GM football fans. Route One here. We’re like a Jurgen Klopp hug - wrapping you in a warm embrace of football news and laughs.

Today’s briefing is a ~3.5 min read:

1. Klopp’s 10,002 hugs 🤗

2. Los Angeles x Port Vale F.C. 🤝

3. Extra time: Eric Dier’s new accent 🇩🇪

Morning Brief 🗞️

Tottenham become London’s richest club, according to Deloitte. The north-London side has leapfrogged Chelsea to become the eighth richest club in the world with annual revenues of £549.2m.

FA Cup game West Brom versus Wolves was suspended for 32 minutes after violence broke out in the stands between supporters on both sides.

Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag says that Marcus Rashford’s absence from the squad in yesterday’s FA Cup fixture was “an internal matter… I will deal with it.” It had been earlier reported that Rashford was ill, yet he had been photographed on a night out in Belfast earlier this week.

Crystal Palace star Michael Olise reportedly favours a transfer to Manchester United over Chelsea. The Blues plan to make a move for Everton midfielder Amadou Onana, according to the Express.

KLOPP’S 10,002 HUGS 🤗

Jurgen Klopp has announced he’s leaving Liverpool at the end of the season.

No doubt there will be many journalists writing about Klopp’s wonderful achievements…

• Liverpool’s first league title in 30 years.

• Champions League and FA Cup.

• 90+ league points 3x.

Yada yada yada…

We agree. Klopp is one of the best Premier League managers of all time… but we all know this stuff.

Here at R1, we like to do things differently. We answer the tough questions on people’s minds like…

… how many hugs has Klopp dished out since becoming Liverpool's manager?

And here’s what we found:

Note: chest beats and fist pumps into the crowd are beyond the scope of this analysis.

So Klopp’s given 10,002 hugs during his time at Liverpool. Give or take a couple hundred, and who knows how many were given behind closed doors…

With so much success as Liverpool's manager, there’s another rule we must add to the managerial rulebook we’re curating.

Rule #87: hug players and staff as much as possible.

R1 take: Klopp’s managerial style should be studied beyond the usual metrics. He’s perhaps the best “man manager” in the last decade and we think that hugs - at least - play a small part in that.

LOS ANGELES x PORT VALE F.C. 🤝

It has been a big week for Port Vale:

• A fan chased the referee off the pitch (check Extra Time below).

• Robbie Williams became the club’s president.

Yup. You read that right.

Your mum’s guilty pleasure, Robbie Williams, is Port Vale’s new president.

The club are hovering one place above League One’s relegation zone.

And in need of stardust, they turn to their most famous fan for support. Robbie has an impressive resume:

• A record 18 Brit Awards.

• 14 number-one albums.

• A GQ Icon of the Year 2012 trophy.

The owner of Port Vale, Carol Shanahan said that “a lot of football is about contacts, and whether it's your contacts within football or anywhere else, that’s what you need, and he’s certainly got those in abundance.”

She’s got a point…

• It lifts the fan morale in a relegation battle.

• It helps financially by increasing interest in each home game.

• And - well we’re clutching up straws here - helps attract more talent in the future…

But… there’s just one thing.

The last time Robbie was involved with a football team it didn’t go so well.

In 2005, he founded Los Angeles Vale F.C.

A club in LA named after his beloved Port Vale.

After a major investment by him and his celebrity friends, the club was disbanded after two years.

The worst part? Apparently, two players swindled the pop star out of £200,000.

Anyway, he’ll be hoping for better things at Port Vale - and maybe a new anthem…

🎵We will, we will rock score against you 🎵

EXTRA-TIME ⏱️

Liverpool’s lockdown video calls were a cultural gemstone. It’s hard to imagine that many teams have chemistry like this.

What a moment for Chicarito and Chivas fans. The former Manchester United striker returns to his first senior club after 18 years.

A Port Vale fan wasn’t too pleased with the referee’s decision to give a late penalty. So… he decided to chase the referee off the pitch.

Eric Dier is embracing life in Germany. He’s already picked up the accent…

Premier League’s all-time goal-scorer Alan Shearer is a man of the people. The Newcastle legend was spotted in the away end as his side advanced to the fifth round of the FA Cup with a 2-0 win over Fulham.

MEME 😆

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