Hail GFOP!

I type with fingers of joy to be back, to wish you happiness and health for the year ahead. Can I just say up top, don’t know about you, but I am loving this 2025 thing so far. Everton have not lost all year. The US Men are undefeated too. The Chicago Bears are perfect. Even the White Sox have not lost so much as an inning. A year of agonizing sporting disappointment lies ahead of me like fresh snow, and I for one, am ready to leap in and Snow Angel it up. Bring it on.  🙏

ii. The response to our Holiday Extravaganza orgy of content has been a human delight. I promised you the John Oliver Show was at Messi levels.  Remember – when John first came on, Roy Hodgson was manager of Liverpool, and he talked about his version of football joy as watching the team being able to string together five straight passes. Now this. It has been some journey, and I don’t like to be hyperbolic, but John has the poetic abilities of a Homer or Virgil to capture it. I also loved taping with Magnus Carlsen whom I have wanted to come on the show for a long, long time. He came alive when talking about football in general, Mo Salah in particular, and his expertise in Fantasy Football. Total Hero. 

iii.  Thanks to all of you for your incredible messages and insights over the holidays. They fuel all of us at MiB. We do not take them for granted.  Keep sending them in at [email protected]. I want to highlight a beauty from GFOP Joe Lambert who called me out for missing the wonder of watching the University of Vermont become 2024 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Champions: “My god, what a story! A small school in a state of 600,000 people winning the national championship from an unseeded position with multiple improbable late-game heroics, including overtimes in the semis and the championship. The UVM story might be an even better antidote to the big money/sovereign wealth darkness hanging over the sport than Manchester City suddenly careening over an unseen cliff. Also, it seems clear that Vermont will soon be recognized as the new center of gravity of US Soccer.” 

Joe. This story gave me such joy on so many levels. I adore the state of Vermont and long to be back up in its midst. To more Catamount Glory – their delight and wonder and pride in this moment is all that is good about football in this nation. 🇺🇸🏆

iv. We are hiring at MiB: We are growing our Vamos programming and are looking for a platform director for a future Vamos channel. It is a really fascinating challenge and we are looking for someone creative, passionate, and ready to seize this moment. Here is the job description: Come and work with us. 💙

📧 If you like this newsletter, and it brings you joy and sets you up for all you need to know about the weekend ahead, please share it with your friends and ask them to subscribe here.

To the Football! ⚽️

Liverpool v. Manchester United (Sunday, 11:30 a.m. ET, USA)

Pray for Ruben Amorim. A gent whose first-week smile has been sucked into the career-killing, life-sucking vortex that is Manchester United. His United have lost their last three games without scoring, plummeting into 14th place. The chasm between his favored 3-4-3 formation and the aging, listless, exquisite corpse of a squad at his disposal is akin to watching a self-inflicted wound on the weekly. Enter Liverpool at Anfield.  A place where United have scored just once in six defeats on the run in the Premier League. The Dutch Zen mastery Arne Slot has exerted while effortlessly making Premier League football look so easy only reinforces United fans’ agony. The control enforced by the Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister-powered midfield will make Amorim sleep fitfully on Saturday night.

Prediction: Amorim had warned of a “storm” coming. This will be a Category 5 hurricane of a defeat. 4-1 Liverpool.  

More: He’d be worshipped at Real Madrid. Should Trent leave Liverpool?

Tottenham v. Newcastle (Saturday, 7:30 a.m. ET, USA)

Newcastle are the team Spurs fans dream of being. Strolling in with four clean sheets in four wins. Poor Tottenham are suffering from a bug, and find themselves in the bottom half of the table having been ripped apart on the regs, with just one win in their last seven league games, leaking goals, and losing defenders like Spinal Tap drummers. I adore Ange Postecoglou, but he cuts an ever more isolated figure. He and Sonny flailing side by side, a reminder there is no romance in football. 

Prediction: A flood of goals. Pray for a draw.

Wolves v. Nottingham Forest (Monday, 3 p.m. ET, USA)

Nuno Espirito Santo goes full-on Uma Thurman in Kill Bill. When fortune smiles on something as violent and ugly as revenge, it seems proof like no other that not only does God exist, you're doing His will. 

Prediction: Cunha-less Wolves lose 2-1.

More: How Nuno refashioned his team from relegation dwellers to Champions League contenders.

Brighton v. Arsenal (Saturday, 12:30 p.m. ET, NBC)

Fabian Hürzeler’s Brighton are not your Grandfather’s Fabian Hürzeler’s Brighton. Goals have dried up in a run of five draws and two defeats with zero wins since November. Arsenal – now proudly revelling in their Set Piece FC image – will seek to avenge the Declan Rice-red card inflected 1-1 draw which felt like a loss. They are Ethan Nwaneri’s team now. 

Prediction: Arsenal romp 2-0 with Nwaneri summoning one of the goals from open play, sending the hype to 11. 

More: No one can replace Saka but Nwaneri gives Arsenal fans hope.

Crystal Palace v. Chelsea (Saturday, 10 a.m. ET, Peacock)

Maresca was right. His non-title challengers have lost three straight including back-to-back defeats. Good news though: They have won 12 of their last 15 visits to Selhurst Park. Cole Palmer has looked shattered over Christmas. It has been a joy though to watch fellow-maverick Eberechi Eze back in the goals. Palace fans gird your loins. That 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge earlier in the season ended a run of 14 consecutive defeats against Chelsea.

Prediction: If ever a game had 1-1 written all over it.

Manchester City v. West Ham (Saturday, 10 a.m. ET, Peacock)

West Ham’s backline was just pummeled by Liverpool. Enter Erling Haaland who has just regained his scoring touch and will remember the hattrick he battered to welcome Julen Lopetegui back to the Premier League earlier this season. Pep Guardiola admitted victory at Leicester “Cleared our soul.” Expect the relief to continue here in a drab game. 

Prediction: 2-0 City whose soul will be even clearer.

More: A curious piece on Pep’s Spitting. A habit that is analyzed in depth here.

Bournemouth Golden War Cherries v. Friedkin Era Everton (Saturday, 10 a.m. ET, USA)

I always hate this game. Partially because I loathe that this is what it has come to. I now fear Bournemouth. But I also can’t stand watching Tyler Adams versus Everton and having to witness a player I really love fight against My Team. Also, the memory of that 3-2 87th minute comeback still stings. The truth is this – Bournemouth are also a symbol of what Everton could and should be: Proof of the joy that a non-chaos, non-points deduction, well-run club can provide for its fans. The War Cherries are living their best life: best-ever points tally, best ever position through 19 matchweeks, unbeaten in seven games, reaching for Europe. May the Friedkin era bring a fraction of that kind of alignment and adventure for my fellow long-suffering Everton fans. We deserve it. 

Prediction: 2-0 home Win AKA Pain.

More: I loved this Jordan Pickford tribute video. Gent is one amazing lunatic. Without him, Everton would be Wrexham. Club Legend.

And: The Iraola effect: How the high intensity gameplan works.

And: Full Premier League Broadcast Schedule here. 📺

More Football, Did Ya Say?

• The New Art of the Set Piece. Football has been reduced to this.

• Great read on where football is now: The Age of the tactical ideologue is dead.

• Thomas Tuchel has just taken over as England manager. Here are the problems he faces.

America’s Best Soccer Bars: Top 10 Voting 🗳️

AMERICA - We asked you to nominate your favorite soccer bars in a nationwide search, sponsored by our friends at Michelob ULTRA. Thousands of votes poured in from across the country and now we need your help in crowning the one true champion of America’s Best Soccer Bar. 

Listed out below, in no particular order, are your 10 Most-Nominated-Bars. Use the link below to vote on who you think should be the champion. Voting will close on Friday, January 10th, so be sure to cast your vote and share with your friends. Following the voting, we will have a special announcement for the winner, which involves us coming out to have a pint, or two or three. So follow along in The Raven and our social channels for more.

VOTE HERE: mibcourage.co/4fv3y72

• AJ Hudson’s (Chicago, IL) - As Chicago as Dick Butkus or The Bear. 

• The Black Hart (Saint Paul, MN) - A kaleidoscopic canvas for the cold Minnesota mornings. 

• Bluefoot Bar & Lounge (San Diego, CA) - Where ‘Supersonic’ is the factory setting, thanks to visits from Noel Gallagher. 

• Football Factory (New York, NY) - Be transported around the footballing world without leaving the shadow of the Empire State Building. 

• Brewhouse Cafe (Atlanta, GA) - To the town that Brad Guzan built, this place is the Lemon Pepper Wet of football. 

• The Londoner (Addison, TX) - Just north of Dallas, where they are proper Arsenal. 

• Gol PDX (Portland, OR) - One of America’s truly great soccer cities, Martin Scorsese will use the footage from outside Gol PDX for his upcoming film on soccer bars. 

• Amsterdam Tavern (St. Louis, MO) - The Tim Ream of soccer bars, and a beautiful place for watching football. 

• The Queen Vic (Washington, D.C.) - Imagine if Jürgen Klopp was a bar. 

• Villa Capri (Doylestown, PA) - Scenes powerful enough to make me shed denim clad tears. 

MiB Mad Libs Can Win You A Coveted Patch

Shawn Levy is last week’s winner for completing the sentence, Big Ange is to Tottenham… as follows: “Big Ange is to Tottenham as SMOKEY THE BEAR is to DANTE'S INFERNO”

Shawn. You made me laugh so much.

This week’s competition: Complete this sentence:

Everton should punish Neal Maupay by ______ 

Send your entries to [email protected] and winner grabs the coveted Patch.

PrizePicks. Best PP since Peter Piper

Charlie Kipp writes: Yes, the feast of festive fixtures finally reaches its finale this weekend (...after Friday). While alliteration is great, turning hunches into research and research into winners is even better, and that’s exactly what PrizePicks lets you do each and every day. As college football and the NFL slow down, there is truly no better time to jump in and mix some soccer into your PP rotation and better yet - I’ll give you a winner to get things started: Alexander Isak MORE in the shots-on-target department.

Yes, United and Spurs continue to flail and Forest are in the Top Three, but the story that you probably should be paying more attention to is Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United. There is no one hotter in the country right now (Five straight wins, 16 scored, one conceded, all comps). Central to that resurgence in form is the best striker in the Premier League these days, Alexander Isak. The 25-year-old Swede has scored six goals in his last four league starts and will not be slowing down against the checks notes not exactly vaunted Spurs defense. Sometimes the picks choose themselves, and when in doubt, go with the hot boot. Isak MORE for shots-on-target, no matter the number.

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

Not Football, and all the Better for it

• I apologize: I have not read a single website over the holidays. I spent a week just reading books. The best I read was this: Munichs by David Peace. The author of that footballing masterpiece Damned United does it again by re-living the 1958 Munich Air Disaster in which the young, fearsome Manchester United side was torn apart by a crash on the runway in Germany, killing 20 of the 44 people on board, with three more dying later in hospital. The book is a stunning piece of work. Anyone seeking to better understand the origins of English football – and the soul of the North of England – should read it. First 100 pages and the last 50 are magnificent. 

• Stanley Kubrick’s classic Barry Lyndon has been posted on YouTube by Warner Brothers. It is glorious. 

• When I watched this clip of the Australian Alpaca, I just wanted to leap through the computer screen and move to Australia.  

• This Song is really lovely: Backyard Lover by Merce Lemon.

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

That is it for this week. Normal service will be BACK next as we begin the year with some enormous interviews which I am genuinely giddy about. I know the world feels chaotic at the moment. I send all of you my love, especially those in New Orleans. That magnificent city of love which was rocked to its seams so senselessly this week. I have two sons that live there and adore that place. There is nothing I can say that can bring meaning at a time like this. All I can do is send love, and wishes for healing. More than ever – let’s savor what we have, while we have it. 

To Better Days Ahead for All.

Let’s not take a moment watching the comfort blanket that is football together for granted and make great memories,

Big Love,

Courage.

ROG 

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