Premier League is (Half) Back 🏆

Hail GFOP!

I type with fingers giddy at the prospect of the Premier League returning to our loving arms. Kind of. We are living the days of “Winter Break.” Half the teams play a diminished schedule this week. The other half the next. A partial-slate quasi-reality that is akin to a Griffin or Minotaur from Greek mythology. Or more akin to the Aklonost. The creature from Russian folklore with the head of a woman with the body of a bird, who was said to make beautiful sounds that make anyone who hears them forget all that they know and not want anything more ever again. League leaders Liverpool will be dormant, which will piss off Reds fans and lovers of alliteration in equal measure. Arsenal fans are perhaps most grateful right now for a weekend off. As someone that would watch three carthorses kick a football if I happened across a meadow where that Animal Channel moment went down, I am elated to take what I am offered and not take it for granted.

This has been a truly magical week at MiB. Next week, we are poised for a real moment in our coverage of the Women’s Game and have been building out the strategy for that as we hurtle towards the Olympics and beyond. More, much more to come next week.

2. To the Football 🍻

i. Manchester United vs. Tottenham (Sunday, 11.30 a.m. EST, P’Cock)

Timo Werner’s second coming begins up North. Sonny-less Spurs have gleaned four wins in their last five league games and have defensive gem Micky van de Ven back from injury, and new arrival Radu Dragusin, the Romanian known as “The Bodyguard.” For Erik Ten Hag, Monday night’s FA Cup win at League One Wigan was a toupee of respite. A distraction from the degrading truth that his United have lost nine of their 20 league games this season – the most at this stage in 34 years.  

More: Someone in the Spurs marketing department should get a raise for this brilliant call-back. 😎

ii. Newcastle vs. Manchester City (Saturday, 12.30 p.m. EST, NBC Proper)

Last weekend’s victorious FA Cup Raiding Party to local patsies Sunderland was a welcome respite from recent woes which had seen Eddie Howe’s boys unable to take winning-on-field post-game selfies after losing seven of their last eight. Manchester City arrive in ominously invincible form. Unbeaten in their last eight games all comps, zero players lost to AFCON/Asian Cup, a game in hand on their rivals, and KDB back. Add to that: City have lost just once to the Toon in their last 32 Premier League meetings. Newcastle meanwhile have Joelinton out for six weeks with a quad injury and enormous financial challenges which may force sales rather than incoming reinforcements in this window. 

More: Newcastle could not resist enormous bid for big name after reporting $93m loss.

iii. Everton vs. Aston Villa (Sunday, 9.00 a.m. EST, USA)

The Lucas Digne Memorial Derby. This season will end me. Haven’t we already declared Everton safe from relegation at least two times? A plunge back to fruitless football – three defeats on the trot – combined with Luton and Bournemouth suddenly remembering how to pass and shoot – has left us teetering. How come Villa get to have all the nice things? They are second place, three points off idle Liverpool. Guess what is going to happen next?

iv. Chelsea vs. Fulham (Saturday, 7.30 a.m. EST, USA)

West London Gripple-Grapple between two mid table teams, both coming off Carabao Cup semi-final losses. Chelsea will attempt to repress the memory of soiling themselves up at Championship side Middlesbrough, grasping onto the memory of back to back Premier League wins. Fulham have won just once in their last four games – but that one was a come-from-behind wonder against Arsenal. They have not won at the Bridge in 44 years but will hope Willian will make like Ephialtes in 300 and reveal the hidden pathway the Cottagers can use to outflank their opponents. 

More: Why Chelsea are an experiment that football has never seen before.

Are you more Fulhamerica or a Champion of Amortization? 👕

v. Burnley vs. Luton Town (This afternoon, 2.45 p.m. EST, USA)

An epic relegation six-pointer that JJ Watt’s Burnley would probs prefer to play on the road. They won the reverse fixture at the Kenny but remain the most generous hosts in football: they are the first side in English top-flight history to lose nine of their opening ten home matches of a campaign, so at least they are consistent. Luton could move out of the relegation zone if they build on their sizzling two wins in three, but they must do so without the injured Marvelous Nakamba and recovering Tom Lockyer. A Rubberneckers must-watch. 

AND: Complete Broadcast Schedule.

3. Behold: The African Cup of Nations is Upon us 🌍🏆

The Africa Cup of Nations kicks off this Saturday as hosts Ivory Coast welcome Guinea-Bissau to the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Abidjan (3 p.m EST, FuboTV / Sling TV). Twenty-four nations with 31 Premier League players are set to compete across the West African country over the next 29 days with the final taking place Feb. 11. The Group Stage features four groups of six teams each and will run until Wednesday the 24th followed by the round of 16 beginning on Jan. 27. Opta predicts World Cup darlings Morocco, Holders Senegal and Victor Osimhen-propelled Nigeria as favorites.  

More: Africa Cup of Nations can give Mohamed Salah the missing piece of his glorious legacy.

4. And… the Asian Cup is Klinsmann’ing it up too 🌏🏆

The re-scheduled 2023 Asian Cup begins today with substitute host, and your reigning winners, Qatar facing Lebanon in the Lusail Stadium, scene of Messi and Salt Bae’s finest moment, the 2022 World Cup final (11 a.m. EST, Paramount +). The competition, which is held every four years, was initially scheduled for Summer 2023 with China to be the host country, but was switched to football’s historic home, Qatar, in October 2022 due to Covid-19. This year's cup features six groups of four teams with the final set for Feb. 10. The 18th edition of the competition features newcomers Tajikistan and a Jurgen Klinsmann led, Son Heung-min propelled South Korea side (Ange Postecoglou's second favorite team). 

More: Who is missing? Team-by-team guide to players lost to AFCON/Asian Cup Duty. Look away Brentford, Forest, and Wolves fans. Nice news for Chelsea: Nico Jackson is playing for Senegal.

5. The Women’s Game

Sam Kerr agony highlights the preponderance of ACL injuries in the women’s game: Women are three to six times more likely to pick up an ACL injury than their male counterparts and a lot of work is going into understanding the causes, potential prevention and recovery. The difficulty is that reasons are multifaceted and there can be any number and combination of factors.

More: Who will step up at Chelsea in Sam Kerr’s absence?

ii. The Guardian’s 100 best Women’s Footballers in the World. Fascinating to see the game from an English perspective and how few USWNT players crack the list.

iii. This is immense: Washington Spirit hire Barcelona Coach. Exactly what football needs in this nation: importing of new, brilliant ideas.

6. Wrexham face Nerdfighters who don’t forget to be awesome 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

John Green's beloved AFC Wimbledon make the 200+ mile trip northwest this Saturday (10 a.m EST, iFollow) to the STōK Cae Ras to face a Wrexham side fresh off a hard fought FA Cup win against cross-border rivals Shrewsbury Town (absolute scenes captured on this week's episode: This Week in Wrexham). Yesterday, I spent a fantastic morning filming with oft-shirtless striker Ollie Palmer who is a magical life force. That conversation will be out Tuesday.

More: What John Green does for Wimbledon is just so magical, and so John Green.

7. Meanwhile… In Europe…

i. AC Milan 🇮🇹 Four days after a gutting 2-1 loss to Atalanta in the quarter finals of the Coppa Italia, Milan look to respond Sunday (2:45 p.m. EST, Paramount +) at home to a Roma side who will be without manager José Mourinho, suspended for more sideline tomfoolery. Milan are nine points off league leaders and crosstown rivals Inter, so pressure is mounting on manager Stefano Pioli after the Rosseneri exited yet another club competition. However, Pulisic's side will go into Sunday's tie confident they can glean something from an inconsistent Roma, who themselves lost in the Coppa Italia midweek, to crosstown rivals Lazio to boot, and will be without Argentinian star Paulo Dybala due to a recurrent thigh injury. 

More: Pulisic wins Serie A Player of the Month for December

ii. PSV 🇳🇱 Coincidence? The ONLY European team with three American stars is the only team with a perfect record. Back in action after the winter break, PSV host 12th placed Excelsior, who are winless in their last nine league outings (Saturday, 3 p.m. EST, ESPN +). Sporting director Earnie Stewart confirmed last month that the club are looking to secure the futures of on-loan USMNT stars Sergiño Dest and Malik Tilman. However, this week German papers reported a possible deal for Tilman could be blocked by the same clause in his contract that prevented his loan deal to Rangers from becoming permanent. The young American duo has become integral to PSV's success this season, combining for a total of 39 appearances across all competitions, with Tillman on five goals and four assists and Barcelona loanee Dest on one goal and two assists. 

8. More Football, Did Ya Say?

i. In the era of data, what has happened to coaching and man management. “It’s not to do with coaching any more,” Jürgen Klopp said before Liverpool’s 4-2 win over Newcastle. “It’s just recovery and then meetings, that’s how it is.” 

ii. Jesse Marsch unplugged. Our gent unbears a lot in a recent interview in England.

iii. More Football, more tournaments, more grind, and how it is destroying the quality of elite football. Player power must push back.

This Week at Men in Blazers World Headquarters

🌟 IT WAS PEP GUARDIOLA WEEK: The King Bald spent time with Rog and was on ominously Great Form. WATCH ON OUR YOUTUBE. From his insatiable appetite for winning, to wife picking out his clothes, to his texts with Noel Gallagher. This conversation covers it all. 

🚨 THE MEN IN BLAZERS MEN’S AND WOMEN’S TEAMS OF THE YEAR. Or, more accurately, our teams of guts and glory. Vote for your EA SPORTS FC Teams of the Year RIGHT HERE. 

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 One of Britain’s great football rivalries. We talking Wrexham Shrewsbury. In the latest This Week in Wrexham, we live every kick of the ball between those fierce rivals in an FA Cup, crap-talking clash for the ages as our Wrexham correspondent Tomi “Cheese” Lewis goes behind enemy lines for a battle with these “tractor boys.”  

🎶 He came from Uruguay. He made the Scousers cry. 🎶 Yesterday, in a brand new episode of VAMOS with Herc Gomez, Diego Forlan spoke about the current turmoil at his former club and also had some advice for the USMNT when they play his Uruguay at the Copa America this summer. LISTEN HERE. Special thanks to the GFOPs at Camarena Tequila - the most awarded Tequila - for making this happen. 

🎧 One of our favorite moments of this week, when the host of MiB’s Early Kickoff Podcast, Sammy James, joined us live from right outside of Anfield where he’d just watch his Fulham fall valiantly at Liverpool. WATCH THIS POST CARABAO DO IT LIVE HERE. And subscribe to MiB’s Early Kickoff HERE. 

VOTE FOR EA FC 24’S WORLD’S BEST XI 🎮

It’s a new year and that can only mean one thing: it’s time for the EA SPORTS FC Team of the Year voting. The GFOPs at EA SPORTS FC want you to vote on who the world’s Best XI is. Have your say on both the Men’s and — for the first time — Women’s XI (even if there’s not a single Everton player nominated).

The GFOPs at EA SPORTS FC have been kind enough to give us 10 (!) download codes of FC 24 to give away to you good people, and all you have to do is vote for your Best XI’s and fill out the info below. That’s it. Have your say (but do it by January 14th when voting closes) at ea.com/toty. Everyone has a team. Choose Yours.

9. Not Football, and All the Better for It

i. Incredible History heroes: How Ukraine’s Museum Curators Are Risking Life and Limb to Document the War.

ii. Beavers are finally the good guy, and scientists want to know more. Wasn't aware we were at war with Beavers up until now. I love them.

iii. Fantastic from Noema Mag: Nice View. Shame About All The Tourists. Some especially tasty pull quotes here. Shoutout to Lady Mary Wortley Montagu.

iv. 15 of the most advanced streetwear brands on earth. Reading this is like being in Harvey Elliott's laundry hamper.

v. After a decade, someone finally cracked the coded message hidden inside a dress from 1888. Thankfully it didn't just say "Dry clean only."

vi. Love this from The Paris Review: Invisible Ink: At the CIA’s Creative Writing Group. "When an organization has, say, financed the overthrow of the government of Guatemala, you would think there might be a speaking fee."

vii. If you're at all curious about the Post Office Scandal gripping the UK at the mo: Justice Lost In The Post. It is a human darkness.

viii. The scientist using bugs to solve murders. This human-insect partnership is already better than Season 2 of True Detective (BUT APPARENTLY NOT BETTER THAN THE NEW SEASON!!!).

ix. My Mum LOVES this place… I think that counts as a Rory restaurant rec: How a Super Affordable Bakery Chain Became a British Culinary Icon.

x. From GFOP Kevin who emailed me to say: In the spirit of keeping the FA Cup Weird, Maidstone United's success reminded me of a strange experimental film made by Norman Mailer called Maidstone starring, yes, Rip Torn. 

xi. This Song Propelled Me Through the Week: Astral Plane by Say She She. Deliciously energizing.

That is it for today. One last word: Farwell David Soul. The blond half of iconic 70s television show, Starsky and Hutch. A creation whose legacy shines so much brighter in the UK than in the United States. For us, it was definitive. I was always more of a Starsky guy, but David Soul was inimitably cool, and it turns out, he embraced Britain as much as we adored him. May his memory never be forgotten. 

To more.

Let’s savor every moment of watching football together

Courage

ROG