20230901 Raven Newsletter

September 01, 2023

Hail GFOP!

I type with fingers crackling with equal measures of feeling Hope and Doom. That oxymoronic collision of feelings unique to Transfer Deadline Day AKA Fabrizio Romano’s Bar Mitzvah to which the whole world is invited. An agonizing drip of information and breathless Sky Sports news reports. A day in which the glaring vulnerability that plagues your team can be flipped into a strength, courtesy of a handsome new arrival announced at any moment before 6 PM ET tonight. Unless it is not, in which case… doom spiral the moment the window closes, or technically, “Slams shut.”

There is a middle ground. I will never forget deadline day in 2008, when Everton, amidst perpetual rumors that the great Argentine midfielder, Juan Riquelme was dead set on joining Everton, we instead announced the arrival of a 20-year-old unknown Marouane Fellaini. Most of us had no idea what or who he was, but the Belgian Baby giraffe who arrived proceeded to become a cult hero, revealing himself to be football’s greatest Angry Sunflower over five delicious years at Everton. However, there are other days when the window ticks down and you end up with placeholders like Royston Drenthe and Denis Stracqualurisi. Football’s equivalent of a swift punch to your own down belows, and a slightly soiled roll of toilet paper. A symbol of the darkness of the season to come. On Transfer Deadline Day, the Cavalry is always coming. Until it is not.

With the emergence of the big spending Saudi League, this has already been a record transfer window with $8.31 billion dollars already splurged. Lots of action today with signings and official announcements aplenty: Liverpool bolster their midfield even further with Bayern Munich gem Ryan Gravenberch; Sofyan Amrabat will augment United’s confused midfield. Bayern ply away Fulham's Joao Palhinha. Barca’s fallen-prodigy Ansu Fati will arrive at Brighton. Tottenham drip-drip-dripped their way to a successful negotiation on Ariel Helwani’s hero Brennan Johnson.

One Professional Note: 💙At MiB Media Network we are coming off a massive month. Our Women’s World Cup trumped the numbers we achieved even for our Men’s World Cup. Proof that the audience for football in this nation is ever-growing. Testament to the remarkable times we are living through with a World Cup, Messi, the return of the Premier League, Mighty Wrexham, and the Great Sam Mewis. To more. To more.

Let’s keep savoring every moment. Please keep spreading our pods, videos and newsletters as far and wide as possible. We do not take your support and love for granted. 🙌

Also this: We are beyond thrilled to witness AJ Finley make the LA Chargers roster. He is the partner of our producer, the mighty Ruby Draayer. We have lived through a mini-version of Hard Knocks at MiB as AJ fought his way onto the roster. Godspeed to them both. Bolt Up! ⚡️

2. To the Football 🍻🍻🍻

i. Luton vs. West Ham (This Afternoon, 3PM ET, USA)

Kenilworth Road, capacity 10,356, belatedly returns to Premier League action after a $13M renovation that makes it as fit for purpose as possible. In truth, the venue remains as charmingly minor-league as ever, with away fans entering their section by trudging through a gap between two terrace houses. The Luton fans are high on passion, low on expectations, and the intimate stadium will be a bearpit for the arrival of Brighton-slayers West Ham this afternoon.

ii. Sheffield United vs. Everton (Saturday, 7.30 AM ET, USA)

Let’s rip the weekend band-aid of certain defeat right off, early doors. I will be up early with a Bud Light in one hand and a glass of STöK’s finest Cold Brewed coffee in the other, to witness a clash which is less a game of football, more a knife-fight to the death between Ralph Wiggum and Eeyore. Neither Everton nor the newly promoted Blades have managed to pick up a single point in the Premier League this season. Two Dead Men Enter. One Dead Man leaves. PS: Beto Golden Boot campaign starts now.

iii. Chelsea vs. Nottingham Forest (Saturday, 10 AM ET, USA)

A resurgent Raheem Sterling was left out of the England team. Something Gareth Southgate admitted the player was unhappy about. Could this snub prove to be the best thing that happens to Chelsea this season? The one thing this newly assembled, hyper-young, yet talent-soaked squad cries out for is veteran leadership. A recommitted and hurt Raz dragging his charges on a redemption mission, inspiring the likes of Nicolas Jackson alongside of him would be Poch’s dream. On your toes, Matt Turner!

PS. Chelsea’s signing of Cole Palmer is some coup. Poch had asked for a forward capable of playing across the front-line. Palmer is an ecstasy.

iv. JJ Watt’s Burnley™ vs. Tottenham (Saturday, 10 AM ET, USA)

Ange Postecoglou warned us about his transformative methodology, and that the beginnings of his tenure are always turbulent. His Spurs experience thus far has been as smooth as James Maddison’s close shave. Will this trip to fight-or flight Turf Moor be the reality check he has braced us all for?

PS. Expect Spurs squad to look very different come the end of the transfer window as Dan Levy manipulates the deadline in his Brennan Johnson and Connor Gallagher negotiations.

v. Brighton vs. Newcastle (Saturday, 12.30 PM ET, NBC Proper)

After landing in the Champions League group of death, Eddie Howe must journey down to Brighton and attempt to fend off his third straight defeat. The Toon’s electric transition game will be a complex challenge for the Seagulls, who must rebound from the trauma of being Moysed. Arse-slapped 3-1 by West Ham despite dominating the game with 79% possession.

More: The lowdown on Carlos Baleba, the 19-year-old the Seagulls have plucked from Lille after making just 19 appearances there. Chelsea fans, you will pay $150M for this kid in 12 months time.

vi. Liverpool vs. Aston Villa (Sunday 9 AM ET, USA)

After the smoke has cleared on that epic 10-man Darwin Nunez-inflected win at St. James’ Park which felt as historically significant as the Sacking of Carthage, Unai Emery will be a wiley, complex opponent for Klopp to match-up to and continue the Good Vibes. The drumbeat for Darwin, that large bottle of Everclear in human form, to start is a storyline to watch. Whether Mo Salah will still be a member of the squad or has sensationally decamped for $190M to Saudi Arabia is the most surreal storyline of the late transfer window.

More: Mo and the Saudi rumors that will not go away. Remember: The Saudi transfer window lasts one more agonizing week.

vii. Arsenal vs. Manchester United (Sunday 11.30 AM ET, NBC Proper)

Two teams, big in name, small in performance. Both have won two of their first three games, but neither has truly convinced. Arsenal’s football has appeared over complex. United’s midfield remains one of the football’s world’s most expensive works perpetually in progress. Their squad now undermined by a rash of injuries with Raphael Varane now out for a few weeks joining Shaw, Mount and Malacia. The loser of this once title-determining clash will hear only the screech of the early season’s club in crisis klaxon.

3. For all of you who have been lifelong Milan fans for the last two months 🇮🇹🇺🇸🤌

League leading AC Milan (who are now so American the AC is rumored to stand for Atlantic City) will look to build on their perfect record as Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah travel to Rome and face a Mourinho team that's gleaned one point from a possible six and just lost to Verona, so Mou will be in a great mood. (Mou has said it is up to newly-acquired Lukaku if he plays.) Milan manager Stefano Pioli hinted Christian, who has scored twice in two games, could be deployed as a false nine at the Stadio Olimpico.

More: Inside Pulisic’s whirlwind start to life in Milan. Targeted training, and the “need to improve the defensive side of his game.”

4. Spain: Rubiales agony continues to spill out in slow motion 🇪🇸😢

It was incredible to watch player of the year, Aitana Bonmati and English Coach Sarina Wiegman speak out against Rubiales and the Spanish Federation when accepting their awards at the UEFA meeting yesterday. The World Cup winning Bonmati said, "Our generation wants to make a legacy for the future. We need executives and institutions to fight for our fight so players have what they deserve.”

It was exponentially less great to witness all of the male winners keep their silence. UEFA is still to put out an official statement about Rubiales who is vice-president of the organization. Make no mistake: When he falls, and he will fall, he will be painted as “one bad apple.” He is not. A culture of misogyny and unchecked power abounds in football. This is, and never has been about just one man. The silence that surrounds Rubiales speaks volumes. Football bureaucracy is riddled with men cut from the same cloth.

And: Football needs more women making decisions. Our friend Lise Klaevness, the Norwegian football president, talks about how hard it is to create change at the global level

5. This Week at Men in Blazers World Headquarters

What is a week? Is it 168 hours? Is it 10080 minutes? Is it a collection of Pods, YouTube and digital videos? So much content this week, and so much of it transfer window focused. We chopped it up with Fabrizio Romano, the man with the fastest thumbs in football Monday for a MiB x Here We Go Crossover Pod, Presented by New Balance, in which he revealed that when he does sleep, he dreams about football. Wednesday, on a special Do it Live!, we peeled back the curtain on what it’s like to be in a Premier League War Room during the Transfer Window with former Nottingham Forest CEO and Connecticut’s own Dane Murphy. LISTEN HERE . And yesterday, we released the latest episode of VAMOS with Herc Gomez, Presented by Bud Light in which Herc was joined by The Athletic’s Tom Bogert, he of Scoops and a Stache, to talk about the biggest moves in North American soccer. REVEL IN IT HERE. Stay tuned to our social for complete coverage of all of today’s happenings.

🚨 PAXTEN AARONSON KIT GIVEAWAY 🚨

We have a Paxten Aaronson Eintracht Frankfurt home kit to give away to one of you thanks to the GFOPs at Eintracht Frankfurt US. WE ARE GIVING IT AWAY IN OUR AMERICAN STATES UNITED NEWSLETTER next Wednesday. A small thank you for sharing in our men and women abroad with us. Want to win? SUBSCRIBE NOW for your chance to win 📰

American States UnitedWeekly recaps of our American Men and Women on foreign shores

ii. Another piece of content we’re proud of this week: the latest episode of This Week in the Messiverse, our YouTube series covering all things GOAT. Discover how Lionel Messi faces his most daunting task yet: leading Inter Miami to the MLS playoffs. Dive into the strategies, struggles, and moments of magic that could turn this underdog story into a soccer legend's crowning achievement.

iii. We are putting so much content on our YouTube channel right now. Content that is not available anywhere else on the Men in Blazers Network like THIS INTERVIEW WITH THE USMNT’S CHRIS RICHARDS. SUBSCRIBE so that you never miss a video.

6. US Men’s National Team is about to Avenger Assemble 🇺🇸

Gregg Berhalter BACK. The resurrected one called 24 American players into camp after this weekend’s games. This week he dropped a long interview with Vanity Fair in which he said he has not spoken to Gio Reyna since the World Cup and is consulting meditators in terms of how to do so. Gio is actually one of a number of stars out with injury. Tyler Adams another big miss as the US girds their loins to play a pair of games against Uzbekistan on Sept. 9 in St. Louis before grappling with Oman three days later in Minnesota.

Four uncapped players make the list including a truly new face in Palermo’s Kristoffer Lund. The 21-year-old left back has represented Denmark at five youth international levels and moved from Swedish side BK Hacken to Serie B side Palermo this season, ticking the American-Scando role vacant since the disappearance of our mate Mix Diskerud. No Gaga Slonina. Paxten Aaronson is prob looking at Cade Cowell’s slot and thinking, what am I missing? The only answer is: a mustache.

7. JULIE ERTZ ANNOUNCES HER RETIREMENT IN THE CLASSIEST WAY 🇺🇸🏆

Farewell Julie Ertz who announced her retirement yesterday, after 122 career international appearances in 8 seasons, winning two World Cups and participating in a third after returning to football, a mere 241 days after giving birth. Ertz was a singular force on the football field. The spine of every team she played on. A velvet hammer. Tough in the tackle and trusted with the ball. The engine that constantly propelled the US Women forward during one of its most triumphant eras. We will not see her like again.

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. I taped a show about my love of Music with Nic Hacourt

I loved this. Nic was the host of Morning Becomes Eclectic and is someone whose music filter has given me insane amounts of pleasure in my own life. Loved talking with him. Big Villa fan too. We talked about the first song I ever purchased, first gig I ever went to, the music I listen to when I am sad and more. Lovely, lovely conversation. Listen Here

9. Not Football and all the Better for It

i. This photographer best captures the Liverpool I grew up in. The poverty and the proud defiance. I love his stuff.

ii. 6 States, 2 time zones, and one huge decapitated moose: Behold the ‘World’s Longest Yard Sale’.

iii. Jamie Loftus is one of my favorite bylines and is responsible for 100% of my knowledge (and nightmares) about competitive eating: Everything You Never Knew About Competitive Eating. USA! USA! USA!

iv. Can't get enough Oppenheimer? Maxed out your AMC a-list for the week? Same! Behold Rachel Greenley's fantastic essay for Orion Magazine: The Atomic Disease.

v. Not the easiest read, but a masterclass in digital journalism courtesy of The Washington Post: How the Maui wildfires devastated Lahaina, hour by hour.

vi. The Top Marathons Ignored Him. Then Nathan Martin Set a Record That Changed His Life. The top marathons are ignoring me too, but I'm choosing not to do anything about it.

vii. Great reads and some FANTASTIC covers in today's edition of The New Yorker's The Best Books We've Read This Week.

viii. This Year’s Hot Air Balloon Festival Coincides with a Solar Eclipse. What shape would a MiB balloon take I wonder?? So. Much. Hot. Air.

ix. "Marilyn Monroe was there. Jackie Kennedy was there. John Wayne was there. Nat King Cole was there." Vulture previews the upcoming book, But Will You Love Me Tomorrow?: An Oral History of the ’60s Girl Groups. 

xii. THIS SONG IS INCREDIBLE: Getdown Services - Get Back Jamie. It has made me so happy, so many times when I have needed it.

That is it for today. I will end with a lovely Raven from GFOP Bjorn Stromsness who wrote: “Hey Rog. I've been listening and watching Men in Blazers for years now, every time I see Everton lose, I get a little twinge of sorrow for you. I'm wondering if you have similar feelings about other clubs where you feel bad for a mate when they lose. I'm pretty sure you have some teams you enjoy seeing lose because of some horrible person they count among their fan base. Which teams do you enjoy seeing lose because someone you know is a fan and why is it Arsenal and Piers Morgan?”

Thank you for your love and empathy Bjorn. I am so bloody grateful. Your question really made me think. I used to take pleasure in Manchester United losing in the Sir Alex Ferguson-era. Mostly because they so rarely did. But I realize, as I have become older, and life feels ever more a gift, the anger and the hate that used to be such a part of my intrinsic fandom as an English kid – in which football felt like an expression of local pride – has fallen away. Being a fan in America has changed the way I experience football. With a sense of love, and wonder, attempting to focus on the positives and truly transcendent moments. As a kid, Liverpool’s comeback against Newcastle last week would have CRUSHED ME. Yet, watching Darwin and Klopp hug post game made me realize, if you cannot savor the humanity in moments like that, you are missing out on life itself. To more joy. To more transcendence. To more moments of profound connection and feeling alive.

Let’s savor every second together

Big Love.

Courage.

ROG

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