20230929 Raven Newsletter

September 29, 2023

Hail GFOP!

I type with fingers storming with woefully misplaced confidence. Everton Football Club have won two big boy games on the bounce, blasting five goals in the process. This weekend, we host bottom-dwelling Luton Town who have not eked out a win all season. What could possibly go wrong now? Football fandom is an incredible thing. The mood swings it confers are like none other in life. For the first five weeks of the season, we were winless, gutless, and I was floundering around New York City like Jean Paul Sartre, going all “Man is a useless passion. It is meaningless that we live and it is meaningless that we die.” One shock win away at Brentford followed by the empty calories of Carabao glory midweek at Villa and I have persuaded myself that the team I love are far from the dead carcass I had prematurely imagined. We have DCL as lethal as he is handsome. James Garner, Iniesta Reincarnate. Jack Harrison, fit and poised to flourish. Watch out world. We are just 10 points off the Top Four. Football Delusion is a hell of a drug. Losing to Luton Town would be the most Everton thing that ever Evertoned.

This week at MiB Network, we have spent a ton of time continuing to build Early Kick Off and developing a sizable new initiative with an incredible club that we have dreamed of for a long time, and are within touching distance of making real. One question for you, dear readers, how interested are you in football data? It is a fascinating world, poised, as Brighton have proved, to transform football as we know it. Is it interesting to you? I have a feeling, that as fans of American sports, which are awash with data, that the answer is yes, but would love to know the kind of questions you are interested in and asking yourself so we can ground our thinking in your realities. Drop me a line here [email protected] with your thoughts if you can. We have an opportunity to do something magical but want to make sure it is rooted in your passion.

The football this weekend is oddly lopsided with almost all of the games jammed into the Saturday 10 AM ET slot. No one is 100% sure of why, but English broadcaster Sky also has the Ryder Cup so there is a sense they wanted to keep things clear for the last day of that. Let’s dive into all of this below, along with Milan, Wrexham and Messi intrigue and more.

2. To the Football

i. Tottenham vs. Liverpool 2.0 (Saturday, 12.30 p.m. ET, USA)

An epic clash between two of the cuddliest, human empathetic managers in the game. Big Ange vs Jurgen Klopp. Aussie-Hellenic Hybrid Care Bear vs Teutonic Care Bear. Both teams love to buccaneer. Both teams have been scoring freely. It will be fascinating to see who can gain creative control of the midfield and win both the game and the post-match hugs.

Ange Postecoglou was asked this morning about being a childhood Liverpool fan. He said “I used to have Liverpool posters, yeah. But things change. I used to watch Happy Days too, I don’t have posters of the Fonz anymore either.”

More: Liverpool take on up to $200M in minority stake funding to pay off debt and capital expenditure.

ii. Manchester United vs. Crystal Palace (Saturday, 10 a.m. ET, USA)

A quasi-repeat of United’s midweek 3-0 Carabao glory. Though this time Palace will field Eberechi Eze and Marc Guéhi and presumably be more of a clenched fist. Ten Hag will seek to build on last weekend’s creaky win at Burnley with Mason Mount back from injury and new signing, Moroccan Sofyan Amrabat, available to support Casemiro. Antony has also returned to training for the first time following his leave of absence after allegations of domestic abuse were made against him. 

iii. Bournemouth vs. Arsenal (Saturday, 10 a.m. ET, P’Cock)

How good was it to witness Tyler Adams return to the field midweek after 200 days out with hamstring knackery? Tyler talked about just how much he wants to repay the Cherries for their faith in him, spending $25M despite his injury – an injury which made Chelsea elect to pass on Wappingers Falls’ finest. We had Bournemouth owner Billy Foley of Las Vegas Golden Knights fame join me this week. He talked in depth about what he sees in Tyler and how he uses data to build Bournemouth different. I am very fond of the Cherries, especially now they have the Bears minority owners, the quite magnificent Ryan family, riding alongside them. They will battle for their first win of the season against an Arsenal side grappling with injuries. Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, William Saliba, Martinelli and Trossard all uncertain. 🇺🇸🍒

Incredible: Arteta and Bournemouth manager Iraola both came through the same Basque youth team and will now face each other on Premier League sidelines 30 years later.

iv. Wolves vs. Manchester City (Saturday, 10 a.m. ET, P’Cock)

Two Carabao Cup losers collide. Pep tried to laugh off the agony of losing the chance of the Quadruple, but you can tell just how much he was thinking about the Quadruple by listening to the extent he pretended he was not thinking about the Quadruple. Another Haaland hat trick we take for granted incoming.

v. Everton vs. Luton Town (Saturday, 10 a.m. ET, P’Cock)

Luton fans. Prepare for your finest day of the season. The one in which you fleetingly show the world you can play like 1970 Brazil. I have zero expectations of a good Everton outcome in this game. To imagine any other result than a shock Luton win is to be Charlie Brown running at a football with Lucy holding.

3. THIS WEEK AT MEN IN BLAZERS 🍻

“No two days are alike. Except the first and fifteenth pretty much.” Another crazy week here at MiB HQ. Especially as we continue to build Men in Blazers Early Kickoff, our new, daily, 10-minute (ish) Pod that drops EVERY Monday through Friday at 6 a.m. ET. It’s designed to be an intelligent, digestible breakdown of all of the day's biggest football stories from Europe’s back pages. We are so bloody proud of it and humbled by your response, dear GFOPs. If you’ve not already, please Support and Subscribe. And if you’ve already subscribed, then we humbly ask that you share it with at least one soccer-curious friend. Discovery is the biggest challenge when launching a new Pod. So please help us grow this beauty. Did we mention… YOU CAN SUBSCRIBE HERE. ☕️☕️☕️

🎁 Want to get some exclusive Early Kick Off merch? 👀 All you have to do is SEND US AN EMAIL or TEXT US (can also text RAVEN to 513-572-3171) a screenshot that you’re subscribed to Early Kick Off to have a chance to win. A little thank you for helping us grow this podcast and celebrating life through football.

Other content we’re proud of this week:

ii. MiB x Here We Go Crossover with Fabrizio Romano. The man who wields that iPhone like a six-shooter in the old west - Fab Romano - joined Rog for a very special Do it Live Wednesday. Fab reveals why England may be a more likely landing destination than Italy for Gio Reyna; how Puli is settling into life in Milan; and which global superstar could be next to land in MLS. LISTEN HERE. And do not forget to subscribe to Here We Go, where Fab is tracking all of global football’s comings and goings weekly. SUBSCRIBE HERE.

iii. Pod Special with Bournemouth’s American Owner Bill Foley. LISTEN HERE Bill sits down with Rog to breakdown the take-no-prisoners football approach that he's brought to the Cherries, what the NHL has taught him about how to build a winning squad, and the major shakeups he orchestrated at Bournemouth, including signing American hero Tyler Adams.

iv. Why the US Open Cup is the Best Cup Competition in the World. For Realz. THIS YOUTUBE EXCLUSIVE traces the source of this knockout Cup competition right back to its early 20th century source. We are producing so much content on our YouTube page right now. Have a poke around, watch some vids, leave a comment, let us know what you think. 🏆

v. Coming up Next Week at Men in Blazers… European Nights with Rory Smith returns Tuesday and, Arsenal fans, we have a very special YouTube crossover with Arseblog coming up. Will be out ahead of next weekend’s seismic tussle with Manchester City.

4. Christian Pulisic making joyous decisions in key moments to propel Milan 🇮🇹🤌

Milan made it back-to-back Serie A wins with a Christian Pulisic-inspired 3-1 come-from-behind victory in Cagliari midweek. Milan dominated without hurting their opponents, before CP11 stepped up to create one goal and assist on a second to propel his team into second place, behind Inter only on goal difference. In further good news, the club announced a plan to build its own self-sufficient stadium. Even though Fabrizio Romano came on our show and knocked back rumors of Gio Reyna’s imminent arrival (thanks for all the comments about how stoned I look. I swear I was just tired) the Rossoneri will surge into this weekend’s game against Lazio (Saturday, 12 PM ET).

More: Women’s Soccer is not just a cost. AC Milan on their Women’s Team strategy.

5. Welcome to Crewe Alexandra, Wrexham 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

How will Wrexham respond to a beatdown? Last weekend’s 5-0 slumber against Stockport County ended a seven-game unbeaten league. This weekend, Wrexham host a feisty Crewe Alexandra (Saturday, 10 a.m. ET) and despite two fast and furious away games against fellow aspiring promotion contenders Mansfield and Crawley, remain where they want to be – just 5 points off the top of the table.

6. This Week in the Messiverse 🇦🇷🐐

And the Messi Needle suddenly falls off the record. Messi is injured and last Wednesday’s US Open Cup Final was the first time he missed a final in which he was eligible to play in 17 years. A profoundly existential moment for player, club and league. MLS without Messi is akin to Colorado without Coach Prime. Messi has shone white hot heat in MLS. Is it a light that will never go out? All we know is that the GOAT has a “muscular injury.” The lack of detail or communication has only added to the disconcerting swirl around that news. Nature abhors a vacuum and so rumor is filling in the gap – here is our friend Herculez Gomez discussing the impact of Messi missing the rest of the season. A nightmare prospect for all who love the game and its growth in the United States. Heal well Lionel.

More: Inter Miami release Season ticket prices, hiked to become some of most expensive in all of world football. 👀

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.*

7. More Football, Did Ya Say?

i. How Tik Tok and its vibes may have permanently and surreally self-sabotaged the relationship between Napoli and their superstar Victor Osimhen 🇳🇬

ii. Your Spanish La Liga Leaders… Checks Notes… Mighty Girona 🇪🇸

iv. Beautiful story by Jason Gay of a football game played in support of detained WSJ writer Evan Gershkovich who was a fine footballer, and an enormous Arsenal fan whose nickname was “Slow Busquets.” Football at its best. May he soon be free 🙏

v. How Ajax went from Champions League darlings to hot, hot mess 🇳🇱

8. The Independent Musician who makes all our podcast music

JW Writes: As we’ve grown Men in Blazers Media Network, we’ve attempted to find music that fits each Pod, tonally in spirit and from an editing perspective. And on almost every occasion we’ve turned to one gent: Robbie McDonald, an independent Washington, DC-based musician. He is responsible for the theme songs and stings for Early Kick Off, Go Go USA!, VAMOS and The American Dream.

Robbie is one of the most talented people I’ve ever met. He is one of those people who can hear a song once and instantly play it. On any instrument. Anytime I hear his work, I’m always humbled by the attention to detail, nuance and sheer ability. I’ve asked him countless times what we can do to help promote his work, but he is too humble to give a straight answer, so I will just say, follow him on INSTAGRAM and check out HIS WEBSITE. If you are in the industry and looking for music, hire him. Because his ability as a musician is surpassed only by his humility and genuine goodness. Our goal at Men in Blazers is to do good things with great people. And Robbie makes sure we’re ticking the latter.

9. Not Football, and all the better for it

i. Cillian Murphy’s handpicked tracks courtesy of BBC Radio 6 including Sinead O’Connor, The Supremes, and Aphex Twin. Tommy Shelby would never.

ii. Inside Apple’s Plan to Change the Way We Watch Sports. If this works for MLS… what could it do for other leagues?

iii. Italian tailoring is in crisis. Even Men In Blazers have stopped wearing Blazers. WTF.

iv. What 371 days in space does to the human body. Hint: it's similar to what 371 days being an Everton fan is like.

v. Costco’s gold bars are selling out so fast, they’ve put limits on how many customers can buy. They’re onto you, Scrooge McDuck.

vi. 50 Years of Shooting Landscapes has taught this gent to “photograph the unseen.” A beautiful notion.

vii. A writer tracks down the Nigerian scammer who duped his Mum. Southampton fans prob feel the same about Joe Aribo.

viii. The newest TikTok trend are stick-on fake belly buttons because they “make your legs look longer.” Finally we know Erling Haaland’s secret.

ix. I wear a ton of Percival clothing – along with Universal Works, probs 90% of my wardrobe. Huge sale on right now. Their Champion collaboration is a stunner. (PS. This Universal Works x Yogi collab is the footwear equivalent of a James Garner goal.)

x. This Song Made My Week: Minor Expectations by the tremendously talented Louise Connell.

xi. I read this book and really enjoyed it: Eighteen Days in October: The Yom Kippur War and How It Created the Modern Middle East by Uri Kaufman. A book I actually read on Yom Kippur which was the 50th anniversary of this immense conflict. The kinetic storytelling, research and emotional intelligence combine to create a gripping confection, as well as the tactical analysis which makes this a compelling read for anyone who devours military history.

Finally, a sad story. An iconic 300-year-old English tree, a Sycamore in the Sycamore Gap on Hadrian’s Wall, was shockingly cut down in an act of scarring vandalism. A 16-year-old has been taken into custody. The tree is a national landmark in a beautiful part of the north where I have walked with my Dad and am one of millions who have taken in its solitary wonder. I read a poignant line in one of the reports. A quote from poet Robert Macfarlane who said, “There’s a line by [the poet] WH Auden written 70 years ago. A culture is no better than its woods.’ Well, we have not looked after our woods well. This is part of the broader war on nature.” The nation is now gripped in debate about what could and should be done with the felled tree and its stump. I hope they can conjure a creative solution which is beautiful and poignant in its own way.

To better days ahead for all,

And making memories through football.

Let’s not take a moment 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