Hail GFOP!

Rog writes: That is the sound of the Liverpool-in-crisis klaxon you hear. Four straight losses. A first loss at Anfield in 20 games. A first home loss to United in 10 seasons. So happy for Manchester United’s fan base. Their win was so humanly remarkable to witness because it was Harry Maguire who scored the winner — a man who has become a meme, a scapegoat, a punchline. Watching him celebrate his 84th-minute fade-away header with the United traveling fanbase was to witness Foo Fighters’ “My Hero” lived out in real time.

Liverpool are so bad, so suddenly, compared to how we imagined they would be when they signed everyone over the summer that I almost feel sorry for them. Almost. That Gakpo hit the post three times, and missed the chance to equalize at the last only adds to the agony. The xG to that game—Liverpool (3.20), Manchester United (1.34)—means that you can make the case if they had put the chances they created away, they would have won with a stroll. But the truth is, the way that front line is playing, and the midfield behind it, the lack of chemistry and cohesion makes that a massive “if.” 📉

ii. Arsenal fans would have watched yesterday’s game like Anthony Adams wearing a yellow suit while rubbing his hands together behind a tree. Their own team had held nerve and serve at Fulham on Saturday. Winning fugly. Effective football. Mentality monsters in their own grim, relentless, set-piece way. This was the kind of game Arsenal would have and did drop points in last year. That defensive record of just three goals leaked in eight league games is the definitive one of the season. 💪

iii. Erling Haaland: 23 strikes in 13 appearances for club and country this season is a heroic feat of biblical proportion. Also incredible that Haaland has scored City’s last seven goals, which according to him during our conversation, is just his job. He and Donnarumma are the two most dominant bigs since Tim Duncan and David Robinson. 🩵

iv. Two goals you simply have to see: 

• Newcastle’s German Stretch Armstrong, Nick Woltemade doing something even Shohei Ohtani could never. ✨

• Burnley’s wonderkid Loum Tchaouna making J.J. Watt scream. ☄️

v. Performance of the weekend: 34-year-old Danny Welbeck, who on a young Brighton team, is like watching Father Time. His two goals delivered glory – revel in the first, a delicious dink. Watching Welbeck is inspirational. The gent is five goals away from netting more in his 30s than he did in his 20s. To keep growing as you age is humanly divine. 📈

vi. I am off to Washington, D.C. this week, and to England. We are filming with Adam Wharton and Jordan Pickford amongst others. These are incredible days to be alive. Let’s keep reveling in the positive, listening and learning. 🏛️

To more, and to better days ahead.

Courage,
Rog

United’s First Anfield Win in a Decade 😱 

By Tommy Stewart

Liverpool 1-2 Manchester United 🎢

Bryan Mbeumo’s second-minute opener silenced Anfield’s Sunday hymns that are always more fervent when Manchester United come to town, putting paid to Arne Slot’s plans of a post-international break resurrection in the process. Cody Gakpo became very familiar with Senne Lammens’ post, finding it three times over the course of the game. Substitutes Hugo Ekitike, Florian Wirtz and Federico Chiesa were all instrumental in disrupting the peace in United’s box, collectively causing enough chaos in the 78th minute to finally give Gakpo his deserved goal, but Slot’s high-stakes gambling left cracks at the back. Six minutes later, a fluffed United short corner ended up at the feet of Bruno Fernandes, who lobbed the ball back in the area towards an obvious target: Harry Maguire’s head. He finished it to initiate an eternal knee-slide and complete a heist adjacent to what happened at the Louvre this weekend.

Amorim Finally Goes Back-to-Back ✌️

It took 35 matches, but Ruben Amorim finally has back-to-back wins in the Premier League, and while his system will always be over-examined, it was his greatest weapon at Anfield yesterday. "I think that was the biggest win in my time at Manchester United,” he admitted after the match in a rare break from his usual blend of nihilistic honesty and confusing hubris. The United faithful know he won’t stray from his three-at-the-back formation, but with the surprising selection of match-winner Maguire at the heart of it, the genuine threat of Mbeumo, Mount, Amad and Cunha on the break, and the positional discipline his side showed, it was a timely tactical reminder of why he’ll die on this hill. Amorim’s side are just about in the top half of the table, and although they’re ninth, United are only three points behind City in second, and all of a sudden, this dude is dreaming of a haircut.

Has Slot Lost His Aura? 🤔

After losing a fourth consecutive game for the first time since 2014, it seems the champions have officially lost their aura under Slot. Every decision in his summer overhaul can now come into question, and a manager who endeared himself to the Premier League with his stoic cool, has begun to show signs that the pressure is mounting — including the uncharacteristic shock over United simply not playing the team he expected yesterday: “We've seen Šeško play the last three, four, five or six times, but they go to Liverpool, they change the line-up.” Mohamed Salah is an artist of a footballer, but when he’s not scoring goals, the game can totally pass him by, as it did yesterday; he’s not contributed a goal or assist in four matches and at 2-1 down in search of something, he was substituted off. Slot must stop the rot before his team totally falls off in this title race, and perhaps dropping the undroppable might be a sensible place to start.

MiB HQ Bulletin Board 📣

Arsenal’s Defense Continues to Dominate 🛑

Fulham 0-1 Arsenal 

It wasn’t a snatch-and-grab for Arsenal at Craven Cottage, because other than a couple of good first-half chances for Harry Wilson, Marco Silva’s side were vastly unthreatening, but it was the sort of professional performance that will please Mikel Arteta as much as any. Set Piece FC struck in the second half from a pinpoint Bakayo Saka corner that was flicked on by man-tower Gabriel for Leandro Trossard to finish with some part of his thigh or knee. It was, incredibly, their 37th goal using this method since the start of the 2023/24 season, dispelling memes about set piece coach Nicolas Jover as redundant. No part of this was pretty, but Arteta would happily have Gunners sing “One-nil to the Arsenal” in every game for the rest of the season if it meant finally exorcising their Groundhog Day of second-place Premier League finishes in recent years.

Nottingham Forest 0-3 Chelsea

Nottingham Forest could have buried this game in the first half had Morgan Gibbs-White put away one of his handful of opportunities, but it wasn’t Ange Postecoglou’s players who sealed his fate on Saturday, it was the man himself. Amidst this cynical car-crash TV, where cameras were as focused on the red pleather throne of Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis as much as the pitch, Chelsea were impressive in the second half. Nineteen-year-old center-back Josh Acheampong headed in an opener thanks to a perfect cross from the brilliant Pedro Neto just after half time, and three minutes later the Portuguese winger further proved why Enzo Maresca always picks him, by perforating Forest’s wall to beat Matz Sels from a free kick. Ange’s final minutes as Forest manager were nearly fruitful, with a flurry of chances being kept out by Robert Sanchez and the post, but Marinakis had seen enough, leaving half an hour early to presumably prepare Postecoglou’s pink slip and put an end to this Greek tragedy.

Tottenham 1-2 Aston Villa

As Rodrigo Bentancur struck inside five minutes, and Spurs rode that initiative with more chances in the first half under the North London rain yesterday, it felt like another step towards post-Ange recovery. But this is still largely the same side as last season, and although signs are positive under Thomas Frank, it could take a while to shed their “Spursy” DNA. Morgan Rodgers brought some of his England form to his club side with an unstoppable rocket in the 37th minute, and that was somehow only the second best goal of the game. Emi Martinez made a couple of vital saves, allowing his team to go on and score a magnificent match-winning team goal, finished by Emi Buendía. Doubts were cast over Unai Emery and his side, who went goalless for the first four games of the season, but have now won five on the bounce in all competitions.

New Balance Tekela: Crafted for Control 👟 

The Tekela provides superior touch and control, to bring your vision to life.

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

Manchester City 2-0 Everton

Rog writes: The Jack Grealish Memorial Derby was a hard watch, mostly because St. Jack was not able to play against his parent club. Everton came in after dropping Palace, feeling dangerous. That is always a trap. Shorn of Rodri, City were slovenly in the first half. We made and missed chances, and once Haaland came alive with two goals in five minutes, it was lights out. Incredible stat that says it all about Erling’s unique obliteration of all comers: There have been only three instances of a player reaching double figures in the Premier League by their eighth appearance of a season and they are all him.  

God bless Everton. We tried, but are so undermined by our lack of fullbacks and a real striking option. The joy of my week: Watching Iliman Ndiaye face City like a man who really, really wants to play for City. This mixtape is must-watch next level joyful, joyful stuff. Stunning, life-affirming football.  

Elsewhere in the Premier League: Crystal Palace 3-3 Bournemouth, Brighton 2-1 Newcastle, Sunderland 2-0 Wolves, Burnley 2-0 Leeds

Some Absolute Weekend Worldies, Presented by New Balance 🚀 🥅

There were a lot of great goals this weekend, but these three get top marks:

On the Continent 🇪🇺

🇩🇪 Bundesliga: Harry Kane wasn’t joking when he said he played “6, 8, and 10” after he scored his 400th career goal and assisted another in Saturday’s 2-0 Der Klassiker win (seriously, just look at all the ground he covered). Bayern have won every game in every competition they've played this season, and while RB Leipzig’s 2-1 victory over Hamburger SV puts them just five points behind the Bavarians in second, it’s fair to ask if a title race has ever felt so run this early in a season.

🇪🇸 La Liga: Almost a quarter of the way into La Liga and the usual two-unicorn race is shaping up as it so often does, with Real Madrid and Barcelona both narrowly winning and lengthening the gap between themselves and everyone else. Xabi Alonso can once again thank Kylian Mbappé for Madrid stumbling over the line in their 1-0 win over Getafe; the French captain has now scored in 11 consecutive games, but Barcelona’s winner came from an unlikely source. Soon after manager Hansi Flick was sent off, meaning he’ll miss next week’s crucial Clásico, Ronald Araújo snatched a 2-1 victory over Girona in the 93rd minute to keep his side two points behind Los Blancos.

🇮🇹 Serie A: Inter Milan bagged a huge 1-0 win away at Roma to leapfrog them and go second in Serie A with Napoli and Juventus both suffering shock defeats. AC Milan were last to play of the title contenders, but were untroubled by the watchful eyes of their rivals, recovering from 1-0 down against Fiorentina to win 2-1 with a Rafael Leão brace. Both Milan sides make up the top two and suddenly Serie A feels very mid-noughties again, which is always a welcome place to pretend to be.

Mid-Week Matches Worth Faking a Meeting for 📺

Premier League 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

West Ham vs. Brentford (TODAY, 3 p.m. ET, USA) ⚒ 🐝

Nuno Espírito Santo is practically begging his own fans to come to this game, which is a sad microcosm of the uphill task he has in taking over West Ham this season. Strikes are planned amongst Hammers fans, which is the last thing the Portuguese manager will want in his first home match at London Stadium. Other than a spectacular win over United, Brentford have stuttered under Keith Andrews, who was always going to take time to fit into Frank’s shoes, and although it’s too soon to call this a six-pointer, a win would be seismic for either side.

Champions League 🏆

Villarreal vs. Manchester City (Tuesday, 3 p.m. ET, Paramount+) 🇪🇸🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Villarreal are currently third in La Liga, which if you put Real Madrid and Barcelona in their own mini-stratosphere, essentially means they’re top. With his pragmatic approach, manager Marcelino García Toral has performed miracles for a side who hail from what’s essentially a village in Spain, with a population of around 52,000. At the other end of the spectrum are Manchester City, football’s Richie Rich, guided by Toral’s compatriot, Pep Guardiola, and spearheaded by Erling Haaland, who has 14 goals in all competitions this season. The Norwegian striker will see the Champions League as a direct opportunity to prove himself against Kane and Mbappé, which is enough to give any Villarreal defender nightmares.

Arsenal vs. Atlético Madrid (Tuesday, 3 p.m. ET, Paramount+) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇪🇸

There’s more overlap than you’d initially think between Arsenal and Atlético Madrid managers, Mikel Arteta and Diego Simeone. They both love set pieces, as well as strong, mountainous footballers, and each have molded the clubs they used to play for in their own image. Arsenal have more quality than this current Atleti side, although most of their fans would probably trade their striker Viktor Gyökeres for Simeone’s main man, Julián Alvarez, who’s already scored seven goals this season. They meet at the Emirates off the back of respective 1-0 league wins, and it’d be no surprise if this match up in styles resulted in the same final score tomorrow.

Some Non-Football to Start the Week Off 📖

• Meet the Churners: They Each Own 50 Credit Cards. Should You? 

• New way of walking just dropped: Why We’ve Been Chasing 10,000 Steps for Decades—and What Japanese Walking Gets Right Instead.

• Another edition of sentences that have never been sentenced before: The UK Dealer With Prosthetic Hands Brought Down by the World’s Biggest Dark Web Bust.

• A New Cookbook Compiles Recipes From Gravestones Around the World. I'm going to need the cause of death before I make any of these. 

It’s MiB Trivia Time 🤔

This week’s question: Who was Manchester United’s manager when they last won at Anfield before yesterday?

Email us with your answer for a chance to win a much-coveted MiB patch!

Last week’s winner: Congratulations to John Skelton who was the first to correctly identify that “the estimable Herculez Gomez” scored the decisive third goal the last time the USMNT beat Australia in 2010 at the South Africa World Cup.

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