My Sunday morning cup comes from another Texas Roaster, Zelie Beans out of Sugarland. This particular batch is their Guatemala single origin. It makes a fine cup, some milky chocolate notes along with some roasted nuttiness. The flavors are a little muted, there is nothing vibrant going on, the cup likes a certain acidity that I tend to enjoy. So a good cup, not a great cup in my mind.
While I don' have any recommendations this week, nor was there a Formula One race this weekend (have to wait one more week for the Miami GP) there is plenty to talk about in both EPL and F1.
Formula One
The biggest news this week by far has been the rumors that car designer extraordinaire and Red Bull Chief Technology Officer Adrian Newey may be leaving the team. Newey is widely regarded as the greatest designer of F1 cars of the last 30 years. He has won trophies with McLaren and Williams back in the 90's and has been with Red Bull since their inception in the 2000's, helping them win trophies under two different drivers. So him leaving would be HUGE news, if and I'll throw my two cents in and say it's a big IF, he moves on. The reason I think it is unlikely that he leaves for another team is two fold:
1) if he leaves he would have to sit out for 2 years due to his contract not being up for another year and there is a stipulation in his contract that adds another year. So if he left, the earliest you would see him at another team is 2026 when the new car designs are put into place under the differing F1 regulations. This would mean he would have no input into a new designed car and I just can't see that happening.
2) Secondly Newey is 67, and has just purchased a massive new yacht that is being build (look up the YouTube video of him at Oyster Yachts). He wants to sail, all over the place. Additionally he has left England for a team before, and quit that team because he didn't want to be away from his family. So those folks that think he is going to move to Italy and work for Ferrari are kidding themselves I think. So while he may be frustrated with all that is going on at Redbull behind the scenes lately with the Horner situation, he mostly likely could just retire, or move into a consultant role for another team, or even for F1 or the FIA, vs going to a new team.
If he did go to a new team, an interesting one would be Aston Martin. That would allow him to stay in England, and Daddy Stroll has a ton of money to throw around. I don' know how likely any of this is since no one has officially confirmed anything, but when the BBC picks up certain rumors they tend to have a bit more credibility than the random you tubers or bloggers (myself included) which I why I wanted to put down my thoughts. How likely will he leave RB? I put it at 50/50. How likely will he go to another team? Less than that I think.
Liverpool
While the Reds continue their incredible slide into 3rd and even 4th place of the EPL Table there is some positive news. The Reds have looked absolutely pathetic lately, and the last match yesterday against West Ham didn't help with Mo Salah and Klopp getting into a little sideline tiff. But as I said before there is good news. It looks like the Reds have found their new team leader to replace (if one can ever do that) the departing Jurgen Klopp.
It seems as if the Reds will be adding Dutchman Arne Slot, currently managing Feyenoord to a win in the Dutch Cup this season and an opportunity to seal a spot in the Champions League. The 45 year old is incredibly well respected amongst the Football community and it seems like Liverpool has already sealed a deal with his current employers to make the transfer to Liverpool occur. He is an aggressive manager, his team always playing on the front foot driving the ball forward in play. He seems to get compared to Pep Guardiola a lot, to be clear I am not equating their coaching ability, just their strategy. I like having a younger coach come in and not brining in an old retread. I trust the Liverpool leadership to make the right decision here. It will also help Slot transition is that he won't be depended to make as many of the transfer moves as Klopp has recently since Slot will report to the new Sporting Director which could allow him to focus on strategy and building team unity. There is a good chance next year will be rebuilding as I think Salah leaves in the offseason to the Saudi league (with Liverpool receiving a large transfer fee) and there could be others leaving as well (Nunez hopefully as he has looked positively dreadful this season). We could be able to rebuild while maintaining a certain level of talent that allows us to compete in the EPL and Champions league next season, so while things currently look bad, I am hopeful that things will get better.
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