Mo Salah's Last Game for Liverpool? Tyne-Wear Derby Returns & Everton's Stamford Bridge Test: Big Weekend Preview 12/12/2025

0:00You're listening to the Men in Blazers Media Network, Suboptimal Radio.

0:13Our Premier League overfloweth with blessings this week. It couldn't be Mo Salah's forced farewell, could it? Sunderland go drunk fan belly to drunk fan belly against Newcastle. Welcome back, Tyne and Weir Derby. Crystal Palace hope to make Manchester City quake and Everton raise hopes only to shatter them at Chelsea. Bring it all on. And let's start with Armageddon. Question me up. Hey, Rog. My name is Max from Connecticut. Liverpool's reporter here. Just a simple question. Clearly, we're not having the season we wanted and that we expected. Yes, we did come off a good win against Inter in the Champions League.

0:54Now we have Brighton at home. How much of an impact do you think the Mo Salah situation is having in the dressing room right now? and if we don't have a good performance against Brighton, how many more games do you think Arnaz Lott has before he gets sacked? Oh, Max. First of all, before I answer, let me give huge thanks to Bank of America, official Bank of US Soccer and the FIFA World Cup 2026 for supporting all of us at the Men in Blazers Media Network. Discover what's possible in sports and life. What would you like the power to do? I'd like the power to heal this Mo Salah darkness. I really would.

1:30Even me, because it's just no way to go out your last ever game against Brighton Saturday 10 a.m. Eastern time on Pocock. Couldn't be, could it? After 250 goals in 420 appearances, lifting the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, League Cup, Club World Cup trophies. Oh, with your worst form at the club coinciding with a team's worst tailspin in 80 years. when Neil Young said it's better to burn out than to fade away. Even he knew both were preferable to having a strop at your manager and being ditched at the Saudi league pronto. Here's Arna Slott this morning, talking about the situation at the press conference.

2:09I think the next time I speak about Mo should be with him and not in here. But yeah, you can keep on trying, but there's not much more to say about it that I speak to him today. And like I said, the outcome of that conversation determines how things will look tomorrow. Well, that, I think the Dutch have got a word for tight-lipped. And that is the dictionary definition illustration that accompanies it. Clearly, still such a open wound and such a fluid situation with no resolution. Arne added that this has been going on as far back as the Sunderland game. But all we know is that he and your Jim Selfie King are due to speak today.

2:53And the outcome of that conversation will determine, well, everything. And any one of you, and this is why I keep thinking, who've been in a serious argument with a friend or a family member or a colleague, an important colleague, will know what it feels like to be in this moment. Emotional wound, pride, stubbornness. Arno insisted that he's got no reason for wanting the 33-year-old to leave. But all we know for sure is that Moze off to AFCON on Monday to play for Egypt and whether he returns to face Brighton on Saturday is subject to, well, their conversation. Form is temporary, class is permanent.

3:35I think beefs are even more permanent sometimes, but it can't end like this, can it? I mean, what would you do if you're on a slot? Would you leave him out of the squad and punish him? Optically, totally. Or would you bring Mo on as a substitute and then let the crowd give him the opportunity to give Mo a victory and leverage with their songs?

4:03None of these options are really great, are they? And then you think of the joy that Mo has given all football fans, even me, Rog, an Everton fan, a.k.a. Dead Inside, The transcendent moments, the memories, the joy. Do not go gentle into that good night, Mo, but don't go out like this either. Mo caught in the wormhole of modern football's social media reputation thrasher. It's just not the way for this to end. And Mo Shutter scores in front of an exploding cop. But as your question hints, one of the most fascinating aspects of the Mo money, no problem situ, is it just masks exactly how many challenges are in a slot to deal with.

4:49So when you ask how will the Mo situation be a distraction in the dressing room, there is a possibility because, you know, that dressing room is already grappling with a broken back line, the strange disappearance of Alexis McAllister in Gravenberg's form, Isaac and Wurtz still bedding in, and I use those words kind of kindly. Liverpool are cohesively a tactical mess vulnerable, aura-less susceptible permanently by the way how Fabian Herzler will be probably reveling as he drives down from the south to take advantage of this with his very tactically adept Brighton but you layer on top in that locker room the lingering grief the absence of Diogo Jota and now you put Mo on top of everything and when you say is it a distraction there is a possibility stay with me here It's actually more of a relief for many of the players in a perverse way.

5:43Number one, it takes them out of the spotlight, their agony, their pain, their suffering, and their form challenges. Gives them a chance to secondly come together, prove themselves without Mo, who's off anyway, irrespective. So I'll just say to better days. And let's remember Mo as Mo, one of the most dedicated, obsessive. Look, selfish in a good way. I talked about this on Monday. Strikers do have to be selfish. footballing men who have a great start Premier League hearts and minds. This is what Mo taught me. This is Mo's legacy for me. It changed my life forever because now Mo and I both have the same body now because of this shared moment.

6:22Well, the Alves made in the kitchen, not in the gym first. So you have to really eat well. Worked for me, guys. Okay, want to be featured on the show next week? Send us a video with your biggest question about the games ahead. Use the link in the description below. and if you don't want your beautiful face on YouTube, feel free to call 646-450-9472 and it could be your voice on next week's show. Question number two. Hi, Rog. Colin from Vermont here. New to the Premier League this season and for some reason I decided to support Wolves. Pretty tough look. I love a good underdog story, but it seems like the dog may have died halfway through the season.

6:58Finally, a goal against Man United, but still winless and bottom of the table. Despite all this, I'm blindly optimistic. So, Rog, how many goals are we going to score against Arsenal this weekend. Big Cole, your question made me Google the weather in Vermont. It troubled me that much. I found out it's 17 degrees now, and it does make me worry that you might have addled brain freeze. You know what I mean? Or else, I love your blind optimism, and I want a case of whatever you're drinking, baby. You're asking me, how many goals will yourself, admittedly, dead dog wolf score against Arsenal? I think the short answer is, as many as you, Big Cole.

7:34But God bless you, boys. Wolverhampton Wanderers, still the only club in England's top seven tiers yet to win a league game this season. Lost eight straight, found themselves already. I mean, it's almost impressive. 13 points adrift from safety. Impressive in an agonizing way. I'm not going to lie, because Wolves is such a proud team, a traditional team, an authentic team, a wonderful team. They have that singular color jersey. When I was in Wolves making a show about them, I seemed to piss off every local when I said, yeah, you're one of the few teams to play in orange. And they'd all be like, roll gold.

8:09I'd be like, yeah, yeah, yeah, orange. They'd be like, roll gold. You know, fighting over colors. This is how we roll now.

8:21And the Premier League script writers have got to be candid. Normally a little bit more creative than this week, dispatching them to Arsenal Saturday, 3 p.m. Eastern Time on USA Channel. Arsenal, who desperately need a return to Premier League winning form after last week's late implosion against Aston Villa. Too soon, Arsenal fans have missed all the darkness of who's out at your club. Feels like, you know, everyone. Let's celebrate a gent who's back for the battle this weekend. The battle between first and last. Sound like Bob Dylan. It's Gabriel Jesus. Oh, you thought he's been out so long with an ACL injury, I think 11 months, that it almost feels like he's a player come back from another era.

9:10He's 28 years old. It was so good to see him come in as a substitute in your Champions League romp at Bruges this week. And Gabriel Jesus will be roaring to return. Really adds a versatility when he's on peak form to that Arsenal front line. Stylistically a very different look to Jochrez. and I do hope that he will recover. By the way, talking about Arsenal, I was struck deeply by Thierry Henry's words midweek on CBS about his former team and their mindset. I said it to Declan Rice over there. You got to believe that you can do it. What I didn't like in that game is when they considered the goal at the end.

9:48Everyone fell on the ground like you lost something. You lost a game. The same way when you win the game, that doesn't mean you're going to win everything, but we lost a game away at Villa. Everyone fell down. It's just a matter of when you never won anything, it's tough to cross that line. The fear of winning sometimes is bigger than the fear of losing. Thierry, you are a poet. Fear not, though, this weekend, Gunas. By the way, I do love your new Zubermenti chant, which is a human delight. Last Christmas, I gave you my heart But the very next day, you gave it away This year, to save me from tears I'll give it to Zubermenti George Michael forever.

10:28Next question.

10:56Is this the weekend that we get it done against Chelsea? Let me know. Up the toffees. Big John, second straight question about blind optimism on this show. What are we becoming? But I do love you. I need your guys' naive wonder surging in my life. Let me start with some Everton joy of my own. St. David Moyes has us on a run of four wins in five. What? I don't even know who we are anymore. Clean sheet machine. And I have loved, I have loved the images of Everton fans streaming out of the Hill Dickinson and just bellowing their revamped lyrics to an old classic tune. Oh, take it away. Moisey had a dream.

11:52That to me is everything. Just the astonished joy of being an Everton fan, which sounds like a sequel to the unbearable likeness of being. But trust me, and to boot, we need that kind of surge in confidence because this week we go up to Chelsea. Yes, erratic Chelsea, who we need the real Chelsea to please stand up a bit like Slim Shady. Enzo Moresca's side, winless in the last four games. All comps have beaten Barcelona. We saw that happen, right? They beat Liverpool. They held Arsenal at arm's length with 10 men. Mine eyes have seen the glory. But they're fresh off a Champions League disaster at Atalanta.

12:31Also crapped the bed against Brentford, Bournemouth, Brighton, Leeds and Carabag. Do you see a pattern here? Small sides who sit deep, do their head in. Hello, David Moyes, seven place wonder. propelled by the ecstatic calves of one Jackie Grealish. Oh, I love you. I love you. I love you. The maverick origami of Illy and Di and just the potency. The potency. I can't think of any other word for it of KDH. Kieran Dewsbury Hall. Could this be his revenge game? The 27-year-old could barely get on the field for Chelsea last season and then won$38.5 million move. and that's not a lot of money in today's, you know, football world.

13:15He's got three goals in his last four games, bangers only, and just listen to the man. No, honestly, I'm feeling probably the best I've ever felt. I'm at a club that's given me so much confidence, surrounded by players that work for the badge and everything like that. Honestly, I feel fantastic. So, fingers crossed, I can just keep helping the team perform as well as I can. I love hearing him talk. He's such an emotionally intelligent man. But do I think we're going to do it? And the answer is, well, no. Because as you said, Everton lost beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in 1994. And we essentially only win there when the United States hosts the World Cup.

13:54So next year will be our year. But here's Kiernan again, showing that he knows how to win over the Everton fan base in the smartest way when he spoke to my friends at Toffee TV. I've had a couple of walks around Liverpool and there's so many fans. I feel like there's way more Everton fans than Liverpool. I don't know about that, but that's what it feels like.

14:18OK, one more quick one. Raj, Hank from Pennsylvania, Sunderland, Newcastle. First time they're playing since 2016. Fierce rivalry. How should I watch this game? From behind my couch or under it? Oh, Hank, I love your question. I think the Toynham Weird Albee, We honestly best watch from in between the pillows on your couch for your own protection, man, because this one, 157th clash between Sunderland and Newcastle, is a jewel that we welcome back into the Premier League for the first time in nearly 10 long years. The tournament with Derby is one of the most intense, most petty, most heartfelt, most hard thought.

14:57These two towns are separated by about 10 miles and they are both remarkable in their own right. This is old coal, old steel, old shipbuilding territory. And they have both suffered and languished in kind of post-industrial Britain, way, way, way up north. And both towns express themselves through historic football clubs. And by the way, both teams have really suffered there too, if I'm being honest. So this game has kind of been their everything in terms of bragging where it's winning or losing. because it wasn't much else for much of the history of these two teams. These two teams have been great teams, and there have been some incredible nights.

15:39They have also suffered brutally, both Newcastle and Sunderland. And so when they get together, beating the heck out of each other is often the only joy they have. There's been some glorious fixtures. There's been fixtures where it's honestly been like watching two bald men fighting over a comb, but it's always passionate. It's always insane. Famously, yes, police horses have been punched in the face by fans after games out of anger, frustration and, you know, the drink. But it's a game that matters and a rivalry that is just insane. As I said, wondrously petty and just it's felt football that is felt and mean something because of the emotional intensity.

16:25Best expressed by this man. I don't have anything red in my wardrobe. I don't eat bacon because it's red. I don't even like tomatoes because they're red. I just don't have anything red in my life. Better dead than red. So roll on Sunday, 9am Eastern Time USA. And what makes this moment fascinating is Newcastle are talking about being one of the biggest teams in the world. But right now, they are behind Sunderland on the table. You have Reggie Labriss's tenacious Granit Xhaka and Enzo Le Fay, Infective, Collective. They are above them in the table. And while their flying stars plateaued a little bit and Newcastle actually have momentum and signs of life, they sit just three points below the top four.

17:10God bless in every regard. Here's Labris this morning with a comment that tells you all you need to know about just how important this game is locally for his fans. For the fans, I think we know that this game is really big and it's a really important game. For us, the game is important as well, but we are professional. So we are preparing this fixture, I won't say like another one, but with good commitment, concentration, the right level of energy. We know that it will be an intense game, but the main focus is to find the best version of Sunderland for that fixture. I think Sunderland are going to do them.

17:53I really, really do. Bring it on this weekend. And by the way, quick thank you, America. We asked for your nominations for America's Best Soccer Bar 2025-26. And you have sent them this nationwide search powered by our friends at Michelob Ultra. It's time for the final step. Voting on the top 10 and you'll decide who gets the crown. We've tallied the submissions. We have a list of 10. You can find them and vote on the winner in the show notes below. Voting window open until December 29th. So get in there. Cast your vote. Tell your friends and really help us pay tribute to the watering holes. The institutions are at the heart of every football loving community across these 50 states.

18:35Get stuck in. Help us crown the best soccer bar in America. We will do a live show from the winner. But we're going to go out with a lovely moment from my conversation this week with my friend Tyler Adams, who just became minutes ago the first American in our nation's history to win the Gold of the Month award for his wonder strike from just past the halfway line against, yes, Sunderland. In a minute, Tyler's going to describe what went through his mind as he unleashed that ball 47 yards out. But before we go, I want to give huge thanks again to Bank of America, official Bank of US Soccer and a FIFA World Cup 2026 for supporting the Men in Blazers media network.

19:12Discover what's possible in sports and in life. What would you like the power to do? I'd like the power to feel an end to the joy. Tyler Adams experience in this moment. Find the full interview where he talks about the US, the draw and the difference between friendlies and the World Cup games to come. I actually found what he said really, really brilliant. It's in the show notes. Happy footballing weekend to you all. Big, big love and courage. Here's Tyler. We said in the scouting report that he comes off his line very often. What I was thinking is I picked my head up as I got the ball and I saw he was off his line and I was like, I'm way too far out right now to try and shoot.

19:46So I took a few more touches and I looked up again And I was like, he's still running back to his goal. So I was like, now I feel like I'm in range to be able to do it. So I had to go and fell right in the back of the net. For me, it was an exciting moment because I think adding a little bit more to your game is important and making sure that you're continuing to develop. And I have challenged myself a little bit to just have a little bit more of an eye for that. I think it's one of those blackout moments of you find yourself in a scenario and you have a go and go for it. And I've had the confidence to try it and it ended up going in the back of the net.

20:19Thank you.