20230811 Raven Newsletter

Hail GFOP!

I type with fingers giddy, yet braced, for all that is to come. Premier League Season 2023-34 is upon us. Our cup o’ football overfloweth. I always say this ritual prayer at this time: The first morning of any Premier League season is among the finest days of the year. Up there in our book with Veterans Day, Memorial Day, and Independence Day. Squads have been refreshed. New players have arrived. Everyone has a dapper new haircut. The ink on their recently acquired neck tattoos has barely dried. Few occasions in football carry such a sense of collective anticipation and hope. Three hundred eighty fresh, shiny, new games lie ahead of us over 282 days. Each an unknown voyage of discovery within which everything feels pure and possible. Rationally, the Premier League may be a set of mini leagues within a league (seven teams battling for top four, four for the sweet haven of mid-table obscurity, the rest to avoid relegation), but on the first day of the season every fan suspends disbelief and listens to their fast-beating heart which assures them that their team's newly acquired striker will hit the ground running and score 25 league goals, the injury-prone playmaker will have the season of his life, and the young loanee from Seville whose name is unpronounceable will reveal himself to be a diamond in the rough. The moment before the referee's whistle blows is one thick with prayer. A ball has not been kicked. Dreams are not yet dashed. Everything is possible. I raise my Third First Bud Light of the day to collective repression: Football is a hell of a drug.

I have come to realize about football: there is no such thing as free will. As the stoic Roman philosopher Seneca once said when talking about the Premier League, "Fate leads the willing, and drags along the reluctant." In that vein. We all know Manchester City will win the title by double figure points. Luton and Everton gonna be relegated. And the top six gonna be the same as last year apart from Chelsea back in it, but none of that matters. When this season kicks off at 3 p.m. ET today when Manchester City crush Burnley it will feel as dizzying as if we all were invited to JJ Watt's Bar Mitzvah… and it’s soccer themed.

More: The Premier League is back for its first normal, with crowds, uncluttered season. It has rarely been less normal. Barney Ronay’s take on all that is to come.

👀 Here are my predictions for the final league table. Let me know what you think. 🍻

🏆 Big Note: THE MEN IN BLAZERS SHOW returns for our 10th season with NBC Sports this weekend, beginning this Sunday on Peacock with old friend-turned Chelsea head coach Mauricio Pochettino, whom I spent the morning with in Philadelphia. Ten Seasons. The same number as Friends, Beverly Hills, 90210, and JAG. All the Greats. That feels like a mad, mad moment. To have cracked a decade with a football show in a nation that was long said to be averse to the sport. For the United States to have truly fallen in love with it in that same time frame – that, despite the fact that we were broadcasting football on the regs. Is deeply meaningful. 🍻

☕️ SToK Coldbrew x MiB Replica Wrexham Kit Giveaway 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

We have one of the incredible replica kits from Wrexham’s US summer tour, and we’re giving it away in today’s Raven thanks to the GFOPs at SToK Coldbrew. ☕️ . Simply answer the poll below to enter and make sure to leave your email address in the “Additional Information” section once answering so we know how to contact you if you win.

2. To the Football 🏆

i. Burnley vs. Manchester City (This Afternoon, 3 p.m. ET, USA)

How will the Dynastic Happy Flowers Team follow up their treble season? With a Fourpeat. Pep Guardiola in his seventh season is in a one-man crusade to turn this into a farmers league, all while making cargo pants with the pockets on the front happen. This is a squad in transition: Gundogan gone to Barca. Mahrez decamped for Saudi Arabia. But they still got Goal Orgy lovin’ Haaland, that master poet KDB, Pep’s son Foden, Gucci bag’s Jack Grealish, Barnsley Beckenbauer John Stones, World Cup winner Julian Alvarez, Baby Faced Slaughterer Cole Palmer, and new signing 100 million dollar Josko Gvardiol bringing some hulking muscle at the back. AKA too much for JJ Watt’s Burnley™, despite them having been remixed by City legend Vincent Kompany into a progressive, dynamic collective. The Clarets mustered 101 points in the championship last season but will find the Premier League a more pragmatic challenge. These two teams met in the FA Cup last March and City obliterated their aspirational opponents 6-0. New boy goalkeeper James Trafford, freshly signed for $28M from City, will most probably be given a cavity check of a game against his old team.

More: The Fall and Rise of Burnley. JJ Watt’s Claret Army™

ii. Arsenal vs. Nottingham Forest (Saturday, 7.30 a.m. ET, P’Cock)

In what will be one of the most compelling storylines of the season, Mikel Arteta’s gaggle will attack the Premier League, believing, revitalized and re-energized at real cost, they can summit first. Last season ended so cruelly with a young squad’s epic sprint falling short and being labeled “bottlers.” The new arrivals since are startling. A pile o’ cash exchanged for a fascinating blend of youth and experience: Declan Rice for $134 million is the statement signing. Kai Havertz has a fresh start too. The deft passing of versatile Dutch defender Jurrien Timber will be welcomed. All so young, yet to hit their peak, but with 95 caps between the three of them, they will be raring to go on a team that is built to win now, with vulnerabilities like Granit Xhaka expunged. So much of this will depend on Mikel Arteta’s beautiful mind. I admire his leadership so much and his ability to persuade his young squad that the foundation of success is failure will be fascinating to watch. I have thought a lot about this interview during the off-season.  

One note on Matt Turner, Bergen County Buffon, who was sold to Nottingham Forest: Matt came on our show towards the end of last season and admitted just how badly he ached for Premier League minutes (LISTEN HERE). Some predicament. To be caught between playing for Arsenal, the club you dreamed of playing for as a kid. A dream that must have felt as far-fetched as yours or mine. But he had made that dream come true, only to realize that to secure the US No. 1 spot he had to leave to find regular playing time. Matt is a beautiful gent. A really noble soul. We wish him well. 🇺🇸

iii. Everton vs. Fulham (Saturday, 10 a.m. ET, P’Cock)

What is a football season without hope? Everton fans are about to find out. Fool me once with your relegation dalliances. Shame on you. Fool me twice. Shame on me. Fool me three times… I just don’t know anymore. We have 38 games ahead of us. Three thousand four hundred and twenty minutes of dire, fraught football to suffer through like snow falling on snow, or dog turd falling on dog turd. We are Ashley Young’s team now as Financial Fair Play judgements are expected to be handed out in October. AKA we are all on a voyage of the doomed.

To be honest, I spoke to Sean Dyche on Tuesday (we will release the conversation next week on our YouTube (subscribe now). I had never chatted to him before, and was left with a real appreciation for his ability to inspire, motivate, and ground it all in honesty and truth. There is no self-deception there. No BS. He knows he is in for a grinding ground battle. That it is going to be a brutal journey, devoid of romance and dreams. This will be shinpads, tin-helmets and bayonets, lads. Will it work? I honestly do not know.

iv. Brentford vs. Tottenham (Sunday, 9 a.m. ET, P’Cock)

A game defined by the two strikers not there. Brentford will certainly miss the direct clinicality of Ivan Toney, out until mid-January for breaching the Premier League’s gambling rules. But as of yesterday, and despite Dan Levy’s last second brinkmanship, Tottenham Hotspur will finally sell Harry Kane for $100M, as he becomes the Bundesliga’s most expensive player of all-time, and may feature in the DFL-Supercup final against RB Leipzig.

Kane’s departure is an astonishing footballing moment. It is an astonishing human moment. The most potent British striker of his generation is leaving Tottenham after 19 years, when he had the Premier League’s all-time goal-scoring record in his sights. An elite competitor has chosen a fresh start, and the chance to win silverware – Title Glory and to challenge in Champions League – over individual records. On a personal front, he will have to move to play in a foreign culture for the first time, relocating his pregnant wife and young kids, lifting them from the only footballing reality he has known – gent grew up 15 minutes from Spurs’ stadium. It is a remarkable moment. One that Spurs fans have long feared. We will never hear the song, “He’s one of our own” ring out again, or if we do, it will be in Teutonic tones, in one very long German compound noun.

Tottenham fans, the day you have long feared is here. I feel your pain. Two brightsides: You now have Bale money to squander again. And new manager Ange Postecoglou has a methodology that has been patented. Arrive. Rid the club of their most iconic players. Begin the rebuild. Struggle for the first month as the players adapt to your uncompromising vision. Then win. Step one has been unlocked. Bayern fans. Look after Harry. Arsenal fans, stop your gloating.

Watch this now: Ange Postecoglou joined MiB to tell his incredible life journey. Impossible to watch without admiring his humanity.

More: Kane brinkmanship is a huge risk so close to the start of the season. Miguel Delaney on the Dan Levy way.

v. Chelsea vs. Liverpool (Sunday, 11.30 a.m. ET, P’Cock)

Winner gets to keep Moises Caicedo. Chelsea begin their Mauricio Pochettino-era by welcoming Jurgen Klopp as both teams battle to break the British transfer record for the Ecuadorian clenched fist Moises Caicedo of Brighton. Poch will begin his good vibes cultural rebuild after an off-season in which his club have cleared the deadwood and gone younger, and rawer. Our gent Tyler Adams - who was thought to be among the new young faces to have arrived - now appears to be staying at Leeds after the clubs were unable to reach an agreement for our young midfielder at the very last. New striker Christoper Nkunku will, cruelly, be out for the first four months. Young Senegalese speedster Nicolas Jackson has appeared lethal in pre-season. Liverpool have also lost a slew of veteran guile – no team has felt the monied magnetic pull of Saudi Arabia more as even Jordan Henderson leapt for one last enormous pay day, gutting the Reds’ midfield. Liverpool fans can take solace in the arrival of young talent-soaked wonders, Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mcallister, and the fact that their attacking arsenal of Jota, Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz, and the Egyptian King are all fit after last season’s staccato campaign.

Big Read: Will the power of American money change the Premier League?

Two Great Premier League Reads:

1. Rory Smith on the magical rise of tiny Luton.

2. Wolves courted Lopetegui for years. How did it go wrong so quickly?

More: Full first Premier League weekend Match Schedule.

3. World Cup: Plumbing the Wreckage of a tournament filled with American vulnerability and Agony 🏆🇺🇸

i. Don’t know about you. I am still reeling after our United States Women suffered our worst ever World Cup campaign. A damp squib journey which feels existential. This is a team whose culture is built around invincibility generation to generation. That self-image has been profoundly shaken. We are left with the backsplash of an ugly culture war, and dueling headlines: Does the 2023 World Cup signal the end of USWNT dominance? or “The world should be terrified of the US at World Cup 2027”. Which one you believe is more of a “Choose your own adventure.” It really depends on what US Soccer do now. Do we see this as a blip, that will be corrected with a mental approach flicked to revenge and redemption settings? Or is this a moment for profound and deep reflection about our historic strengths and current vulnerabilities that will lead to change in coaching, youth development, squad selection and tactics?

Only time will tell, but this is very much in our hands.

ii. I have to say, despite the agony of our Swedish exit, I have savored every second of covering this tournament. To watch the games on Twitch with Sam Mewis and Becky Sauerbrunn is truly an honor. Two greater human beings you will not meet, and the joy of these conversations – with the likes of Mikaela Shiffrin, Eva Longoria, and EARLY SATURDAY MORNING – JESSICA ALBA joining – has been a truly rich human experience.

One of my favorite aspects of the tournament has been the tactical conversations I have had with Arsenal Women’s manager Jonas Eidevall. If you want an objective, detailed, really thoughtful analysis of what the United States needs to do to regain their winning edge, please give this show a listen. I learned so bloody much.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🇨🇴 TOMORROW, SATURDAY MORNING, WE TWITCH AGAIN FOR ENGLAND COLOMBIA: It’s going down at the comparatively civilized hour of 6:15 a.m. ET. We will be joined by Brendan Hunt and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff 🇺🇸 FOLLOW US HERE.

i. Which England will turn up? A reminder you are only as good as your last 90 minutes.

ii. When it comes to Colombia and their incredible women, this video is amazing.

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.*

4. The Men in Blazers. In the Lab. Cooking. Like Cousin Richie 

What a week it has been at Men in Blazers World Headquarters. Pods Daily. YouTube Videos rolling off the factory line. Women’s World Cup Twitches at all hours. Premier League Preview Pods. Interviews with Premier League players and managers. Digital Videos for days.

Here’s a few pieces of cannot miss content:

a. Premier League Preview Podcast - Rog previews the entire season that stretches out before us and reveals his prediction for every team 1 - 20. LISTEN HERE.

b. Ange Postecoglou Interview - Spurs new transformational changemaker reveals the secret to elite football management: calling everyone “Mate.”

c. Pod Special with Rebecca Lowe and Brendan Hunt - A joyous Women’s World Cup review with some Premier League sprinkled on top. Also, what did Becs say that caused Brendan Hunt to pour an entire bottle of water on his head?

d. This Week in the Messiverse - Death, Taxes, MESSI BANGERS.

Subscribe to our other Newsletters and please share with friends: 🍻

THE WOMEN’S GAME, everything you need to know about the World Cup in a four-minute, digestible read.

AMERICAN STATES UNITED, a round up of how our best and brightest are faring abroad, delivered directly into your inbox. Don’t have a streaming service that gives you access to the Turkish Super Lig? THIS IS THE NEWSLETTER FOR YOU.

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.

5. Not Football, and All the Better for it

i. How Leeds became the epicenter of UK Hip Hop. Strangely, Brenden Aaronson’s American Boy chant has nothing to do with this.

ii. Hell in a ham milkshake: I tried to make eight dishes from The Bear. It nearly broke me. Yes, Chef.

iii. This David Byrne interview is very, very good.

iv. “You can’t smell the horseshit, until it’s the only thing you can." Amy McCarthy explores the “huckster’s paradise” that is Branson, Missouri, the Dinner Theater capital of the world: Dinner Theater and Loathing in Baptist Vegas.

v. The good people at Dunkin’ have obviously been listening to our early morning WWC twitches: Dunkin' Spiked Coffee and Tea Are (Apparently) Coming Soon.

vi. Ignore the old adage! Judge away! 50 best designed book covers of 2022.

vii. Some lovely photographs in here: I Wanted to Capture the Fleeting Magic of a Summer at Camp. TBH Every year I consider quitting my life to become a camp counselor again.

viii. Can someone confirm that Tampa is a real place? Tampa Mayor Went Fishing, Caught 70 Pound Block of Cocaine.

ix. The U.S. Could Be Getting a New National Park. Fantastic news for Georgia residents and members of the Muscogee Creek Nation.

x. Rolling Stone records An Oral History of ‘The Fugitive’, the single movie I have watched most without sound, on the screens of airline passengers next to me (four times and counting).

xi. The Mysterious Origins of ‘X’ in Algebra. When they find the bastard that introduced letters into math, SEND THEM MY WAY.

xii. There are worse pursuits to devote your life to (like following Everton): The Quest for the Perfect Mai Tai.

xiii. Martin Scorsese pays tribute to the inimitable Robbie Robertson, who passed away this week. "There’s never enough time with anyone you love. And I loved Robbie."

xiv. I love this song so much: Where are your Kids Tonight? By the immense CMAT and John Grant (whom I love so bloody much). The chorus is life.

That is it for today. I want to finish by sending love to all our friends in Hawaii. It has been so excruciating to witness all of that beauty, all of that history, all of that wonder be devastated on the island of Maui. Be safe. Wishing all love and strength. If you're able to donate, please do so here.

Let’s savor all that is to come this season together. Let’s support each other – especially the Everton fans in your life – over the course of the next 38 matchdays. Let’s make collective memories that last a lifetime. Let’s not take a second for granted.

Big Love,

Courage.

ROG

*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