge. But also because of the people behind it. A group of people who, like us, run on passion. We cannot thank them enough for their support.

PS - Let us introduce you to our Wrexham correspondent for this upcoming year. A man who goes by two words: TOMMY. CHEESE. If Scorsese was Welsh, this would be the star of his “Mean Streets.” We’ll leave it there for now. But WATCH THIS and you’ll get a sense of the man.

Be on the lookout for a very special Wrexham giveaway in next week’s edition thanks to our great friends at SToK Coldbrew 👀. You won’t want to miss this - and your friends won’t either. Make sure to SHARE THE RAVEN and make sure your Wrexham-crazy mates are ready for this giveaway.

More: Preview the Wrexham Season. Pôb lwc!

9. Tom Brady to Birmingham 🤯

Yesterday, Tom Brady announced he has purchased a minority stake in Championship staples Birmingham City who are owned by a New York-based investor Knighthead Capital Management. He will serve as chairman of a new advisory board. Brady adds Birmingham to an ownership portfolio which includes Las Vegas Raiders, Las Vegas Aces and some pickleball action amongst others.

More here but we are living in surreal days when this kind of news has almost become a norm. How long until Brady’s Birmingham sign Brady super-fan Harry Kane and play JJ Watt’s Burnley. Also this: Which NFL character will buy Everton? Johnny Manziel probs.

10. More Football, Did Ya Say?

iv. AC Milan are poised to sign Yunus Musah alongside Pulisic and become Serie U-S-A. Here their CEO Giorgio Furlani talks about the plan.

Canadian GFOPs 🇨🇦: An Exclusive Offer from FuboTV

We love our friends north of the border, and FuboTV loves football as much as we do. FuboTV is Canada’s home to streaming live soccer with 57+ live channels of soccer and other top sports. With the 23/24 PL fixtures just announced, there’s no better time to head to FuboTV and get the entire Premier League season for as low as $14.99/mo with an annual soccer plan. To learn more check out fubo.tv/signup.

11. Not Football and All the Better for It

i. Moroccan women NOT ONLY killing it on land (hello WWC knockout stage) but in the water too: The Women Making Waves in Moroccan Surfing.

ii. Incredible video of the Mike Dean of Orthodontia. The stuff nightmares are made of.

iii. Loved seeing Succession star (and former MiB guest) Sarah Snook on the cover of Variety this month. Shiv could only dream of such heights.

v. There are few greater delights in life than fish and chips. So why are British Chippies disappearing? The Guardian investigates.

vi. Are City Dogs Better Off Than Country Dogs?. No dogs quoted in this article. Incredibly irresponsible.

viii. How to start an open water swimming routine. 1) Jump into body of water 2) Start swimming 3) Try not to think about the terrifying unknown below.

ix. I Trekked an Entire European Country in Three Days, Less impressive when you find out it's Liechtenstein. I dream of going on a European hiking holiday. And would bite your arm off to walk Liechtenstein.

x. Texas Monthly is the best. Have you ever cared about Snow Monkeys in Texas? After reading this you will: My Search for the Snow Monkeys of South Texas.

xi. We've written about how much we love filmmaker Salima Koroma's work before. See "Dreamland: The Burning of Black Wall Street." And the direct (and massive Liverpool fan) has a new film out that we cannot wait to devour. "Glitch: The Rise & Fall of HQ Trivia," which is NOW AVAILABLE ON MAX. It is wonderful when good things happen to great people. Watch Salima's work and know you are supporting a wonderful storyteller and even better human being. The Jurgen Klopp of Documentary Filmmaking.

xii. This song powered my week:  Summer by Steady Holiday and Jim James. Again, I love a woozy duet.

That is it for today. We have a really lovely Mauricio Pochettino interview dropping on Monday. A ton of Women’s World Cup coverage, and join me on Thursday for a Premier League Pre-Season Amp in which we will take all of your questions. So much Football. Let’s savor every second and make great memories.

Go! Go! USA

Courage.

ROG

HOMAGE USWNT Collection

Pay homage to the history of 90s sports that I love, and get ready for the 2023 Women’s World Cup. This collection takes us back to the iconic moment when Brandi Chastain's penalty kick secured victory against China, a moment that still reverberates in our collective memory. It was a turning point, a moment when

*BUD LIGHT® “MEN IN BLAZERS” SWEEPSTAKES. No Purchase Necessary. Open to US residents 21+. Begins 4/4/23 and ends 12/31/23. Multiple entry periods. See Official Rules at https://budlight.com/MIBSweeps for entry deadlines, prizes and details. Message and data rates may apply. Void where prohibited. ENJOY RESPONSIBLY. © 2023 Anheuser-Busch, Bud Light® Beer, Light Beer, St. Louis, MO