Arteta's Clock Is Ticking ⏱️

Hail GFOP! 

I type with fingers salivating at the prospect of a weekend of Premier League football that boils down to the race for fifth and the race for eighth. Perhaps the most hotly anticipated moment of the weekend will be the theater of Arsenal players having to give a guard of honor to Liverpool, the team who blindsided them in this season’s title race. I woke up at four this morning to speak to that human deflector shield, Virgil Van Dijk, a man whose two low points of the season include hanging out with me at the beginning, and now the end of the campaign. I asked him what he thought about guards of honor. Spoiler Alert: He loves them. 

ii. Despite the fact so many of the outcomes have been decided so early, one aspect of the season which has been fascinating to experience is that clubs with American ownership groups have won their respective leagues in the top three levels of English football. Fenway Sports Group-owned Liverpool took the Premier League, the Championship winners Leeds United are owned by the investment arm of the San Francisco 49ers, and Birmingham City, run by Knighthead Capital, and sharp-chinned investor Tom Brady, finished on top of League One. Not only that, but the second-place teams in those three leagues are also run by Americans. What in the Boehlys? These are dizzying times we are living in. Global football is in its American investment era. The stereotype of American owners as bumbling idiots is out of date. Our U.S. Men’s National Team cannot currently win a game, but our owners cannot be beat. This land of ours is the best in the world at creating winning football owners and popes (and also…The Pope is a White Sox fan 🤯!).

Also: BIG LOVE TO UNITED AND SPURS FANS AFTER LAST NIGHT O’WONDER. Football, like life, can be so unpredictable. Yes, your teams may be 15th and 16th respectively and you have lived the darkness of 35 combined defeats. Yet, here you stand, ready to compete in a European final, with a Champions League place on offer for the winner. Roll on the final in ­Bilbao on the 21st of May. Like a small town girl livin' in a lonely world, don’t stop believing. 🏆

iii. We passed the 400-day mark until the men's World Cup 2026 this week. I believe as much as ever, deep in my heart, this event could be the greatest moment in American football history. It could also be a moment of challenge. The World Cup is a mirror of the geopolitics of the planet in the moment. It carries a tremendous power as an event that acts like a global eclipse lasting 39 straight days. I was just in England where these are the kind of headlines that are sounding as the drumbeat towards the tournament. I know this: 11 cities across the United States will have the chance to sing their song in the global spotlight, at the very time the nation turns 250. May that song be one of joy, and inclusivity, and a shared sense of memory making.

News from MiB World HQ 📡

It has been an insane week, filled with multiple four a.m. wake ups. First, to spend time with the magical Jamie Vardy, in a conversation in which he reflects on his inimitable 13-year run at Leicester. I asked him your questions, GFOPs, and he answered magnificently (Sample question: “How would you describe a Jamie Vardy type of player?” Sample answer: “Nut job.”). Next, Virgil Van Dijk as I mentioned above, and then the really cerebral Oliver Glasner, who came on to tape a thought-rich interview as his Crystal Palace prepare for an FA Cup Final against Manchester City, which could be his team’s first domestic trophy in their 119-year history. We are living in incredible days when all of these human beings want to talk directly to the American audience. Let’s never take them for granted. 

ii. Rob McElhenney also returned to talk through Wrexham’s latest quasi-biblical miracle of a promotion. It is a really thoughtful, nourishing conversation that will drop tomorrow, in which we talk about his experiences during the season—from sitting with the away fans in Blackpool, to the moment in which Championship Football was earned— as well as reflecting on what the essence of sports fandom is. I love Rob. His appearances are highlights of my year. This one’s an all-timer. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

iii. 🚨 Ryan Reynolds MiB TV Show on Network NBC on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET. We also have the Brené Brown show debuting on Peacock that same day. Two profoundly nourishing conversations by practitioners of “collective effervescence.” 📺

iv. Our Bournemouth documentary drops on May 15 on our YouTube. It features interviews with Murakami-reading manager Andoni Iraola, Tyler Adams, Patrick Kluivert, and idiosyncratic owner Bill Foley— a bloke I have learned so much about life by spending time with. The film tells the modern story of this magnificent club from the brink of bankruptcy in 2009 to the mini-major power they are now. I admire them greatly. Whatever the outcome this season, their achievements—their courage—have been magnificent to witness. Cannot wait for you to see this. 🍒

To the Football 🍻

Liverpool vs. Arsenal (Sunday, 11:30 a.m. ET, NBC)

The Beautiful Bride against the perpetual Bridesmaid who never, ever, catches the bouquet. This one will make Mikel Arteta ache. Facing up to the team who snuck past his blindspot this season, in which he might have finally topped Manchester City, only to be surprised by a newcomer Big Dutch Bald. I feel for Mikel. There is so much to admire: the hair, the handsomeness, the slogans. Yes, some verge on management consultant shtick tricks. The pickpockets. Win the beautiful dog. But above all, I adore his willingness to show emotion. Less, his predilection to explain defeats away in delusional ways. Barney Ronay described it as a feeling of being lectured by a male wellness magnate. But big picture, what has happened at Arsenal is perhaps best described in online parlance as saying, “Bro was willing to risk it all.” Arteta aspired and aimed publicly to win and he has failed – and Britain loves failures more than anything. We must all now point and laugh. We are compelled to scream Bottle Job FC. There are few sounds louder or more grating in life than the haters being right again. 

Wednesday night’s semi-final defeat in Paris felt like a Greatest Hits of the entire Arsenal season. All of the intent. All of the chances made. No clinical edge in key moments to take advantage. Arteta is a brooding man. He told me once that he looked in the mirror after that first second-place season and asked himself long and hard, whether he is the man to take Arsenal to the next level. Two seasons on, tired and frustrated. What will that mirror say back to him this off-season? Can this unit go again? What does it need to go to the next level? A clinical striker? A Saliba replacement? A Martinelli replacement? At what point will the answer feel like it should be a refreshed, re-energized new manager? 

Good read: Inside Arsenal’s biggest transfer window of a generation and the missing pieces they must fill.

Rogstradamus 🔮: Liverpool barely break a sweat and steal a point 1-1.

Fulham vs. Everton (Saturday, 10 a.m. ET, Peacock)

Brian McBride Memorial Derby. Antonee Robinson Revenge Tour. Marco Silva dunks on his old mob for posterity’s sake. 

Rogstradamus 🔮: With a win, Fulham would set new club-record for most points in a PL season. Narrator’s voice: “They get it. 2-1.” A truly forgettable game, bar a very-sweet-to-witness “Dominic Calvert-Lewin is back” goal.

Ipswich vs. Brentford (Saturday, 10 a.m. ET, Peacock)

Not a lot to see here other than to tell you that my producer JW has flown over from New York City with his four-year-old son to watch already-relegated Ipswich so they can savor one more home game and make Premier League memories together. I admire this act so much. A glorious march of folly. A reminder as if we needed one: Life is short and our memories are all we have. 

Rogstradamus 🔮: JW has been to two Ipswich games this season—the win at Tottenham and the win at Bournemouth. I wish him a hat-trick. Tractor Boys by a million.

Bournemouth vs. Aston Villa (Saturday, 12:30 p.m. ET, NBC)

Stealth big game of the weekend: eighth welcomes seventh. Two of the season’s most tactically-kinetic teams gripple-grapple with European places within touching distance. Both clubs appear to be running out of gas as of late, but the Super Cherries are once again dreaming of European qualification for the first time in their 126-year history. The Villa have the influential Youri Tielemans out with a muscular injury, but are three points outside the top five with Champions League qualification, and fruit murder, front of mind.

Rogstradamus 🔮: I am just typing what I see. This is not what I want, but the visions tell me Bournemouth lead till late, then let it slip agonizingly 2-1 to the sound of angels weeping in the very heavens. 

Newcastle vs. Chelsea (Sunday, 7 a.m. ET, USA)

Alexander Isak versus Cole Palmer in a clash between two teams equal on points, separated only by goals scored, in the the final two Champions League qualification places up for grabs. Newcastle hunt for a 20th win in a season for the first time since 2002-03. Chelsea go for their fourth straight win after dropping a hungover Liverpool last weekend. 

More: In the Conference League final, Enzo Maresca will face “his football dad.”

Rogstradamus 🔮: Newcastle cruise 2-0. Isak scores at least once. His “point-back at what I just did” celebration is my favorite in football.

Manchester United vs. West Ham (Sunday, 9:15 a.m. ET, Peacock)

The joy for United fans exists on Thursday nights. The sense of celebration as their team thumped Athletic Club was tinged with relief that there is a pulse to be found there at all. It was really lovely to watch a curtain bow at last for Mason Mount. His second long-range wonder is a must-watch. The strike of a once-lost boy whose confidence is suddenly surging again as his team, despite it all, can lift silverware for the third-straight campaign. 

The Premier League though has been akin to life trapped in the Upside Down for both Ruben Amorim and his opponents. Two teams that have spent lavishly, but profligately, and have lost 16 times in 35 games. Both Amorim and Graham Potter left to wonder what happened to the New Manager Bounce that was meant to be contractually guaranteed. 

Rogstradamus 🔮: Pain. I see only pain and sadness. United late-show 2-1 win. 

Tottenham vs. Crystal Palace (Sunday, 9:15 a.m. ET, Peacock)

The best of times, the worst of times at Tottenham. Yes, the league campaign has been sadder than thinking about Elmo being laid off from Sesame Street. But Ange promised he always wins a trophy in his second season mate, and Spurs survived Bodø/Glimt and are in the Europa League final, against a team they have beaten three times this season, 90 minutes from their first major trophy in 17 years. Big Ange redemption would be one of the most remarkable feats I have ever witnessed. A reminder of something Clive Barker wrote, “Any fool can be happy. It takes a man with real heart to make beauty out of the stuff that makes us weep.”

More: Watch Ange’s moving post-game speech and stick around for his players’ reaction.

Rogstradamus 🔮: Back to Earth with a bump. A highly motivated Eze, linked with a summer move to Spurs, slices and dices as Palace stroll 3-1. Back to “Ange Out” default settings.

📧 Enjoying The Raven? Check out our other Men in Blazers newsletters here.

More Magical Football to Savor From Around the World 🌍

It Is Championship Playoffs Semifinal Time 📊

A frenetic final day of Championship League play saw Bristol City and Haji Wright’s Coventry best Blackburn, Millwall, and Middlesbrough for the league’s final playoff spots. The two sides join Sunderland and Sheffield United in the semi finals, marking Bristol City’s first appearance in the playoffs in 17 years. It did not go well. In the first leg Thursday, City were reduced to 10 men and Sheffield United mauled them 3-0 to take back home in the return tie on Monday (3 p.m. ET, Paramount +). In the other fixture, Frank Lampard leads a Coventry team he steered from 17th in the table up to fifth, against a Sunderland side who ended their season in a nosedive of five straight losses. Coventry play host this afternoon (TODAY, 3 p.m. ET, Paramount +) before heading to the Stadium of Light on Tuesday (12 p.m. ET, Paramount +).

The winners of each semifinal will meet at Wembley on May 24 in a game worth a Premier League promotion and that estimated golden pot of $127 million for the winning side. 

San Diego Wave vs. Portland Thorns (Saturday, 10 p.m. ET, ion/Prime Video) 🇺🇸

One week out from their 1-0 win over the Champions, the Portland Thorns travel to San Diego to face a surging Wave side who sit third after three successive wins. Elsewhere in the league, alphabetical order is seemingly the only thing that separates the KC Current and the Orlando Pride at the top of the table going into matchday eight. Both teams have a chance to go ahead with Orlando traveling to ninth-placed North Carolina (Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET, ion/Prime Video) and Kansas City hosting 10th-placed Bay FC (Sunday, 12:50 p.m. ET, ESPN).

Who woulda thought? The NWSL enacted mental health leave, and players are feeling the benefits. 

WSL Everton vs. Tottenham (Saturday, 7:30 a.m. ET, WSL Youtube) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Although the casual viewer might think the WSL’s final day is more of a formality since winners Chelsea, Champions League qualifiers Arsenal and Man Utd, and relegated team Crystal Palace already know their fate, they would be WRONG. Everton, yes Everton(!), have the chance to finish above Liverpool in sixth if their rivals lose against the Champions and West Ham fail to win away to Leicester. A huge result for a side who did not register a win until their 10th game of the season. UTFT!

The Best Goal We Saw Midweek 🤯

Did we miss an even better one? Send it to us at [email protected]

More Football, Did Ya Say? ⚽︎

• The Premier League is considering side-line interviews, locker room filming, and interviews with substituted players? American-style coverage is inevitable.

• Brazil announces venues for the 2027 Women’s World Cup. I long to return to Salvador.

• On what happens when sports is the last place crowds feel norms can break down and how that impacts the fan-player relationship. On the forthcoming darkness as predicted by… darts.

Prize Picks: Best PP Since Peter Parker ✅

Charlie Kipp writes: It’s playoffs season and PrizePicks has you covered. Whether it’s the incredible NHL playoffs with overtime game-winners or the checks notes NEW YORK KNICKS pulling off consecutive 20-point comebacks - you can put your knowledge to work for your wallet. But playoffs, lest we forget, are not only limited to American sports - because later today, we have the EFL Championship Play-Offs where we like Sunderland’s Jobe Bellingham MORE than 0.5 Goals + Assists.

OK - a lot to unpack here. On the one hand you have Sunderland, of Netflix fame, vying to return to the Premier League for the first time in nearly a decade. After pulling a Luton Town, this team has risen from the ashes and now sits on the doorstep of the top flight. Potentially even more remarkable is a catalyst for the Black Cats’ rise has been 19-year-old Jobe Bellingham - brother of a certain Real Madrid midfielder. Two years younger than Jude, Jobe will be all over the pitch for Sunderland today and let’s pray that the Premier League scriptwriters are moonlighting in the Championship Playoffs as we take Jobe Bellingham MORE than 0.5 Goals + Assists.

If you haven’t joined PrizePicks, CLICK HERE and use code MiB for a first deposit match up to $100.

MiB Mad Libs 📝

This week’s phrase is:

“Liverpool should sign ____ to replace Trent Alexander-Arnold and the world would be a better place.” 

Email us your submissions to be in contention to win a coveted MiB patch.

A LOT of you submitted some brilliant entries for last week’s MiB Mad Lib, but Allan Quiling takes the spoils with an insightful response:

“Wrexham will be promoted to the Premier League if they sign Manchester United's current starting XI as they will be freed from the witch's hex that has been put upon them, like Antony and Rashford, once they're free from the horror, their footballing skills will instantly return.” 

I also like this from Micah Pigott.. Brad Guzan.

Not Football and All the Better for It 📖

• Everyone Is Cheating Their Way Through College. Reminder that Columbia costs $90k a year...

• Why Is Everyone Getting Their Tattoos Removed? Not a single overly optimistic Arsenal supporter in there.

• "Hollywood’s current risk-averse landscape makes an entity like A24, which produces sophisticated work less often than it produces the appearance of sophistication, stand apart" The Popular Alternative: The state of A24.

• Beirut’s Boldest New Diner is a Cinematic Ode to American Decadence. Is 5,600 miles too far to travel for a res?

• Four comedians share a joke that changed their lives. If any of the jokes in The Raven have changed yours (ONLY FOR THE BETTER), please get in touch. 

• I started writing this email at 4.40 AM this morning and this song gave me so much energy: “Yougotmefeeling” by Parcels.

• I read this book and LOVED IT: “The Family Dynamic: A Journey Into the Mystery of Sibling Success” by Susan Dominus. A brilliant piece of work by one of my favorite journalists. Susan is so smart, and this book delves into the dynamic of families of high-achieving siblings. It's not a how-to guide, but a meditation on the complexities of both family life and ambition; it's as much about the burden of growing up with very high expectations as it is about the awards. There are a lot of athletes in there—including Sarah Groff, a champion Ironman athlete and Olympic triathlete, and the Bryan twins. My only critique: No Mewises! Here’s one note: how oldest children are almost always the most academically successful, and how younger siblings are overrepresented in elite sports… If you are a parent, dig deep – for warnings, as much as how-to’s.

Dear Rog... GFOPs Write ✍️

I loved this letter from Christopher Lomax in Mississippi:

“Dear Rog, Longtime listener, first-time emailer here. I wanted to send a note of deep thanks. I recently finished writing a book called “The Football Prophecy,” a trans-Atlantic love letter to both college football and the Premier League—and I have to say, your show played a big role in how I fell for the PL. Your storytelling, joy, and wit helped translate the rhythms of a league I didn’t grow up with but now hold dear.

I’m from the Oxford of America (the Mississippi one), and while I proudly wear red and blue on fall Saturdays, it’s red for me on Saturday mornings—Liverpool red, to be precise. I was listening to your post-Arsenal/PSG show and the reactions to Arteta's time at the Gunners. My question is, what is more likely to happen? Scenario one: Arsenal hold onto Arteta despite his consistent 'Clemson-ing,' only for him to repay them with two trophies and a fallback into mediocrity like Dabo Swinney. Or, scenario two: despite years of high-level but not-quite-enough-to-hoist-a-real-trophy performance, Arsenal get antsy, fire Arteta, who is then hired away by Tottenham—who also somehow get Lamine Yamal to relocate to North London—and Arsenal are repaid for their impatience with an Andy Reid/Patrick Mahomes-type Spurs dynasty. Which do Arsenal fans deserve more?”

Rog writes: Few things thrill me more than a Mississippian living and dying with Premier League football. I met an Everton fan at Goodison who had flown in from Arkansas, and it made my heart soar. I think you know, Christoper, if you listen to our shows, how much I root for Mikel Arteta. I adore his brand of passion, obsession, and a side of crazy. When I lived on the South Side of Chicago, I used to go to listen to a lot of church gospel. There was a song that I always found very poignant, “Jesus is coming… in a while.” Delayed gratification is the greatest gratification. I wish it on all Gunners, Hathaway in particular.

Keep sending your stories and questions to [email protected].

To Better Days Ahead for All.

Let’s not take a moment watching football together for granted and make great memories,

Big Love,

Courage.

ROG

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