Hail GFOP!

Rog writes: Who said America is not a proper football nation? Name another that has a national holiday so every citizen can focus on the last day of the transfer window? 

What a day! Isak finally free for a record transfer. Who saw that coming? Donnarumma coming. Spurs chasing Kolo Muani like Charlie Brown kicking a football with Lucy holding. By the way, it is crazy to me how much transfers can fill up the life of the average football fan, as opposed to, you know, watching the football. But this is the question that I am fascinated with now: How will Slot tactically fit Isak in that murderer’s row of attacking talent Liverpool have suddenly assembled over the summer?

We ask that after an incredible weekend of football in which Liverpool unfurled one moment of inspired art in an otherwise grinding ground game. This Dominik Szoboszlai goal is scientifically stunning – taken from dead center from distance with power, flight and trajectory that left even the defeated David Raya puffing out his cheeks in admiration. I feel for Mikel Arteta who must now spend the international window brooding like the dark knight about the minutiae that doomed him once again. 

What blows me away is how Liverpool dig deep to find a way late, yet again, when other teams would settle for the frustrating draw. I asked Mo Salah exactly how they do it when I spoke to him last Friday morning. His answer was fascinating as he swears the team do not work on the mental side collectively. To revel in Rio’s 100th-minute winner on Monday, then Dominik’s arrow of truth six days later. Sometimes even I have to admit, it must feel so fun to be a Liverpool fan. They experience so many moments of profound collective joy. ♥️

ii. Which loss was more shocking – Tottenham or Manchester City’s? I know this is an odd thing to type, but I actually think Spurs’ L could end up being a good thing. Lancing the magical thinking that engulfed Ange after his almost perfect first 10 games. Remember, Nuno won his first three Spurs games and didn’t last 17 matches. This loss was a reality check on depth and tactical approach for Thomas Frank. He is smart enough to learn so much from the chastening humbling against the almost alchemically impressive Bournemouth. City crumbling again though, and losing two on the spin to Brighton is a profound gut check for Pep’s radical transformation. Aura is not something you just regain, it is like trust: once it is gone, it is so hard to earn back. ✨ 

iii. I was blessed to watch Oasis last night, possibly the happiest MetLife Stadium is gonna feel until the end of the NFL season. It was incredible to witness. Two brothers make up and so 70,000 people are able to experience a rare sense of communal release and joy as we did during “Slide Away.” So many football shirts there, and so many GFOPs. Watching Liam command the American audience to do the Poznan – and them complying – was an exquisite moment. That Polish fan ritual-turned-Manchester City staple, crossing oceans and cultures. I would love it if the Jets fans now embraced it as their own. 🎵

iv. TWO CHANCES TO BE WITH YOU INCOMING 🔜

NYC, WE CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU AGAIN. For all our friends in New York, we’d love if you joined us at Terminal 5 on Sept. 18 for a night of celebration featuring basketball stars Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Hart, and to revel in the magical kingdom that is New York sports and its singular football culture with our friends at MLS and Walmart. If you’re in town, come be with us. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and we start at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are here 🍎

We are also just one week away from celebrating the footballing kingdom that is Columbus, a city that has written itself into the very fabric of American soccer history. We cannot wait to celebrate that history, with all of you, live on stage at KEMBA Live on Sept. 8 with Clint Dempsey, the great Herc Gomez, Columbus Crew head coach Wilfried Nancy, and one of the most energetic players I've ever met, Frankie Hejduk. It will be a night of football, joy, and communion before the USMNT take on Japan. Come be with us, Columbus. Tickets available here 💛

Savor today with your families. Drink some beers. Eat some burgers. BBQ those steaks. And do not take a moment for granted. I will tape with Rory tomorrow after the transfer window shuts. 

Courage,
Rog

An All-Time Free Kick Takes Liverpool Top 🤩 

By Tommy Stewart

Liverpool 1-0 Arsenal

It’s too early to call this a title decider, but Liverpool’s narrow victory against Mikel Arteta’s three-time consecutive bridesmaids felt particularly pertinent. As has become routine, Arsenal looked to use set pieces to dominate their opponent, but unlike every other team who has fallen prey to any of Declan Rice’s corners or free kicks, Arne Slot’s center-back pairing of ​​Ibrahima Konaté and Virgil van Dijk were able to snuff each one out, no matter how perfectly placed. And with Arsenal’s three new offensive threats in Madueke, Gyökeres, and Eze all failing to make much of a dent, it became a game of “Who will blink first?” well into the second half. Unfortunately for the Gunners, when they did finally rest their eyes in the 83rd minute, Dominik Szoboszlai summoned the collective spirits of the great free kicks of the past to swerve and hammer home a winner the Kop will never forget, aura farming with ease in celebration. Ultimately, Arsenal, a team who live by the set piece, yesterday were undone by the set piece.

New Ingredients but Same Recipe for Arsenal 😩

Arteta used his familiar approach for nullifying Liverpool yesterday, one that could have worked were it not for Szoboszlai’s wonder strike that will permeate through Premier League highlight reels for years to come. “We didn't do our game plan to frustrate them; we did it to win it,” he said post-match, but the 90 minutes of evidence at Anfield slightly contradicts that statement. His team had moments and half-chances, and although hindered by William Saliba’s injury, they defended well, but without anything coming from the hundreds of millions he’s spent on attacking talent this summer, that sentiment might feel a bit hollow to Arsenal fans. To win that elusive title this season, Arteta surely can’t depend on goals exclusively from set pieces in these decisive fixtures and will need all three of his new attackers to pick up the slack, especially with Saka and Ødegaard sidelined for the near future.

Liverpool Level Up… Again 📈

Despite injuries to Konaté and Florian Wirtz, it’s a very good day to be Arne Slot. It was a slender win but its nature is meaningless when his side sit atop the Premier League with a 100% win record ahead of the season’s first international break. A hammer blow to the face of a direct title rival is a psychological dub that will allow Slot to rest easy as his players travel to represent their countries, but more crucially, he’ll also return to find his squad of champions injected with the additions of a genuine world-class striker, Alexander Isak, and hopefully one of the league’s best center-backs in Marc Guéhi. If fellow title-winning contenders weren’t already living in fear of the champions, they may now be mentally exhausted by merely looking at their squad list.

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City Stumble Again on the South Coast 🙃

Brighton 2-1 Man City

For a man born in Barcelona, Pep Guardiola doesn’t seem to enjoy his visits to the beach, although perhaps that’s understandable when you compare Brighton to the Catalonian coast. He may have found his footballing (and fashion) kryptonite in Fabian Hürzeler, who he’s still yet to beat as a manager, and although City went 1-0 up via an Erling Haaland dink on his 100th Premier League appearance, the atmospheric Amex never felt like it would wilt. James Trafford heroically played like a man who knows he’s soon to be replaced by a Champions League-winning keeper, but Hürzeler’s quadruple substitution in the 61st minute tactically stupefied Pep’s side and shook up the game like a Mentos in a Coca-Cola bottle. One of those subs was James Milner, who became the second oldest goalscorer in Premier League history, netting his first since 2019 with a penalty that he beautifully dedicated to his late friend, Diogo Jota. However, it was Brajan Gruda who won it with a swift dummy in the 89th minute that floored Trafford and will be living rent-free in Pep’s dreams for the next two weeks.

Manchester United 3-2 Burnley

For Ruben Amorim, the international break loomed like the Grim Reaper with a pink slip in his hand, so this narrow last-minute win at his broken Old Trafford home meant more than it probably should. United “attacked, attacked, attacked” as their fans vocally demanded in the opening stages, but found themselves level 1-1 with Scott Parker’s newly promoted side 55 minutes in. A relentless Bryan Mbeumo, who already looks like a leader at United, deservedly put them back on top, until again, the home team had their weekly scheduled head loss by refusing to defend a Burnley long throw that somehow ended in a visibly anxious Altay Bayındır’s net. Bruno Fernandes crucified his Craven Cottage demons by calmly finishing an injury-time penalty, perhaps gifting his manager some overdue sleep over the international break. Will this allow a stay of execution or could it be the springboard to start something beautiful? Tune in next time for the world’s most unpredictable binge watch. 

Tottenham 0-1 Bournemouth

After going eye to eye with Parisian overlords in continental competition and opening their Premier League campaign perfectly, it seemed the seas had seriously changed under Thomas Frank, but Tottenham fans can be forgiven for asking, “What in the Spursy was this!?” That’s not to detract from Andoni Iraola’s ripe golden war cherries and their record-signing striker, Evanilson, whose early finish was the result of some patient build up play that’s become Bournemouth’s trademark under the Spanish manager. A 1-0 defeat this early in the season won’t hugely concern Frank, but the performance will; if it weren’t for his goalkeeper, Guglielmo Vicario, becoming the love child of the immovable object and an unstoppable force against Bournemouth’s 20 shots, it could have been a devastating humiliation.

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

Wolves 2-3 Everton

Rog writes: I don’t even know who we are any more. Jack Grealish has energized our whole team. We think we can kick footballs now. THIS IS NOT WHY WE WATCH! Everton Football Club scored three goals, which included such team play, such artful connection, and such emphatic clinicality – if they had been scattered over the course of a season, I would have felt content. To see them all fly in during one game was ecstatic. All Hail St. Jack, who has combined with Illy Ndiaye (his wolf celebration, my personal weekend highlight) and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall as some kind of Holy Shinnity. Look at KDH’s first Everton goal – this is not AI people. Come and join the Everton bandwagon, there is room for everyone. We are going to the moon. Also, just 34 more points needed for safety.

Elsewhere in the Premier League: Chelsea 2-0 Fulham, Sunderland 2-1 Brentford, Leeds 0-0 Newcastle, Nottingham Forest 0-3 West Ham, Aston Villa 0-3 Crystal Palace

Some Absolute Weekend Worldies, Presented by New Balance 🚀 🥅

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

A Very Busy End to the Transfer Window 💰

It’s been a deadline day for the ages so far and it’s not quite over yet. The longest transfer saga of the summer seems to have reached its climax and the finale is simultaneously thrilling but completely unsurprising, as Alexander Isak is on the verge of a $176 million move from Newcastle to Liverpool. That triggers a domino effect for the rest of the league, allowing the Magpies to complete a move for Brentford’s Yoane Wissa for $74.4 million.

In deadline day Fergie time, Manchester United appear to have miraculously moved on three members of their “bomb squad” in one fell swoop, with Alejandro Garnacho already departing to Chelsea for $54 million, while Jadon Sancho and Antony near loan moves to Aston Villa and Real Betis respectively. That allows them to bring in a goalkeeper, which appears to be Senne Lammens rather than football’s ultimate heel Emi Martinez, who may continue to linger angrily behind Unai Emery’s shoulder.

While we’re on goalkeepers in Manchester, James Trafford sits helplessly like Roy Hodgson on England’s bench because Gianluigi Donnarumma seems to be Pep’s actual successor to Ederson’s throne at City. Oh, and Marc Guéhi will further Oliver Glasner’s perpetual migraine in the season’s infant days as Liverpool appear to have added him to their side in what will be the final move in one of the most incredible transfer windows for any single team ever.

On the Continent 🇪🇺

🇪🇸 La Liga: For the first time in a long time, Real Madrid have breathing room between themselves and Barcelona at the top of La Liga, after a 2-1 win against Mallorca. Barca drew 1-1 away at Rayo Vallecano, and although the revamped Spotify Camp Nou should soon be their home again soon, any stumble in what’s usually a two-horse race between them and Los Blancos could prove costly. After three La Liga games, only Basque boys Athletic Bilbao can match Xabi Alonso’s men at the top of the division with nine points.

🇮🇹 Serie A: Conte’s Napoli team of Premier League legends and misfits continued last season’s Serie A-winning march by topping the table with a 1-0 home win against Cagliari. They’re level on points with Juventus and Roma, but it’s newly-promoted Cremonese who are living la dolce vita. Not only have they won two out of two so far, they’ve also just welcomed Jamie Vardy, which means we may as well hand them the Scudetto now, right? Milan also bounced back after losing to them on the first weekend of the season as Christian Pulisic scored in a 2-0 away win at Lecce. 

🇩🇪 Bundesliga: Despite going 3-0 up with another goal from Liverpool legend Luis Díaz, Bayern Munich nearly let this one slip away against Augsburg in the second half, but remain top of the Bundesliga by getting away with a 3-2 win. The big news from Germany over the weekend, however, was the sacking of Bayer Leverkusen manager Erik ten Hag after only two league games in charge. It’s been a cursed week for former Manchester United managers, with himself, Ole Gunnar Solskjær and José Mourinho all sadly having their team email addresses deleted as they probably ponder Morrissey’s lyric, “Oh Manchester (United), so much to answer for.”

Mid-Week Matches Worth Faking a Meeting for 📺

Bulgaria vs. Spain (Thursday, 2:45 p.m. ET, FOX) 🇧🇬 🇪🇸

European champions Spain begin their World Cup 2026 qualifying campaign away in Bulgaria with the welcome return of familiar faces, Dani Carvajal and Rodri, both of whom have been hampered by injury since the Euros. Manager Luis de la Fuente was partly responsible for hard-launching Lamine Yamal on to the world during Euro 2024, and with the combination of him and fellow attacking Barcelona stars Pedri, Ferran Torres and Dani Olmo, La Roja should begin making steps to the party in the U.S. next year. 

Brazil vs. Chile (Thursday, 8:30 p.m. ET, ViX) 🇧🇷 🇨🇱

Carlo Ancelotti’s Brazil sit third in their Conmebol World Cup qualifying group, so bottom-placed Chile will be welcome opponents as they edge closer to qualifying for USA 2026. Don Carlo’s eyebrow may be raised higher than usual as Manchester United No. 10, Matheus Cunha, has withdrawn from the squad following an injury against Burnley on Saturday, but despite blaming a “minor injury” for omitting Neymar from selection, Brazil’s all-time top goalscorer has claimed he’s fit and the decision was made “for technical reasons.” Star boy, 18-year-old Estêvão will hope to fill his shoes and make a similar impact for his national side as he has for his new club, Chelsea.

Ukraine vs. France (Friday, 2:45 p.m. ET, FOX) 🇺🇦 🇫🇷

Presuming they get there, World Cup 2026 will be the final chapter in Didier Deschamps 14 years as France manager, so he’ll want to start his qualification campaign with a convincing win. With the heavy artillery of talent he possesses across his luxurious squad, Group D should be a stroll for his side of Ballon d’Or contenders and Champions League winners, but they’ll be without their foundational center-back Saliba, who was injured against Liverpool yesterday. Still, Mbappé, Dembélé and Olise can probably do most of the heavy lifting against Ukraine at the other end of the field.

Some Non-Football to Start the Week Off 📖

• Excited for this doc: This Strip Club Was Central to Southern Hip-Hop. And a Notorious Video.

• Surprised me: The Cult of Bike Helmets.

• Worst Airports for Delays RANKED. Opportunity to share my favourite fun fact: DFW is the size of Manhattan!

• Bodies (and self-mythologizing) by Joe. 

• Hot Dog University They do not sell merch unfortunately :( But you can get a Relish Baseball Cap for $62 American dollars. 

It’s MiB Trivia Time 🤔

This week’s question: Before Isak’s $176 million move from Newcastle to Liverpool, what is the biggest summer deadline day transfer in Premier League history?

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

Last week’s winner: Congratulations to last week’s winner, Edward McMurray, who was the first to correctly identify that Georginio Wijnaldum scored the second goal the last time Newcastle beat Liverpool in the Premier League at St James’ Park, all the way back in 2015. The patch is in the post, Ed! 🚚

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