Hail GFOP!  

What did we just live? A footballing weekend that felt definitive. Arsenal dominant yet impotent again against a historically bad Manchester United left Mikel Arteta incandescent. Liverpool toyed with Southampton, ceding the lead, then storming back through, who else, Mo Salah. Spurs fans – your boys did not lose – which is not nothing. But Manchester City did. Their ninth defeat of the season, this time to the audacious Nottingham Forest. Normalizing City losses is perhaps Pep Guardiola’s most surreal achievement. We will break down all of this below, then I will tape a show with the mighty bard of Harrogate, Rory Smith, in which we will analyze it with the passion of the Spanish detectives in HBO's quite glorious When No One Sees Us.

ii. I am off to Austin to revel with all of you at SXSW. Come and raise a beer with me Tuesday at 1:00 p.m. at this panel if you are in town. 

iii. Then I am blessed to end the week in New Orleans to keynote Tulane’s Entertainment and Sports Law Conference on Friday. There may be a pint at The Boot if you are around.  

iv. Brace yourself, Atlanta. Rory Smith and I are doing a live show at our recently minted BEST SOCCER BAR IN THE NATION, the Brewhouse at 7:00 p.m. ET. This celebration is free and open to the public, we just ask that you RSVP ahead of time at this link so we can get a sense of just how many GFOPs we'll be sharing a Michelob ULTRA with. Come and Join Us, Atlanta. 🍑🏆

v. Finally – we are hiring in a number of roles. We just want to do good things with great people. Our open roles are here. Come and win the World Cup with us.

Be in touch with everything and anything via [email protected]

Courage.
ROG

15 Points Clear and Counting 🔫📉 

- Written by Max Bonem

Manchester United 1 - 1 Arsenal

A game that Steph Curry would’ve undoubtedly appreciated: two legendary sides battled it out under the Sunday night lights with two long-range strikes deciding its fate. Arsenal entered this trip to Old Trafford with the whiff of their mid-week seven-goal obliteration of PSV in the Champions League still in the air, while United looked to forget about the one that got away in San Sebastian against Real Sociedad in the Europa League. But it was less about what these two teams entered the arena with and more so what they left with: roughly the same chance of catching first-place Liverpool who now sit 15 points above the second-place Gunners. While Bruno Fernandes’ beauty of a free kick at the end of the first half was enough to remind the United faithful what it means to feel in this time of, let’s say, transition, Declan Rice’s 74th-minute equalizer in front of United’s home end sent the entire fanbase back into a state of numbness that they can only hope to escape once this long, confusing, and challenging season comes to a close.

Always Swipe Left on Raya

Rice’s strike was magnificent, as was his 85th-minute tackle in the box that they’ll show at Arsenal youth camps for the next decade. But if it was No. 41’s efforts that delivered Arsenal a point, it was David Raya who ensured the Gunners didn’t gone home with a loss. Not one, but three world-class saves, from the Gunners’ No. 1, including back-to-back swats in the 93rd minute, saved Mikel Arteta in his 200th game as head coach from certain embarrassment. However, as Arsenal drop points for the third game in a row, a second-place finish for the third consecutive season now looks all but certain for Arteta’s Arsenal. Tune in next year to find out if a true No. 9 is the difference between the Gunners finally winning the title or permanently cementing themselves as the bridesmaid but never ever the bride.

Breaking News: United Supporters Are Pissed

First it was Tottenham. Then it was Chelsea. And now, the Manchester United faithful have gone full Step Up 2: The Streets with their own planned protest around Old Trafford. Chants of "We Want Glazers Out" and "Sell United Or F**k Off Home" rained down before kickoff as fan frustration with the direction of the club (very understandably) continues to boil over. Whether it was cutting employee lunches or strong-arming one of the brightest young coaches in the game into attempting to save a sinking ship halfway through the season, there’s a lot to loathe about the INEOS/Sir Jim Ratcliffe era at United, and with the team sitting silently at 14th in the table, the fans will continue to focus their ire on the one family still behind all of this chaos: the Glazers.

Forest’s Best Run since Jagged Little Pill ❤️🌳 

Nottingham Forest 1 - 0 Manchester City

Premier League scriptwriters, take a bow. In one corner, third-place Nottingham Forest, who are having their best season in 30 years, and in the other, fourth-place Manchester City, who are braving their worst campaign in the Pep era. Yet, the two top-tier clubs went into this one separated by a single point, and while Forest came out with the fury of one thousand suns, City seemed to still be shaking off Jack Grealish’s most recent bender, regardless of their 69% possession and 14 shots on goal against the Tricky Trees. Instead, all it took for Forest to seal a win was one-time Chelsea prodigy Callum Hudson-Odoi getting a second shot on Ederson in the 83rd minute – after the Brazilian made an all-world save to keep things at 0-0 just 20 minutes earlier – to send the world famous City Ground into absolutely pandemonium. What a glorious day for Forest: they maintain their stranglehold on third place, beat City at home for the first time in three decades, and have the joy of visiting Ipswich next week. As for City, they welcome Brighton to the Etihad next weekend, who sit just one point and one spot beneath them in the table. Once again, no notes.

Liverpool 3 - 1 Southampton

The Premier League table’s penthouse residents welcomed bottom-of-the-barrel Southampton, 59 points beneath them, with Liverpool still riding high after their unfathomable smash-and-grab in Paris. Or to put it in even more black and white terms: Liverpool have just one league loss on the year while the Saints only have two wins. And yet, Southampton did the unthinkable, and the un-PSGable, when they took the lead after scoring on Alisson in the last few moments of the first half. While it’s unclear exactly what the half-time team talk included, with Arne Slot cast away to the stands amidst his two-game suspension, one thing was clear: it got Darwin Nuñez’s attention. The Uruguayan chaos-in-human-form both scored and drew a penalty within 83 seconds, which delivered Mo Salah the first of his two goals on the day and took his league total to 27 for the season – seven more than the entire Southampton squad have managed collectively this year. Paris Saint-Germain visit Anfield this week with nothing but destruction on their mind, but with nine more league games to go, let the Reds’ title coronation begin.

Chelsea 1 - 0 Leicester City

There may be no team in the Premier League who are more characterized by their best player than Cole Palmer’s Chelsea. Miraculously, he still sits in sixth place for goals scored this season with 14 even though he hasn’t put one in the back on the net since mid-January, including yesterday when he missed his first Chelsea penalty in 13 chances (due partially to some legendary icing by the Foxes). Yet even throughout this coldest of cold streaks for Chelsea’s best boy, the Blues found a way, thanks to Sideshow Marc’s snipe from outside the box that would’ve looked more natural in the United/Arsenal three-point contest, rather than against lowly Leicester, who’ve now lost for the 12th time in 13 games. Chelsea sit comfortably in fourth while their fans wonder what could’ve been, or might still be, if Palmer can find his magic touch again.

Tottenham 2 - 2 Bournemouth

Here’s a stat for you: this was the first time Bournemouth have ever played Tottenham as the higher up team in the Premier League table. And even though the Cherries came in looking just as bruised as Spurs as losers of three of their last four in the league, Andoni Iraola’s squad came out very strong, appearing to almost be playing a different sport than Ange’s boys. Bournemouth ran Tottenham up and down the field, eventually taking a 2-0 lead into the 65th minute, which could've easily been 3 or 4-0 if it wasn’t for an offsides call and some great saves by Guglielmo Vicario. But then, Spurs didn’t do the Spurs-y thing. Instead, they battled back, and after a long-range lob goal from Pape Matar Sarr and an 84th-minute penalty from Sonny, Tottenham walked out with a big draw and remain unbeaten in four of their last five PL matches. Next up: Thursday’s rematch with AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League where Spurs already trail by one on aggregate. 

And Now, Rog’s Super Chill Thoughts on WTF Happened to Everton this Weekend 💙

Wolves 1 - 1 Everton

Rog writes: A game which will be forgotten by the storehouse of knowledge. Jack Harrison scored for the first time in 39 agonizing games. He is the sweetest human being and I am so happy for him. The Wolves goal was as good a strike as a relegation-threatened team can carve – they truly are the best worst team I have watched in a while. The headline though is this: The idea of Everton having no jeopardy in a match is so new and radical it is hard to believe and experience. Late season football shorn of the threat of relegation coloring every kick, whiff, and result. Everton football without fear may be David Moyes’ most radical blue invention.

See the full slate of Premier League results here. 📊 

📧 Enjoying The Raven? Check out our other MiB newsletters here.

A Few Weekend Worldies, Just for You 🚀 🥅

There were a lot of great goals this weekend (we see you, Ismaila Sarr), but these are three of our favorites. Got one we should check out? Send it our way.

On the Continent 🇪🇺

🇮🇹 Serie A: League leaders Inter Milan came back from down 0-2 to win 3-2 against Monza, Napoli bested Fiorentina to stay one point behind in second, and AC Milan also came back from a 2-0 deficit against Lecce to pick up a much-needed W, courtesy of a brace from Christian Pulisic himself.

🇪🇸 La Liga: After a Real Madrid win and an Atlético Madrid loss, Los Blancos are now tied at the top of the table with Barcelona, who have a game in hand after postponing their match against Osasuna due to the death of Barca’s first-team doctor.

🇩🇪 Bundesliga: Bayern, Leverkusen, and Dortmund all lost over the weekend with Mighty Munich maintaining their eight-point lead at the top of the table over Leverkusen, who they’ll face again in the second leg of their Champions League round-of-16 match up later this week after winning the first game 3-0.

Great News: NWSL Is Back ⚽️

Another week and more big updates from around the world of women’s football. In case you missed any of it, here’s what you need to know, courtesy of our good friends over at The Women’s Game:

• NWSL’s 13th season starts this Friday. The reigning champions, Orlando Pride, play Chicago Red Stars (7:00 p.m. ET, Prime Video), while 2024’s second-place Washington Spirit play Houston Dash (7:00 p.m. ET, NWSL+) in the first games of the season.

• Editor-in-Chief of The Women’s Game, Sam Mewis, gives her five rookies to watch ahead of the NWSL season.

• NWSL and WNBA connections continue as basketball star Sabrina Ionescu joins Bay FC’s investment group as an official commercial advisor.

Want to get more women’s football updates sent straight to your inbox each week? Subscribe to The Women’s Game newsletter.

Matches Worth Faking a Meeting for 📺 

Premier League 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

West Ham vs. Newcastle (Monday, 4:00 p.m. ET, USA)

The Hammers are after their third league win in a row while rather inconsistent Newcastle hope to slide back into the driver’s seat for Champions League qualification. Keep an eye on Alexander Isak as he looks for his 20th goal in the Premier League this season.

Champions League - Round of 16 (Second Leg) 🏆

Barcelona vs. Benfica (Tuesday, 1:45 p.m. ET, Paramount+) (1 - 0 on aggregate)

Down to 10 men on the road after a 22nd-minute red card and Barca still found a way to win. Things are not “tudo bem” for Benfica right now as a Barcelona/Liverpool UCL final looks increasingly inevitable. 

Liverpool vs. PSG (Tuesday, 4:00 p.m. ET, Paramount+) (1 - 0 on aggregate)

There’s luck, there’s skill, and then there’s whatever spirit possessed Alisson against PSG at Parc des Princes last week. The French leaders dominated in the crushing loss, so let’s see if they can bounce back in front of the Kop this time around. 

Inter Milan vs. Feyenoord Rotterdam (Tuesday, 4:00 p.m. ET, Paramount+) (2 - 0 on agg.)

Don’t look now, but the reigning Italian champs are starting to look downright vicious. Inter have only lost five times in all competitions this season, and going into this one at home with a two-goal lead, it might be a short UCL run for Feyenoord’s newly-appointed manager, Robin Van Persie.

Atlético Madrid vs. Real Madrid (Wednesday, 4:00 p.m. ET, Paramount+) (1 - 2 on agg.)

The first leg of this Madrid Derbi clash did not disappoint. Real looked determined while Atléti’s Julián Alvarez tried to play spoiler with a true worldie. If you can only watch one match Wednesday, make sure it’s this one.

Check out the full Champions League schedule here. 🗓️

Europa League - Round of 16 🇪🇺

Manchester United vs. Real Sociedad (Thursday, 4:00 p.m. ET, Paramount+) (1 - 1 on agg.)

A Bruno Fernandes handball gifted Real Sociedad a penalty to draw 1-1 last week in San Sebastián. After another emotionally-draining one-all game against Arsenal, we’ll see if Ruben’s boys have any juice left to (hopefully) get through to the quarterfinals of the Europa League.

Tottenham vs. AZ Alkmaar (Thursday, 4:00 p.m. ET, Paramount+) (1 - 1 on agg.)

Oh Tottenham… Just one shot on goal last week vs. the sixth-best team in the Netherlands + an own goal from Lucas Bergvall. And yet, Spurs ended the weekend on a high note after a courageous draw with the Cherries after going down 2-0. Let’s see if Big Ange and the boys can come back strong in front of their increasingly impatient home crowd.

Check out the full Europa League schedule here. 🗓️

It’s MiB Trivia Time 🤔

Welcome to our new-ish weekly trivia game, we’re thrilled you could join us again.

This week’s question is: After finishing 17th in the table last season and narrowly avoiding relegation, Nottingham Forest comfortably sit in third place with nine games to go. When was the last time the Tricky Trees qualified for Europe and what tournament did they qualify for?

Respond to this email with your answers and we’ll send one lucky correct responder a coveted MiB patch.

Last week’s answer: The first FA Cup featured just 15 teams, however, only 12 ended up playing. Wanderers FC defeated The Royal Engineers 1-0 in a final played at Kennington Oval, one of England’s most famous cricket grounds. Cheers to our first champion, Arturo Costello, on winning the inaugural MiB trivia challenge.

Dear Rog... GFOPs Write ✍️

Ralph writes: Hello Roger,

Did you know Tracy Chapman played on the Tufts University Women's Soccer team during her freshman year? I arrived at Tufts a couple of years after Tracy's graduation and coached there for 20 years. 

YNWA & COYB!

RALPH, COACH RALPH FERRIGNO

Rog writes: Ralph - Just when you thought you could not love a person any more, you learn new depths about them. Tracy Chapman, the football player! What position? Does anyone out there have any memories or photographs? I am so incredibly eager to hear more.

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