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Rog on Queen Elizabeth II's Passing
Premier League Football Cancelled This Weekend
Hail GFOP!
I write with fingers saddened by the passing of Elizabeth II. As regular listeners of our podcast know well – I am not a monarchist. Liverpool, my city of birth is heavily Irish, and profoundly anti-royalist. Many Liverpudlians maintain they are Scousers, not English. And besides, I am American now. Despite all that, I still realize the enormous sense of loss the United Kingdom has experienced in the past 24 hours. I only have to pick up the phone and speak to my Mum for that to become abundantly clear. The Queen has been an ever present, even for Valerie Bennett. When you look at Elizabeth’s life, the historical throughline of her arc was remarkable. Her links to the Second World War alone are profound and moving. Ninety-six years of service to the nation in that peculiar, yet onerous, symbolic way a modern monarch serves, stands as a singular life of gilded sacrifice.
We have often joked that all Britain has now in the eyes of the world is the Premier League, the Royal family, and Downton Abbey. The latter is no longer in production, and for many in Britain, their quietly stoic Queen was the best of the Royals, a scandal-plagued institution which will now be plunged into transition, in a post-Brexit Britain that is already buckling amidst chaos. Not for the first time in this newsletter, I type, Thank God for Football.
More: The Queen and the 1966 World Cup Final
SAVE THE DATE: Oct. 11, 8 p.m. ET: Gods Of Soccer Launch Love-In Event AND YOU ARE INVITED 🍻🚨
To all of you incredible humans who have pre-ordered our new book GODS OF FOOTBALL please make sure you register for all the Thank Yous we have to send you – the MiB patches and Limited Edition Print from the Book – as well as an invitation to the virtual book launch celebration event on Oct. 11 at 8 p.m. ET which will be a magical evening. If you have not Pre-Ordered yet, please, please come and be with us. To pre-order the book and register for the celebration event, visit meninblazers.com/godsofsoccer now with our Love and Thanks. #SupportIndieBookStoresAmerica 🇺🇸
🍺 We came here to do two things: watch football and drink beers. And we are out of beers. And Premier League is not on this weekend. But good job we still got Beers. And you can order Budweiser via Drizly and get $5 off your first order when you use the code: BUDXMIB Courtesy of Drizly. New Drizly users only. Must be 21+. Cannot be combined with any other offer. Per applicable law, value may be applied towards order total or shipping or delivery fees. Includes orders of non-alcoholic items. Void where prohibited. Expires on 12/31/22 at 11:59 EDT. 🍺
2. Not To The Football: PREMIER LEAGUE WEEKEND CANCELED 🏴😢
At 6.31 AM ET this morning, the Premier League announced it will postpone this weekend’s slate of games “as a mark of respect to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.” The government had told the Premier League that the games could go ahead but left the final decision up to them, which was no doubt a double-edged sword for the football powers to wrestle with. After an emergency meeting this morning, the Premier League decided to cancel. It must have been a difficult and complex decision fusing the practical, the political, and the economic. On one hand, the pre-game rituals could have allowed the nation a powerful moment of collective remembrance. On the other, in this political climate of culture war, playing the games could come back to bite the “selfish clubs” and the “rich players,” who took part in them down the road. The conversation would also have factored in the nation’s policing capacity, the economic impact of cancellation, particularly on those matchday stadium workers who rely on the freelance income they will now go without. I feel an enormous empathy for fans who have traveled huge distances to fulfill long held dreams to watch the games, particularly for the Americans who have crossed the Atlantic.
Brace yourself – both for next weekend being canceled too — and for a second wave conversation about fixture pile-up and the frantic pace of a season already sent into the upside down by FIFA’s decision to dump the World Cup into November. That conversation is a nightmare football has inflicted on itself and is irrelevant at this moment. However, an interesting dimension of this whole debate – and one which I believe made the decision even more difficult to compute – is that English football in the past was a national game. It is now proudly global. Broadcast networks around the world have paid huge sums for the rights to the Premier League, and now have enormous holes in their primetime schedules they must now fill, even though their nations are not in mourning.
One final note: The Women's Super League was also set to return with true thunder, playing a number of massive games in Premier League stadia including Spurs vs. Manchester United at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Chelsea vs. West Ham at Stamford Bridge. To better days ahead for all.
3. Busy Week at MiB Towers
We were up super early yesterday to tape with Tyler Adams. The latest episode of Road to the Cup Powered by Volkswagen drops next week. It is all kinds of incredible to capture Tyler’s story in this moment. A young American who, when we began the series, was feeling out of gear in Leipzig. Six months later, he is slaying all-comers in the Premier League, in the form of his life, alongside his friend Brenden Aaronson, with a World Cup glowing ahead. Proof that in football, as in life, you never know what will happen next. Drops Wednesday 🇺🇸
ii. I am really proud of our Alex Morgan interview which dropped yesterday. To interview Alex, the face of American football, at the age of 33, when she is in the midst of the season of her life, was illuminating. A mother, a partner, an entrepreneur, a social media influencer – but still the pre-eminent goal machine in this nation. This conversation about balance, focus, juggling roles, and the way parenting changes everything is transcendent.
4. CHELSEA FOOTBALL CLUB. ARE YOU READY FOR SOME BOEHLY BALL?
Chelsea’s decision to consciously uncouple with Thomas Tuchel in the early hours of Wednesday morning felt singularly astonishing, yet warmly familiar in a Chelsea kind of way. The team had truly soiled themselves at Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League, following prior humiliations to Leeds and Southampton.
What was astonishing was the timing and the context. The club had just spunked over $300M on new players, some of whom, like Aubamayeng, had explicitly declared their excitement at working with TT. That looks and feels more than a little “Fire, Ready, Aim” on behalf of Boehly, especially as, speaking to people around the club, the relationship between the two men has been frayed for some time. A reality which was particularly untenable seeing as Boehly was not just the club owner, but also the Interim Director of Football. With the two men no longer speaking directly, and reportedly falling out over Tuchel’s rejection of Ronaldo (!), a run of bad results could only end in one way. After the prior departures of Tuchel’s allies Marina Granovskaia, a director, and Petr Cech, the technical and performance adviser, this club is now 100% in Boehly’s hands – which is the signal I believe he has been trying to send by posing for photographs with new transfers, beaming in his Golden Gooses. However – read on. There is a plan. We will yet find out if Boehly Ball has method as well as madness.
First: Fear not for Tuchel, who will leave Stamford Bridge with the memories of his instant impact, Champions League glory, three finals losses, overseeing a regime change, a familial separation. And a lot of tat from the sale rack at the club shop. Oh. And nearly $18M in severance. Whatever you think of the style of his football (and from an American perspective, the purgatory into which he has cast Christian Pulisic, despite every single positive comparative stat we Americans could tweet out about CP10), I admire Tuchel for the noble way he handled the unprecedented chaos of Abramovich’s sudden flight during the Invasion of Ukraine.
Enter Graham Potter. Why would he take the job? Has he not watched Ned Stark’s arc in Season One of Game of Thrones? When you have a sweet and meaningful provincial job you do so well, never take a leap to become the King’s Hand. It can only end with your neck on the chopping block of Chelsea’s Kings Landing. Honestly, I can think of “$14m-a-year reasons” for him to take the Chelsea role. But as Miguel Delaney reports, the Chelsea plan going forward is to walk a different path than other big teams who simply reheat the same old big managers. Boehly aims to partner the incredibly progressive Potter with a brilliant Director of Football whom the manager will help choose, and create a long-term strategy for a bold, innovative future.
Will it work? I admire Potter. I think he is brilliant. As a tactician. A man motivator. Above all as an empathetic leader. His rise from Östersunds in Sweden to the pinnacle of English football has been truly earned through grind, innovation, and a willingness to be brazenly different. There is always an unknown in a move like this – can a regional bank manager who has produced unprecedented growth in a backwater branch make the leap to CEO? Can a gent who has worked with self-motivated hungry young footballers lead ego-driven stars who can’t remember how many Lambos they own, and balance the Premier League load with a side-order of Champions League? Can a gent who is used to love and patience succeed at the Bridge, a traditionally trigger-happy Shark Tank atmosphere, where anything other than victory is defeat? Does Boehly have any idea of what he is doing at all? Let’s remember, Football has a habit of making a fool out of all of us as we wait and see.
5. Three More Important Moments from this Week
i. Liverpool are most probably the one club who are grateful for the pause to take check of what has happened amidst this implosion of a season so far. Yes, they always lose at Napoli, but the nature of Wednesday’s 4-1 spanking was astonishing, even for this schadenfreude-loving fan. The complete lack of intensity. Big Virg, Trent, Mo Salah all looking like Dead Men Walking. Jurgen Klopp had to answer questions about his job security. As he admitted his squad in malaise need “to reinvent themselves.” At least a week for him to grapple with his exhausted squad and coax Thiago back to fitness.
More: Klopp has no easy fix.
ii. Richarlison’s tears shed with his father after scoring twice in his Champions League debut were incredibly moving. I swear they are a symbol of his childhood dream unfulfilled – to score Champions League goals with Everton. And a reflection that sometimes we have to give up the perfect for the merely good. However, to watch a professional footballer express such genuine emotion about achieving his dreams is deeply meaningful. I know a lot of you cannot stand Richarlison in an almost Rodman-esque fashion. Yet, I gain so much pleasure from watching him thrive. Yes, he is not always big at the passing, even less skilled at staying on his feet. But my god, in terms of just pure cult shithousing life energy he can’t be beat. Shine on, you Crazy Bad Man.
iii. I derived incredible pleasure from watching Matt Turner make his debut for Arsenal in the Europa League yesterday. An American who did not start playing football seriously until the age of 16, but who has willed himself to the elite level through hard work, personal goal-setting, and sheer tenacity. I find him so bloody inspirational. Listen to the Podcast we taped with Matt, in which he talks about his journey and all of the obstacles, write-offs, and failures he had to overcome, and tell me it does not motivate you to do the same in your life… To Matt. His growing family. And his continued success. Big Love. 🇺🇸
6. Men in Blazers. We made a short week feel long (and not in a good way).
i. Tuesday, on The Men in Blazers Podcast Rog and Davo on Manchester United's 3 - 1 win over Arsenal and a 0 - 0 Merseyside Derby that ruined a pair of Rog's trousers (just the one because he didn't change at halftime. Commitment. Sacrifice). LISTEN HERE
ii. Wednesday, this season's second episode of European Nights, Presented by Paramount+ with our continental football sherpa Rory Smith (who just released this magical book). This week we talking PSG's Financial Fair Play fine, AC Milan's resurgence, and the Europa and Europa Conference Leagues. LISTEN HERE. And we're back next week for the second matchday of this season to talk Barcelona. If you have listened and enjoyed European Nights, do us a favor and please rate, review and recommend it to a friend.
iii. And talking of next week, under those glorious European floodlights, we're getting some massive knockout round matchup including Bayern vs. Barcelona on Tuesday at 3 p.m. ET, marking Robert Lewandowski's first match against his former club since his transfer this summer. In German, we're sure there's a word for that. And talking of Heimkunfts, or at least rekindled Bromances, Erling Haaland and City get a visit from the dime-dropping Gio Reyna and Dortmund. Where does it all go down: Paramount+. Watch every Champions League match live exclusively on Paramount+! Try one week free HERE.
iv. Thursday, as we mentioned above, we released that very special episode of The Women's Game, Presented by Paramount+, featuring American soccer icon Alex Morgan of the San Diego Wave. Listen to the USWNT hero on her red hot start to this NWSL season and how parenting has changed her perspective on football. We are so proud to be able to produce this Podcast with a generational talent. LISTEN HERE. We cannot wait to watch her take the field in front of a sold out Snapdragon stadium next Saturday when San Diego hosts Angel City FC in a game not to be missed (stream on Paramount+).
v. Talking of Paramount+, it is the new home of the Barclays Women's Super League. We cannot tell you how excited we are for this WSL season, coming off the Lionesses ebullient Euro 2022 victory. It all kicks off on Paramount+. Rachel Daly! Sam Kerr!! Emma Hayes!!! All the Lionesses! Watch the Barclays Women's Super League live all season long on Paramount+. Try one week free HERE.
7. More Football Did Ya Say?
i. All eyes on Bundesliga and La Liga this weekend. RB Leipzig in massive transition. Poor Timo. Why always him?
ii. In case you were wondering about Qatar’s stepped up military capability ahead of the World Cup. Worry not. (Submitted by GFOP Andrew Gibbons)
iii. I felt he used too many onions, but it was still a very good sauce 🇮🇹
Want a little continental football this weekend? Can we recommend Serie A? This weekend Inter look to rebound from last week's Derby della Madonnina loss as they take on Torino Saturday, Sept. 10 at Noon ET. And Sunday has more going on than an antipasto from Nuovo Vesuvio. Top of the Table Atalanta kick things off against Cremonese at 6:30 a.m. ET. And Jose Mourino's Roma look to rebound against Empoli on Monday, Sept. 12th at 2:45 p.m. ET. Watch Serie A action all season long on Paramount+! Try one-week free HERE 🇮🇹
8. Not Football and All the Better for It
i. Leslie Jones on Serena Williams is a really beautiful read
ii. Fake TV Town Locations: An Investigation. Fake TV Town Cartography. Best cartography since non-League football cartography.
iii. The Arctic Circle: A new frontier for sustainable wine. Scandinavian agit-prop
iv. Experience: I am the Monopoly world champion. And, yet, you're still traveling by railroad.
v. ‘You can’t be the player’s friend’: inside the secret world of tennis umpires. The phrase "ladies and gentlemen please do not call out between first and second serve" is tattooed on my heart
vi. The Cartoon Mystery That Stumped the Internet. "From one vantage, there was comfort in the idea that some mysteries are so deep that even the Internet cannot solve them. But, from another, the elf seemed to violate the utopian promise that the Web contains the answer to literally any question."
vii. The Battle for ‘Cop City’. Genuinely fascinating story
viii. ‘Chaos Cooking’ Is Coming — Are We Ready? I whisper this to myself every time I make dinner
ix. How Much Does That Oligarch’s Yacht Actually Cost? It's yacht season boys grab a life vest
x. Passengers Keep Airdropping Nudes, and Airlines Apparently Don't Have a Plan. Good news on the whole, because you know when they do come up with a plan it will be to charge everyone a $6 surcharge for airdropping those nudes
xi. Crypto.com accidentally sent a woman $7.2 million instead of $68. One time a stranger venmoed me $10 thinking I was someone else which I imagine is a very similar feeling.
xii. Guy Goma: 'Greatest' case of mistaken identity on live TV ever? 10 years later, still can’t believe he didn’t get the job.
xiii. I love this song: Gonna Be Leaving by Abigail Lapell
xiv. This book BLEW ME AWAY: The Perfect Golden Circle: A Novel by Benjamin Myers. A perfect end of summer book, taking you back to 1980s England, and a book which tells the story of two outcasts who find global infamy by carving crop circles across Southern England, and their relationship with the nation’s history, psyche, and the land itself. Beautiful, beautiful writing. Buy Your Copy Here
One last note: I am headed to DC this week to mark Constitution Day by speaking to a group of newly minted American Citizens who are being sworn in at the National Archive in front of the actual constitution itself on the document's 235th anniversary. The emotions this conjures are so unbelievably powerful. The echo of my own swearing in. The memory of the stories I heard on that day from my fellow new citizens – from people for whom the idea of America has acted as a beacon, giving them courage, strength, hope and optimism when they need it. They are to me the best of this nation, and to speak to them in this moment, in that place, in front of that document, is the honor of a lifetime.
Big Love
Courage
ROG