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Everton Host Arsenal & John Oliver Returns 🤩

Plus, Rog's first visit to the Hill Dickinson.

December 19, 2025

Hail GFOP! 

I type with fingers filled with fatigue, barely holding on after this end-of-year sprinted marathon. I am writing from Liverpool, where I close this trip. The apex was filming with Eberechi Eze—aura king, purveyor of wizard filth and profoundly inspirational human being. The two of us spent an afternoon talking, reliving his remarkably tenacious climb to fulfill his childhood dreams… and then playing speed chess. This has been a crazy, crazy end to the year, with the World Cup draw, Village People resurrection, and a ton of content captured. To sit there and listen to Ebs is to feel truly alive. ♟️

ii. The week began on the most magical note with the return of John Oliver to the show for a record-extending 19th time. Longtime GFOPs know how much I look forward to his arrival. I think about football all the time. I know it may not seem like it, but I work hard on my thoughts. Then John just saunters in and both naturally and effortlessly drops ideas and insights that are levels above. It is very humbling.

You all probably have a friend who can just pick up any sport and immediately work out how to be good at it? That is Oliver. This year's conversation about Liverpool’s tumult was actually immensely moving. John and I have lived through the darkness of the Roy Hodgson Liverpool years. We have watched the Reds conquer Europe, soar and sing all the songs. To live with their struggle again was to mine the cycle of life. To talk about it all in the warmest, and deepest way—well, I can't wait for you to see it. ❤️

iii. I am finishing a new memoir that comes out in March. I have written it entirely on flights over the past four years. Tomorrow, I will take one more flight and finish it. Hopefully. It is about football and what it means to my life—the growth of the game in the United States, especially. I head to Paris to spend a couple of days with my family. I cannot wait to land and try to find them. Emphasis on try. Directions are not my strong point. I pray I have located them all before Everton and Tulane kick off almost simultaneously. What could possibly go wrong? 📚

iv. A mid-week goal that you might’ve missed and really deserves your attention: Another half-field worldie, this time from Morocco’s Oussama Tannane in the Arab Cup final. This strike is simply breathtaking. 🤩

v. We released a video this week documenting the first trip in my entire life to the Hill Dickinson Stadium, a place where all our dreams will come true and Everton will win a title again in my lifetime. Yeah, we lost for the first time, but it's still a truly bucket-list must-see, must-travel-to experience. This is my journey. 💙

vi. We have another newsletter coming out before the end of the year, so I will save my 2026 thoughts for there. We have gigantic plans, and I want to thank every member of my team for all the thought, all the work and all the positivity they have put out into the world. Most of all—I want to thank you GFOPs. We have put out over a thousand shows across MiB, The Women’s Game, and our new platform, Vamos, this year. Best of all, we have done 25 live shows this year across the United States. To be with you all, and revel in the connection football creates for us, is when we feel most alive. 🍾

vii. Lastly, I want to thank my heroes Max Bonem, Tommy Stewart and Jonathan Williamson for all the energy and poetry they have poured into our newsletters this year. We started this at the beginning of MiB before newsletters were ever a substacky thing. To have a program with so many ideas, and offerings, and even the mighty Rory Smith writing under our banner, has been incredible to witness. Please keep spreading the word, dear readers. If this missive brings you joy, share it with those football-curious friends in your life. Word of mouth is everything. We do this for you. 🫶

PS - If you want to know where the drunkest people during next year’s World Cup will be, here you go. 🍻

And: If you want to feel better about life, watch this man’s walk-on and set celebrations. They are the talk of England right now. 🎯

Courage,
ROG

To the Football 🍻

Newcastle vs. Chelsea (Saturday, 7:30 a.m. ET, USA)

Two oddly discomforted managers collide. Enzo Maresca attempts to be fomented out of Stamford Bridge, as links to Manchester City smolder. After declaring he just experienced his “worst 48 hours” at the club, he is now “falling more in love with the players.” Rest assured, Chelsea fans, nothing to worry about here, huh? Eddie Howe’s damp squib of a Tyne-Wear derby performance also had the rumor mill crackling. How he fuses newly unleashed Yoane Wissa with Nick Woltemade, like 5'3" Muggsy Bogues and 7' 7" Manute Bol reincarnated, may determine his fate. 

Rogstradamus 🔮: This is the kind of game Newcastle come alive for, right? The post-match Maresca comments will be ones we decode as if they are a Frank Ocean track.

Manchester City vs. West Ham (Saturday, 10 a.m. ET, USA)

Rumors abound that Pep’s title charge is occurring against the backdrop of his final season at City. Meanwhile, West Ham fans are asking what is the point of a West Ham? The team are third from bottom, and have not experienced the happiness of winning in five games tracking back to November. Their form reminds me of that line from the late, great David Lynch, “It’s maybe impossible to escape [your own head], but I guess the secret is the prison cell just gets bigger and bigger and bigger and prettier and prettier and prettier.” 

Rogstradamus 🔮: City by a million.

Spurs vs. Liverpool (Saturday, 12:30 p.m. ET, NBC / Peacock)

The Trauma and Pain Clásico, whichever team loses will inherit the baton of agony and have to smash themselves in the down-belows with it. Them’s the rules. Thomas Frank is on thin, thin ice. Spurs have won just one of their last seven league games. His fragility is a reminder of that Lao Tzu proverb that, "A candle that burns twice as bright, burns half as long." Liverpool fans will angst on the fitness of Dominik Szoboszlai, who has been hope incarnate, but hobbled off last weekend. Mo Salah is at AFCON, but his specter will still haunt the Liverpool bench. With Cody Gakpo injured, might that Prince That Was Promised, 17-year-old Rio Ngumoha, have a chance to show he is too young to know he is meant to be afraid?

Rogstradamus 🔮: Liverpool win without impressing because it’s Spurs and they don’t have to. 2-0. The boos will be audible from outer space.

Everton vs. Arsenal (Saturday, 3 p.m. ET, Peacock)

Arsenal have appeared flat and devoid of potency. Enter Everton: football’s most generous charity. An Everton shorn of AFCON-ING Iliman Ndiaye and Idrissa Gueye. Heroic Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall out with a hamstring knack until the end of January, and Jack Grealish possibly also out with a twinge. I see a darkness. 

More: Arsenal are top of THIS table. P-A-I-N.

Rogstradamus 🔮: 5-1. This one will be really good, too. A Thierno Barry screamer which he will celebrate wildly even though we are 4-0 down at the time.

Aston Villa vs. Manchester United (Sunday, 11:30 a.m. ET, NBC/Peacock)

United are bereft of defenders, and lacking Amad Diallo, Noussair Mazraoui and Bryan Mbeumo, who are AFCON-ING away. Ruben Amorim is so shorn of options, he has even been seen to experiment with a 4-4-2 in possession! Aston Villa feel like a reality where nothing is a problem: 10 wins in 11 (including nine straight) and 15 points gained from losing positions this season. Impossible is nothing.

Rogstradamus 🔮: Normal Villa game: Come from behind 5-4 win with a 94th-minute banger…

PS - Devastated to hear that Tyler Adams has an MCL tear, which could keep him off the field for some time. Wishing Tyler strength, health and the ability to come back quickly and even stronger. Courage. 🍒🇺🇸 

🗓️ Full weekend PL schedule here.

And Now, We AFCON 🌍

If 174 sleeps is too long to wait for the World Cup, your international football amuse-bouche is here in the form of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON 2025), which starts in Morocco this Sunday. Twenty-four African teams packed with worldie talent will tussle for the title that’s currently held by three-time champions, Côte d'Ivoire. This year, there are more complex storylines than a season of “Russian Doll.”

Two-time finalist Mohamed Salah escapes the Premier League circus to strive for his first title leading AFCON’s most historically successful side, Egypt. No pressure then, Mo. Even though they qualified for the World Cup, four-time winners Ghana didn’t make the cut, while Nigeria will desperately be looking to redeem their own failure to secure a place at next year’s party in the USA with a remedial AFCON run. There are no newcomers in this edition of the tournament, but underdogs Botswana and Comoros have qualified for just the second time. The final takes place at the 69,500-capacity Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat on Jan. 18, but Manchester United fans in particular will selfishly be praying that Amad Diallo, Noussair Mazraoui and Bryan Mbeumo—AKA their whole right-hand side—will be back sooner. You can watch every single AFCON match on beIN Sports.

2026 City Guides: For Fans, By Fans 🏆

The most important tournament in men’s world football is nearly upon us! To celebrate, we are creating Men in Blazers City Guides for all 11 U.S. host cities to help the footballing faithful experience next summer like a local fan.

Do you know one of these host cities like Rory Smith knows Harrogate? Now is your chance to tell us what’s great about the place in which you live, what the world should go see, what to eat and drink, where to watch, and how to experience your city.

To tell us (and the footballing world) about your favorite locations, simply click the link below.

Beautiful Football Around the World 🌎

Juventus vs. Roma (Saturday, 2:45 p.m. ET, Paramount+) 🇮🇹

Juventus coach Luciano Spalletti finding Gian Gasperini in charge of his former club Roma is a bizarro-world collision, but then Serie A’s managerial rotation has always been a game of 52 pick-up. Since the bald maestro’s arrival in late October, Juve have climbed to just a rung below fourth-placed Roma in Serie A, and key to that has been the deployment of Fort Lewis’s Weston McKennie as a hybrid midfielder.

Villarreal vs. Barcelona (Sunday, 10:15 a.m. ET, ESPN+) 🇪🇸

While Real Madrid have been in relative free fall, Barcelona have won their last seven La Liga matches, turning a five-point deficit into a four-point lead over the Wet Bandits to their Kevin McCallister. Bubbling in the background like their former manager Unai Emery’s Aston Villa are Marcelino García Toral’s Villarreal, looking to extend their six-match winning streak in the league. They’re eight points behind the champions, but with two games in hand, a win at the Estadio de la Cerámica on Sunday hard launches the Yellow Submarine’s title challenge. 

More: Los Blancos must beat Sevilla tomorrow to stay in the fight and keep Xabi Alonso in a job (Saturday, 3 p.m. ET, ESPN+).

FC Heidenheim vs. Bayern Munich (Sunday, 11:30 a.m. ET, ESPN+) 🇩🇪

Bayern Munich’s Bundesliga charge is as relentless as Timothée Chalamet’s “Marty Supreme” press tour, but Vincent Kompany’s side have exposed their fallibilities of late. Harry Kane rescued them from humiliation to snatch a draw from the jaws of defeat against dead-bottom Mainz last weekend, so the two-hour trip northwest to second-from-bottom Heidenheim isn’t as routine as it may seem. Frank Schmidt’s side have won two of their last three, and although Bayern lead the league by nine points, they’re there to be got at, conceding in eight of their last nine matches.

Swansea vs. Wrexham (TODAY, 3 p.m. ET, Paramount+) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Where else can you see Snoop Dogg and Luka Modrić up against Rob Mac and Ryan Reynolds? Premier League hopefuls Wrexham face former Premier League stalwarts “Darth” Swansea in the Championship’s only all-Wales clash. This is the first time the two sides have met in 19 years. Winless in their last four, Wrexham travel 100 miles south, five points ahead in the table, meanwhile opponents Swansea will be desperate for a result as their loss away to Stoke last week has them only three places off the relegation zone.

MiB Mad Libs 📝

This week’s phrase is:

“Football and Christmas is an even better combo than ______ and ______.”

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

There were tons of incredible entries this week, but there can only be one winner:

Antonio Munaco: “Liverpool without Mo Salah is like “The Office” without Steve Carrell.”

Send us your postal Big Antonio, and we will send you a patch. 🚚

Win a Pair of Saka-Signed Furon v8 Boots 🎁

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Win a pair of Furon v8 boots signed by Bukayo Saka and check out the ‘7egacy Edition’ at newbalance.com/soccer.

To have a chance at winning, take the survey HERE.

Not Football and All the Better for It 📖

A GFOP Writes… ✍️

Bill Urda writes: “Greetings from Villa Market in Bangkok, Thailand! Prior to your podcasts, this pile of Terry’s Chocolate Oranges never would have caught my eye (though I’ve enjoyed the Trader Joe’s version for years). Now I find myself buying these for the holidays, in 90-degree December weather. They really should sponsor you.”

Rog writes: Bill, your photo of Terry’s Chocky Oranges made my day. Few things have made me prouder this year than the joy so many of you have experienced encountering this weirdest of fruits in the wild. An outgrowth of our podcast which often feels like a Terry’s Chocolate Orange aficionados gathering with a side portion of footballing mumbling. There is something very funny about having a quick convo last year, and having it build into this fascination so many of you have had with this object which embodies English weirdness in the best of ways. The world is dark. Life is hard. Making joy occur in flickers is truly the only way. Terry’s Chocolate Orange is that joy. To more together in the year ahead.

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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