The Euro 2025 Final Arrives 🏆

Hail GFOP! 

I write with fingers tingling with excitement. Tonight, we go live on stage with Everton FC in a sold-out show in New York City. To do what we do in the United States is always the honor of a lifetime, but nights like tonight feel truly out of body. To celebrate the singular, collective joy of being an Evertonian at this time of footballing metamorphosis with so many of the stars who will shape the future is an incredible gift. 

As we stand here in this pivotal moment, between the sepia-tinged wonder of Goodison Park and the golden promise of a brand new stadium, I feel the excitement I used to feel as a kid heading to the match with my dad. That kind of fulsome happiness that is so hard to tap into again once you become an adult. To those of you traveling in from all points to be there tonight, know that I can’t wait to share this experience with you, and raise a pint with you at the after-show drinks. 💙 #UTFT 

Post-show drinks (right after the show ends) are at THE BRASS MONKEY on 12th Street, right down the street from the venue. We’ll be taking over the whole second floor – come and join us. 🍻

Watch: The whole show will be broadcast on YouTube tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. ET. 📺

ii. The Premier League feels like it is back in our loving arms. Yesterday, I filmed with Thomas Frank, Tottenham’s new head coach and one of my favorite managers in the Premier League. Football management can be such an egotistical game, but he always comes across as one of the most human and grounded gents in the sport. His emotional intelligence is self-evident. In a way, he appears to be a fine inheritor of Ange’s mantle. All of the empathy…with football IQ added on. We talked about his vision, the step up, the beauty of long throws, and whether British beer is superior to Danish. It will drop Monday. 🇩🇰🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

iii. Lovely letter about early Ozzy Osbourne behavior. RIP.

This Week at MIB HQ 📣

🚨 Come and Join the New MiB Discord Channel

Your chance to be part of a footballing conversation that is joyous, safe and thoughtful: Join the MiB Community in our DISCORD channel! It’s the digital pub you never knew you needed – a place where you can connect in conversation, in-game and out, with GFOPs from all over the world. The MiB Discord is where football meets life in all its chaotic, glorious forms. Whether you’re breaking down tactics, sharing your dog’s latest kit, debating the greatest Premier League goalkeeper of all time, or just looking for a bit of human connection after a gut-wrenching loss, we hope this is your new home. I am in there—I am actually doing an AMA at 4 p.m. ET this afternoon–while Becky Sauerbrunn did the same earlier this week. I know Discord is not something everyone is familiar with, but please come and be with us, we will be announcing our live shows, our guests, and treat this how we used to treat Twitter in the old days. To join, JUST CLICK THIS LINK and join if you have a Discord account already, or create one and you’ll be added once complete.

ii. Sam Mewis and The Women's Game Are Heading to NYC 🗽

Join Sam for The Women’s Game Live! in NYC presented by Ally on Thursday, August 7 at Racket NYC. It promises to be a night celebrating the intensity and rising stakes of one of the NWSL’s fiercest East Coast rivalries: Gotham FC vs. the Washington Spirit. Dive into the history, the stars, and the storylines that have turned this clash into must-watch football. Grab your TICKETS RIGHT HERE, we can't wait to be with you. 🎟️

The Big Game of the Weekend: Euro ‘25 Final 🏆

England vs. Spain (Sunday, 12 p.m. ET, Fox Sports) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🇪🇸

The weekend is football-thin, but holy crap, what an incredible game we are blessed with. The Lionesses make their third consecutive major tournament final. An incredible sentence to type, because it means that any English kid under the age of eight only knows an English National Team that is good!!!

They have gotten to this point through tenacity, brinksmanship and escapology rather than anything approaching cohesive team play, needing a pair of clutch goals—one an exclamation-point buzzer beater—from 19-year-old revelation Michelle Agyemang to stay alive. The defending champions have one of the deepest, most talented squads in the tournament but have consistently looked less than the sum of their parts. England has cheated death twice. They will not be allowed to do so again.

One of joys of big international tournament football is the way it turns unknowns into globally revered heroes almost overnight. Nineteen-year-old Agyemang was an afterthought on the England squad – a teen who has been at Arsenal since the age of six, and was last out on loan at Brighton. The forward has won a mere four caps, but on Wednesday, for the second time on the run, she just strolled onto the field and casually scored a 96th-minute goal that gave England life and made a nation roar. Incredibly, just over three-and-a-half years ago Agyemang was a ballgirl for an England match at Wembley. Now she is a national star. 

More: How England keeps coming back from the dead.

ii. The phenomenal Spain have reached their first-ever Euros final. Imperious yet strangely unclinical in their semi-final against a pugnacious Germany (who almost clipped them at the death!), they needed a 113th-minute goal from a surreal angle from Ballon d’Or winning Aitana Bonmati to land them in Sunday’s game. I can’t stop watching that goal. To beat Ann-Katrin Berger, the tournament’s dominant goalkeeper, with a shot like that which she never saw coming takes both intelligence and audacity. 

Bonmati has been the story of the tournament. A month ago, the star had been hospitalized by viral meningitis. A reality which was an emotional wrench for the squad as they prepared for all that is to come. To see her joy now is to see life affirmed. The Spanish have one less day to prepare for this final against the team they beat in the 2023 World Cup final. This is going to be a tactical knife fight of desire, fought out in a footballing swamp. 

More: How Spain uniquely play the same way across all their national teams: men’s, women’s, senior and youth teams. Look and learn America. 👀 

Rogstradamus 🔮: Spain are ferocious, but as Germany proved, not invulnerable to the counter. England manager Sarina Wiegman is, incredibly, in her fifth straight major final in a row. Her England have not yet played great but are somehow within 90 minutes of defending their title. They will have to touch greatness to win it. I believe Spain will squeak this in extra-time of a game that is an instant classic. 🇪🇸🏆 

PS - I watch all of this and wonder how the USWNT would fare against this level of competition. A reminder, we are living on a parallel track out here across the Atlantic.

This Premier League Transfer Window Is Madder than the NBA’s 💰

i. What the Isaks Is Going on at Newcastle?

Rory Smith wrote really well about this surreal drama unfolding well up north. Isak was left behind as the Toon went on tour to Singapore, and that injury has quickly morphed into wanting a transfer. Rumors abound Liverpool are set to mount a British record bid for the 25-year-old. Miguel Delaney provides an inside look at what is going on, and defines the Isak options, here.

ii. Everyone Now Plays for Liverpool

In the meantime, Liverpool have welcomed young, hungry, coveted striker Hugo Ekitike for $93.4 million from Frankfurt. Hugo (a fashion-loving hypebeast) is a true favorite of data analysts who see him as a still-raw talent with a massive upside. His goals in the Bundesliga came mostly in fast-paced transition. Rory and I discussed on this week’s podcast if his arrival signals Slot is poised to tweak his style of play.

Liverpool fans are reveling in their team experiencing one of the greatest squad overhauls a title-winner has ever undertaken. They are not done in the market yet. A defender is still expected to arrive and one more attacker will as well if Luis Díaz and Darwin Núñez are sold. 

Good read on something Rory and I talked about in the pod: Liverpool and the sudden piles o' cash.

iii. Is This the End of Days? Arsenal Fans Now Have Their No. 9

Viktor Gyökeres was a goal machine at Sporting, scoring 97 goals in 102 appearances. The gent is 27-years-old and helped Sporting to the league title in each of his seasons there. There is no doubt he is a rare talent, yet the Premier League is going to be a step up. I cannot wait to watch him—finally Arsenal fans have a gent they have long dreamed about. May this be their season of seasons. 

Send me your questions: I am about to interview Mikel Arteta. What do you want to ask him? Tell me at [email protected]. 

More: Arsenal fans celebrating the capture of Gyökeres, savor this piece which tells the remarkable story of the tiny Swedish club that developed him, Kulusevski and Bergvall.

Introducing Pet FC’s Newest Manager 🐶

We have partnered with the two-legged people at Purina to create Pet FC, a new initiative where we will be featuring YOUR four-legged friends that show a true love of football on par with their human counterparts. Got a furry companion we should know about? Tell us about them here.

This week’s winner is a Great Pyrenees named Bill Shankly. He watches every Liverpool match with his humans in Charleston, S.C., and is fittingly named after one of the Reds' greatest managers. He knows quality football when he sees it, and barked up a storm as Liverpool won the league last season. A proper Red from nose to tail. ❤️

Do you have a great football story involving the dog or cat in your life? Click the link below to submit your pets and pet stories, and we will be regularly featuring the best of the best here in the Raven and on our social channels. What's more, we have Purina prize packs for every pet featured.

Submit your Pet FC stories here 🐾

MiB Mad Libs 📝

This week’s phrase is:

“My club, ___, should sign ___ and glory will be ours next season, because _______”

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

There were LOADS of brilliant entries this week (seriously).

This week’s winner is Anne Richards:

“The Club World Cup has been to elite football tournaments what American is to cheese.”

Anne, you are quite the fromager, and your insight made me laugh. Big Love. Patch coming. 📬

Not Football and All the Better for It 📖

• The Ringer’s Fictional Quarterback Rankings, Justice for Matt Saracen. 

• What's it like to have Frank Lloyd Wright design your house? This 101-year-old knows. #Humblebrag

• Use one of your free Slate articles on THIS: The Last Days of the Rainbow Warrior.

• FRIENDS IN LOW PLACES. Need a “Best in Show” sequel dedicated to the Buda Wiener Dog races. 

• It’s a Jet2 Holiday Summer, and We’re All Screwed. Better or worse than a RyanAir summer?

• In the words of the great philosopher John Oliver, "Spite is the rocket fuel of human motivation." Tear It Down, They Said. He Just Kept Building.

• I loved this book: “The Name on the Wall: A Novel” by Hervé Le Tellier. As beautifully written as it is clever. Right up there with “HHhH” by Laurent Binet in style. If you loved that, savor this. 

• This Song Helped Me Through The Week: “Thank You” by Babe Rainbow

A GFOP Writes ✍️

The mighty Ryan Richardson captured the Everton buzz when he wrote: “Long-time GFOP, first-time emailer here—and I come bearing joyous news: My son and I are heading to Atlanta to watch the mighty Everton Blues for the very first time… in person! After five to six years of yelling at our TV together through managerial swaps, great relegation escapes, and inexplicably emotional matches against Crystal Palace, we finally get to see the Toffees with our own eyes.

We’re both so excited that we’re practically vibrating like Sean Dyche next to a tray of gravel. We hope to get a glimpse of the squad—maybe before or after the game. We’re not expecting to infiltrate the dressing room, but just to be somewhere where we might catch a smile, a wave, or a blurry photo of Jordan Pickford that we can frame for generations to come.

Thank you and the Men in Blazers crew for being such a hilarious, heartfelt part of our Everton journey. Through thick, thin, and Thelwell, you’ve helped make our love for this bizarre, beautiful club even deeper. Courage and Up the Toffees,
Ryan Richardson”

Rog writes: Big Ryan – This letter captures my feelings entirely. From the shouting at the television, to the excitement of a parent and child going to a game together. There can be nothing finer than watching Beto run rampant. Savor every second. Take not a moment for granted… and send photos. #UTFT

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