Hail GFOP!

Rog writes: Could there have been a better way to start the season? Eighty-five days after shocking Manchester City in the FA Cup final, Crystal Palace rolled back into Wembley and stunned defending league-champion Liverpool with Dean Henderson hat tipping away penalties with aura levels known only to Ibiza final boss. As Paul Atredies-Nuts wrote in our Discord channel, “Grease the light poles of Croydon!”

It was a remarkable thing to witness the Eagles win the penalty shootout in a game which means everything and nothing. The joy for them comes after an offseason in which they were screwed out of their Europa League place, and live in terror of losing Eberechi Eze and Marc Guéhi. Their fans’ joy is hard earned. The Liverpool loss is meaningless, but enables tabloid writers to foam on about how the Reds’ $403-million revamp is in crisis. In truth, it was riveting watching Ekitike, Wirtz, and Frimpong surge so seamlessly. Schadenfreude lovers beware: four of the last six teams to lose the Community Shield have gone on to win the League. “He who laughs last loses the meaningless season curtain raiser,” or however that old saying goes…  

ii. I am writing from the back of a sprinter van charging up the English motorway from Bournemouth to London. We are in the midst of our second-annual Football Holiday, powered by our friends at Yeti. We spent yesterday with Tyler Adams at Bournemouth, and are headed to film a day of Premier League previews live and in person with Rory Smith. Then we charge through Arteta at Arsenal, Pep at City, and Virgil in Liverpool. Our Arne Slot and Enzo Maresca interviews are already live. I liked them both for different reasons: I really admire Enzo’s chess mindset, while Slot’s Lombardi quoting took my breath away. “Gentlemen, we will chase perfection, and we will chase it relentlessly, knowing all the while we can never attain it. But along the way, we shall catch excellence.”  

We are so blessed to be able to do all of this – to spend time at these clubs, drink all the beers, and eat all of the pies. Yesterday, I had a bang-up Sunday Roast – one of England’s finest traditions – and learned, with some delight, that its origins lie in the industrial revolution.

iii. Part of the reason I loved the Community Shield was because of the vivacious and creative conversation going on in our new Men in Blazers Discord channel. From seeing the real-time flip flops of Liverpool fans (“Invincibles incoming” to #SlotOut) to wondering what SPF level Slot uses on his head to the remarkable @Glen GUESSING THE EXACT OUTCOME OF THE MATCH BEFORE IT HAPPENED, the Community Shield was better with friends. The Discord channel is open to join and is that virtual pub, that community we all adored on Twitter circa 2014. Come be with us in this place of camaraderie, joy, and a singular passion for the game we love. JOIN US HERE.

With wishes for better days ahead. 

Courage,

ROG

Crystal Palace Win the Community Shield 🦅🏆

By Tommy Stewart

Liverpool 2-2 Crystal Palace (Palace Win 3-2 on Penalties)

Yesterday at a heaving Wembley Stadium, the 2025-26 campaign finally, kind of began, as last season’s champions Liverpool took on FA Cup winners Crystal Palace in the Community Shield. In under four minutes in the first half, two of Arne Slot’s new recruits, Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike, started to chip away at the $263 million Liverpool spent on them, combining to offer what their fans hope will be a teaser trailer for the season to come. Simultaneously, their captain, Virgil van Dijk, looked abnormally human as he tripped Ismaïla Sarr inside the box for Jean-Philippe Mateta to cooly convert his penalty, but that was soon nullified by another fresh face for Liverpool, Jeremie Frimpong, who put his team ahead on debut with a lofty cross shot. No matter whether it was intentional or not, it was a poetic goal because as it hit Dean Henderson’s net, fans applauded for Diogo Jota and the match-timer serendipitously read his shirt number: 20 minutes and 20 seconds. While Liverpool came out firing to start the game, the Eagles were relentless in the second half with Adam Wharton, a man who seemed to choose the tempo of the match, catching Big Virg daydreaming again and setting up Sarr for a one-on-one to finish past Alisson. Normal time couldn’t divide the two sides, so penalties felt a fitting stage for Palace keeper Henderson to doth his magic cap and become the headline act. As he did against Manchester City in May’s FA Cup final, the former Red Devil relished protagonist status, seeing Mohamed Salah’s opening effort sail into the stands before saving two, allowing Justin Devenny to put away the winner for the Eagles.

Crystal Palace’s European Future

There’s something that just feels right when Oliver Glasner’s side, with their army of blue-and-red supporters, congregates 20 miles north of their Croydon home at Wembley. They didn’t know what the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s adjudication on their European status would be yesterday, and it might have acted in their favor that they didn’t, but off the back of making more history, nursing happy hangovers following another win at Wembley against the top of the class, their confirmed demotion to the Europa Conference League will be a cruel reality check. The repercussions could cause a ripple effect that may damage their squad, as yesterday’s opponent’s Liverpool, who evidently lack a quality deputy for van Dijk, circle around their captain, Marc Guéhi, while Arsenal refuse to yield in their pursuit for starman, Eberechi Eze.

More: Crystal Palace to stay in Conference League after losing appeal at Cas

Liverpool’s Great Makeover

It’s going to take a long time for Liverpool to recover from the loss of Jota, and in many ways, perhaps they shouldn’t; perhaps they won’t. Ahead of kick-off at Wembley yesterday, representatives from both his former club and Crystal Palace laid wreaths pitch-side, while fans held poignant homemade banners in honor of their hero. His loss could define their season, and although Slot’s given them one of the great makeovers in contemporary footballing memory, there are still a couple of blindspots. While Ekitike, Wirtz and Frimpong looked like hungry princes who will soon assume the kingly standing of their contemporaries, it was the performances of Liverpool’s usual pillars that may cause concern. Perennial cheat code, Mo Salah, looked stuck in pre-season mode yesterday, while van Dijk was culpable for both Crystal Palace goals. Although their reigns are nowhere near done, both are in their mid-30s, and yesterday will have amplified alarms that were already sounding, as their captain’s center-back partner Ibrahima Konate’s contract reaches its final year and Slot’s side feel a bit top heavy.

📬 Enjoying The Raven? Check out our other Men in Blazers newsletters:

☀️ The Women’s Game: Everything you need to know about women’s football, sent straight to your inbox each week.

🔍 The Correspondent: Rory Smith’s thoughts on the world of soccer, culture, food, and how they all connect – launching this Thursday!

🇺🇸 USMNT Only: Your weekly update on the most important topics in the U.S. men’s game, all leading up to next year’s World Cup.

Weekend Transfer News: United Get their No. 9 💰

Benjamin Šeško ➡️ Manchester United $98.8 million

Benjamin Šeško is 22, so during his formative years as a football fan, he’ll just about recall United’s unmitigated dominance under Sir Alex Ferguson, and like Robin van Persie before him, the little boy screamed louder than logic. Pleasingly for fans of his new club, the most common player Šeško is compared to is Erling Haaland, and although he cannot boast anything near the same impossible numbers that the Norwegian No. 9 can, his physical attributes concoct a similar silhouette. At 6’5” he’s a stacked giant of a man, a thoroughbred striker who’s quick across the ground as well as being adept with both feet, and unlike the center-forward he’ll replace, Rasmus Højlund, Šeško is an accomplished finisher with his head. He’s a scorer of great goals, although not yet a great goalscorer, but he will be expected to slot straight into Ruben Amorim’s starting XI as the focal point of their attack. Although only three years separates them, the Slovenian striker welcomes the Haaland comparisons, and perhaps to the chagrin of some United fans, sees him as a role model, admitting he “watches many YouTube videos about” City’s main man. Outscore him and all will be forgiven.

Jack Grealish ➡️ to Everton (Loan)

Behind the late Ozzy Osborne, Jack Grealish is probably the world’s favorite Brummie. Like most of the footballing universe, his soon-to-be former manager, Pep Guardiola, loves him too, but as hard as it is, sometimes we have to let go of the ones we love the most. On the same night that Pep worshiped at the altar of Oasis in Manchester, Grealish heartbreakingly told City fans they’re “the best in the world” in what seemed like a puppy dog making a desperate attempt to stay with his owner, but after being left out of their Club World Cup squad, he knew his fate. Amid the glorification of Grealish’s character via memes, his unmatched leg definition and schoolboy good looks, David Moyes identified a lost footballer who was pivotal to City’s 2023 treble, one who possesses genuine magic that, as proved at Aston Villa, can carry a midtable team. While he lost a bit of the wizardry under Pep that made City splash out $139 million on him, Moyes should allow Grealish to resume the free role that made so many of us fall in love with him, and at 29, it represents a coup as Grealish could still have his best years ahead of him.

The 25-26 Premier League Season Preview 📊

You’ve probably spent the last few months refreshing your social feeds, waiting impatiently to see who your club has or hasn’t signed, while overanalyzing preseason fixtures that ultimately don’t mean a ton. STOP! We’re here to help. We’ve gathered all the best bits about each team in one place. Who’s Liverpool’s best signing? Can Ruben Amorim restore Manchester United’s dignity? WHY IS GRANIT XHAKA AT SUNDERLAND!? All will be answered in this handy, club-by-club MiB Premier League Season Preview. Get it below.

Some Absolute Weekend Worldies 🚀 🥅

There were a lot of great goals this weekend, but these three get top marks:

Introducing The Correspondent w/ Rory Smith 📧

Rory Smith is one of the premier football writers in the world, and with the reach and power his writing brings, we'll be launching his own newsletter, The Correspondent, as part of the Men in Blazers Media Network this week. Establishing The Correspondent as its own newsletter allows it the space to embrace a distinct tone. Rory's unique style differs from the preview-and-recap nature of what we do here at The Raven, and launching a newsletter just for him will help us shine even more of a light on Rory and his incredible writing. Subscribe here to make sure you don't miss the first edition going out this Thursday.

A Mid-Week Match Worth Faking a Meeting for 📺

UEFA Super Cup: PSG vs. Tottenham (Wednesday, 3 p.m. ET, CBS)

This might be one of the most mismatched Super Cups in recent memory, but then, we all remember Buster Douglas beating Mike Tyson, right? PSG won everything but the Club World Cup last season, and although their 3-0 defeat to Chelsea proved Luis Enrique’s side are human, based on their form throughout the rest of that tournament, it appeared to be a freak blip rather than a pattern. Spurs stumbled their way to a Europa League victory, and with new manager Thomas Frank taking over for the sometimes joyful, often disastrous Ange Postecoglou, they’ll be expected to be more stable now. Having said that, it was only last week that they were dispatched 4-0 in a friendly against Bayern Munich, a team PSG brushed aside 2-0 this summer, so this box-office tie in the Stadio Friuli in Udine, Italy, might have come a bit soon in Frank’s cycle.

Support the SASH Historical American Soccer Footage Campaign 🎥 

Our friends at the Society for American Soccer History (SASH) need your help. Who are they, you might ask? Well, they provide you and us with some of the most incredible, unseen grainy video footage of the beautiful game’s infant days in the USA, going right back to its inception on these shores. With the 2026 World Cup in the U.S. less than a year away, there will be more eyes on American soccer than ever before, and it costs a lot for SASH to unearth and publish the footage we get to enjoy, so if you can afford it, please donate here!

Some Non-Football to Start the Week Off 📖

• Everyone is listening to secular praise music. Yes, even you. Speak for yourself, Yahoo news. 

• This man drank every cocktail on the International Bartenders' Association's cocktail list. I'd say raise a glass to him, but he's probs sick of that.

• Stanley Donwood on creating Radiohead's iconic artwork. No surprises, he's quite good!

• I Didn’t Want a Big Wedding. Until a Mayo Brand Paid for One. “Do you want to get married in a chicken tender dipping sauce campaign for Hellmann’s?” I asked my partner one Thursday morning in June.

• The Agony and Ecstasy of Being a Viral Trickshot Video Star. This is why I gave up my cheeseburger-spinning career, couldn't handle the stress. 

It’s MiB Trivia Time 🤔

This week’s question: After Liverpool lost the Community Shield against Crystal Palace, we want to know how many teams who have won the season opener have gone on to win the Premier League?

Email us with your answer for a chance to win a much-coveted MiB patch!

Last week’s winner: Congratulations to Matt Hare who was the first to correctly identify that Rangers have won the most Old Firm Derbies in all competitions! Top work, the patch is in the post, Matt. 🚛

Seeking impartial news? Meet 1440.

Every day, 3.5 million readers turn to 1440 for their factual news. We sift through 100+ sources to bring you a complete summary of politics, global events, business, and culture, all in a brief 5-minute email. Enjoy an impartial news experience.

Join for free today!