I type with fingers ready for some FA Cup majesty. Pep Guardiola versus Arne Slot. Two bald men fighting over—not so much a comb—but more the season-redeeming toupée that the FA Cup glory represents. 

I have spent the week buzzing over our time spent in Atlanta, a golden period which culminated in one of my favorite nights of the year so far—a blast of joyous energy in our Big Boi-headlined live show. Next we head to Tampa for a special live show on April 17, where we’ll sit down with some incredible guests including the mighty Alan Shearer, and then on to the newly announced Philly live show on May 12. I love Philadelphia. The passion, the tenacity, the “give zero craps about what others think about us” spirit which reminds me of Liverpool. And of course, the Jim’s cheese-steakness of it all. Come join us at the Franklin Music Hall, it’s going to be a memorable night.

ii. The smoke has now cleared on that bruising pair of U.S. losses. I write more about the agonizing fallout below, as well as breaking down the nuanced FA Cup quarterfinal matchups. We then smash into the return of the Champions League, and next weekend’s Premier League resurrection. Remember Tottenham fans, it could be worse, you could support Italy. (Hug all the Italian-Spurs fans in our life, people!) 

Watch: Rory Smith and I broke down the World Cup playoffs and the consequences, especially for the US who will now face the quite fearsome Türkiye… 🇹🇷🇺🇲

iii. Next week we head to Augusta to do a live show with Bank of America for the Masters. If you are there on Friday, come and give us a hug. We are then dropping into fantastical New Orleans for a flying visit. Would welcome your recommendations for what NOLA bar we should watch Everton in. 

iv. I loved this: Experience the journey from Manchester to Liverpool in just two minutes. Magic. 

v. MiB was made one of Sports Business Journal’s “Power Players” ahead of the World Cup. It is magical to see little old us in such incredible company at this seismic time for the sport in our nation. Huge testament to the work of our entire team and the fan community we have built together. 🏆 💙

vi. Also: The doors to Inter Miami’s new stadium open this weekend. Much anticipated since it broke ground in 2023, the Nu Stadium, capacity 27,000, has a stand named after Messi. The House that Lionel Built.

Courage,
ROG

P.S. - If you need some weekend inspiration, embrace the “anonymous Mbappé on a scooter” within. 😎

A week which began with Mauricio Pochettino making bold proclamations about “Why not us?” and “semifinals” predictions, ended with a sobering reality check of two damp squib defeats and the same manager bemoaning that he does not have players in the world’s top 100! Being smashed by Belgium, and having Portugal canter past us without having to break a sweat, made us look like a team stalling out without defensive foundation nor attacking idea. Perhaps most dispiritingly of all, ask yourself the question: “What is the personality of this team?” Past iterations have been physical, gritty, or aspirationally buccaneering. What we saw in this last window was naive, joyless, skittish, mistake-prone, and lacking in belief. 

Poch was meant to come in and remove the stench of perennial underachievers from our psyche. This was a Reality Bites window replete with old problems all over the field. Who is our goalkeeper? Who is our striker (Will we even have one?) How can we get the best out of a truly frustrated Christian Pulisic who has been goalless for the U.S. since 2024? When we leak a goal, why do we wilt? 

Perhaps the most numbing hangover from this woeful week was that the anger and disappointment that the fanbase used to feel in defeat has burned off. The U.S. supporter bubble used to agonize after losses. This week, our mailbag has overflowed with letters from fans admitting they expect to be clipped against half decent European opposition at this point. Joao Felix said before the game that American football culture is one in which “The players don't play under pressure.” The silence that has met these defeats—in Europe there would be a howl of media and fan outcry—is the agony of apathy which is painful in its own right. The sense of hope that used to reign supreme has evaporated watching this team who have now lost a startling eight straight times against European opponents. We simply adopt the position. Which is the most un-American quality of all. 

Here is the good news: These were friendlies. World Cups are strange beasts. Form can be found in camp and the group stage. We have the talent. Yet, if we try to go toe to toe with proficient opponents, we will be torn apart. Tyler Adams and his dogged spirit are the totem of what this team should be. Our success will depend on it. To be clear: The World Cup will make football massive in the United States. It is up to the U.S. Men’s National Team and their own performance as to whether they are part of that boom of popularity or they write themselves out of it. 

More: The Guardian ranked the 48 teams in the tournament…and let’s just say, the USA are not where we want them to be…

And: Could be worse… could be Italy. How did it happen? This explains much of it. A World Cup in America without Irish and Italian teams is bad for business! 

Manchester City vs. Liverpool (Saturday, 7:45 a.m. ET, ESPN) 

A game played in the shadow of two giant bald craniums (crania?).

Pep Guardiola is teasing his departure again. After a decade at City, that mad tactics and cargo pants pocket innovator has just one year left on his contract and is said to be of two minds as to whether he will see it out. Leaving with just a Carabao victory is barely a high note. A Wembley FA Cup trophy lift offers a very different optical farewell. 

Arne Slot is battling speculation about his departure, albeit involuntary. This time last year the Dutch bald was stoically coasting to title glory and making English football look easy. Now he cuts an altogether different figure. A man consumed by confused pride and doubt, aware he has lost the trust of a segment of the Liverpool fanbase. This is a massive week for Arne and Mo Salah’s Last Dance. News today Alisson is sidelined with a hamstring injury until “towards” the end of the campaign. The season could look very different after a win/loss at City and a win/loss at PSG in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinal on Wednesday. What truly separates a hero from a villain? 

Rog-Stradamus 🔮: City edge a nervy mistake-filled game 2-1. The Battle for the Champions League is all that remains for Liverpool come next weekend. 

Southampton vs. Arsenal (Saturday, 3 p.m. ET, ESPN)

He's going to play Kepa again, isn’t he? Mikel Arteta is a stiff-necked man. While the memory of him fumbling that Cherki cross to gift Nico O’Reilly a League Cup winning goal still singes the cortex of Arsenal Nation, Arteta said he had no doubts, no regrets about selecting his second-string keeper. Brace yourself to watch the man get back on the horse that threw him. Myself? I would play Max Dowman in goal…

Also: After the club reported 11 injuries to its players ahead of the international break, it will be heartening to see the miracles the Arsenal medical room has performed over the last week to return so many men back to full fitness. A feel-good story the world needs right now. 

Rog-Stradamus 🔮: Arsenal score early and late 2-0.

Chelsea vs. Port Vale (Saturday, 12:15 p.m. ET, ESPN)

Liam Rosenior cannot suffer defeat in this one can he? Chelsea are on a four-game losing streak, yet Port Vale are rock bottom of third-tier League One. However, the bruises and indignity of having three goals pumped past you at Everton, after being overwhelmed by PSG means the six-and-a-half-year contract he signed has never looked more generous. The losing did not stop during a brutal international break in which it was announced Chelsea have the greatest pre-tax loss in Premier League history, and both Enzo Fernández and Marc Cucurella seized opportunities to deride the direction of the club and in Cucu’s case, take humiliating shots at the owners’ vision. 

Rosenior said this morning that Enzo crossed the line by mooting a transfer to Real Madrid and will not be part of the squad for the next two games. Chelsea’s American owners made no secret of their desire to turn the club into a “Content Platform.” They are succeeding in building the greatest melodrama in sports. 

More: Hurtling towards relegation… Here’s how tiny Port Vale can win this one.

Rog-Stradamus 🔮: Port Vale open the scoring. Cue pad scribbling. Cue Estevao-inspired comeback for the ages. Chelsea 3-1.

West Ham vs. Leeds United (Sunday, 11:30 a.m. ET, ESPN)

What is this game? A welcome distraction in a grinding relegation battle? A cruel diversion for two teams wrongly incarcerated on football’s death row? Perhaps most fascinating of all, it is an off-Broadway try-out for the last game of the season rumble which could determine the relegation Moon Door. 

Rog-Stradamus 🔮: West Ham 2-0. Happiness is deserved, but also fleeting. 

And… a quick word on Tottenham: 

Roberto De Zerbi has a weekend on the training ground with his new players to brace himself for the trip to Sunderland a week on Sunday. He has already begun his apology tour for backing Mason Greenwood in an attempt to win back factions of the Spurs fan group base. (BTW Are apologies that contain the words, “I am sorry if I offended…” really apologies?) But from a football POV…is he the man to be the ferryman to the ferryman for Spurs last seven games? Gent is the opposite of a pragmatic defibrillator. He is a tactical idealist with complex ideas. He is no cultural unifier. He is known as a prickly artiste. This is like bringing a box of matches into a fireworks factory. And who doesn’t love pyrotechnics?

More: Staggering… the numbers behind Tottenham’s relegation. 

Coventry v. Derby County (TODAY, 3 p.m. ET, Paramount+)

Coventry’s title to lose at this point. Frank Lampard’s club are nine points clear of closest rivals Middlesbrough. A remarkable turnaround considering they sat two points above the relegation zone when Lampard was appointed in November 2024.

West Brom 2-2 Wrexham

Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac's Wrexham drew West Brom 2-2 Friday morning, leaving the Red Dragons sixth in the standings, just on the edge of the playoffs.

This week’s phrase is:

"Roberto De Zerbi's appointment at Spurs is the cinematic equivalent of _____"

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

There were many excellent submissions this week—so many made me laugh—but there can only be one winner:

Dina Ricciardi: “The USMNT have me feeling like Ryan Gosling in Project Hail Mary ahead of the World Cup. Wake up with amnesia and try to solve a crisis.”

Dina… send us your postal and we will send you a patch!

Atlético Madrid vs. Barcelona (Saturday, 3 p.m. ET, ESPN+) 🇪🇸

Ahead of next week’s UCL quarterfinal, this is the first movie in Atléti and Barça’s 10-day trilogy, and a chance for Marcus Rashford to potentially secure his Blaugrana future following Raphinha’s hamstring injury with Brazil.

Inter Milan vs. Roma (Sunday, 2:45 p.m. ET, Paramount+) 🇮🇹

As Italian football mourns, Cristian Chivu must quickly defibrillate his winless-in-three Serie A leaders against Gian Gasperini’s dangerous Roma, who themselves are fighting for a first UCL spot in seven years.

Napoli vs. AC Milan (Monday, 2:45 p.m. ET, Paramount+) 🇮🇹

The Rossoneri cannot afford a hiccup here if they want to keep their title dreams alive, while Napoli will look to leapfrog Christian Pulisic and Milan in the standings to put even more pressure on Chivu’s Nerazzurri in the race for a Serie A crown.

Annie Allardyce From Vermont wrote: “I just wanted to write to say “Thank you” for sharing all of the World Cup joy and heartbreak that is happening around the world. These are, indeed, dark times to be a human in this world. At times I feel naive for continuing to be shocked by the awful things in the news. But I want to let you know that your coverage of the raw human emotion that our sport brings to our lives, whether elation or devastation, is what makes life feel real again. I can celebrate with strangers who are setting off pyros in the streets in Sarajevo, or weep with the Irish as their fans serenade them after their World Cup dreams are crushed. I know none of these people, but seeing and reading their stories makes me realize that life may be much simpler than we think if we remember to connect with others and spread compassion. Keep spreading the love.”

Annie what a beautiful and poetic letter. I sent it to Rory as I believe he is the only human one of the two of us. But I do believe in what you wrote. It is why I wrote my book—it is the thesis of “We are the World (Cup)”—the tournament has the ability to bring a sense of eclectic connection to the whole planet which is in woefully short supply. To more of that good stuff. We need it. We surely need it. 

Keep sending your stories and questions to [email protected]. WE LOVE THEM SO MUCH!

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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